The Must-Attend High-Rise Construction Seminar in Helsinki on June 13

The High-Rise – Northern Exposure seminar on June 13, 2023, is the highlight of the summer for anyone who wants to keep up to date with the latest trends and technologies in high-rise construction. The organizers have invited some of the industry’s absolute best to Helsinki to share their experiences and answer the burning questions of high-rise construction. 

Register before May 26 at https://www.gii.fi/. The registration fee is 360 e + VAT 24%.

The event venue is Hotel Presidentti, Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 4, Helsinki – Finland.

Aimed at architects, property developers, structural designers, builders, and other professionals, the seminar is a unique short course in high-rise construction and a place to network and make new contacts.

The keynote speakers in the program are Christoph Timm, Principal at SOM New York, and James O’Callaghan, Founding Director of Eckersley O’Callaghan. SOM is known to have designed more than half of the world’s tall buildings. Eckersley O’Callaghan has been responsible, for example, for the structural design of Apple’s Steve Jobs Theatre and many of Apple’s stores worldwide.

In addition to the above, the event features Steve Selkowitz from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His insights of the glass industry, carbon emissions, and energy efficiency are based on decades of research at the lab. He has explored some of the emerging design solutions in use today and the RD&D trends that will drive and constrain optimal design solutions in the decade ahead. 

Cooperation with the GPD conference

The High Rise -Northern Exposure seminar collaborates with the Glass Innovation Institute and the Finnish Flat Glass Association.

The event in Helsinki is on June 13, just a day before the GPD conference starts in Tampere.

The Helsinki seminar is a unique opportunity to get the latest information on tall buildings and their challenges in different countries and climates.

Learning about tall buildings in northern conditions

The high-level seminar will feature presentations from top experts in architecture and construction. This year, the content has been focused explicitly on tall building in northern conditions. 

“We will focus on issues that architects, structural engineers, and builders in Finland will face. During the day, everyone will have the opportunity to learn something new about the construction of the future, as more and more very tall buildings will be built in Finland in the future,” says Christoph Timm, SOM New York’s principal. 

“We are now offering a unique opportunity to learn from what others have done and how they have done it. We will show how problems are solved from different perspectives and present case studies from Sweden, Europe and other continents. We aim to summarise and make the possibilities and technologies of design as concrete as possible for Finnish designers and builders.”

High-Rise Helsinki speakers and their topics

The program is the following (on May 12):

• Keynote speaker Prof. James O’Callaghan – Eckersley O’Callaghan – Getting Glass to Work Harder – High- and Low-Rise Advancements
• Keynote speaker Principal Christoph Timm – SOM New York – Globally, the latest development in High Rise design – a survey from various SOM offices
• Invited speaker Affiliate/Retired Steve Selkowitz – Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. – Glass and Facades: Challenges and Opportunities in a Carbon-Constrained World
• Manager Martin Brown – Schott UK – Fire-resistant glass in high rise 
• CEO Agnes Koltay – Koltay Façades – Different façade technologies 
• Manager Allan Gibson – Kuraray Europe GmbH – The thermal effect on the acoustic performance of laminated glass
• Business Development Manager Sebastian Barth – Merck – New design options for photovoltaics   
• Prof. Dr.- Ing. Jens Schneider – Glass Competence Center TU Darmstadt/Future Rector TU Wien/Austria – Glazing mistakes and solutions
• Mr. Jorma Vitkala – GII/Vitkala Association Oy – Worldwide glazing trends 
• Chief Business Development Officer Aulikki Sonntag – Staticus Schweiz AG – Long-term engagement in building façades
• BSc Dunelm CChem MRSC, R&D Incubator Technical Manager Rory Back – NSG European Technical Centre Lathom – Advanced bird-safe glazing design
• Sales Director Big Projects North Anne-Christine Roulet – Hydro – Beyond sustainable building envelopes
• Product Manager René Beinke – LPKF SolarQuipment GmbH – New ways to print architectural glass using laser technology

The companies supporting the seminar

• Arkkitehtitoimisto ALA Oy
• Arkkitehtitoimisto Helin & Co
• Arkkitehdit Lahdelma & Mahlamäki 
• Hydro
• Kuraray Europe GmbH
• Lasiluoto Oy
• Nordec Oy
• Pilkington Lahden Lasitehdas Oy
• Purso Oy
• Sweco Finland Oy
• Staticus           
• YIT

The supporting organizations

• Glass Innovation Institute                  
• Suomen Tasolasiyhdistys ry            
• Glass Performance Days
• Kiinko

Registration before May 26, 2023

Register at https://www.gii.fi/.

The registration fee is 360 e + VAT 24%.