The Kalasatama Electricity Substation serves the rapidly developing Kalasatama area situated close to downtown Helsinki. It consists of two buildings housing transformers and a switchgear building, all in in-situ white concrete and clad over by an aluminum graffiti fence and an architectural steel mesh. The location is a central, urban site between the former Suvilahti power station that has been transformed into a cultural center and the still-functional Hanasaari power station. The site is located by one of the main traffic arteries leading to the city center.

Street art is a major, popular phenomenon in the area and it presented us with an opportunity for the building to provide a public function, which is not typical of an electricity substation. Because of this, a graffiti fence was incorporated into the project. The original assignment given to us by the client was to propose a location for the project site to the city master planning office and to find an architectural solution that would make the project acceptable in that proposed location. The context set high standards for the quality of architecture.