Arctia’s floating office now better than ever
In July, the Helsinki coast witnessed exceptional maritime traffic when the Arctia office was towed from Katajanokka to the other side of the city, to Hietalahti. Arctia’s headquarters is a floating office, which was dry-docked for maintenance at the Helsinki Shipyard. During the docking, the bottom structure was inspected, necessary repairs were made, and the bottom and sides were maintained and repainted. Everything went according to plan, and the office was found to be in excellent condition. The office was towed back to Katajanokka at the beginning of August.
This streamlined building, finished with black corrugated iron, is the only one of its kind in Finland. The floating office is built on an ice-strengthened barge. Its automatic ballast tanks keep the structure level. Sometimes the office may sway slightly if a ship with larger waves passes by, but otherwise it is as stable as any office building on land.
The floating office, completed in 2013, is 56 meters long, 15 meters wide and 9 meters high. The building has two office floors and a full basement. The total area is 900 square meters. The Finnish Association of Civil Engineers selected the office as the winner of the RIL award in the year of its completion, as the project combined Finnish building architecture and shipbuilding expertise in an unprecedented way. Arctia's goal was to use the floating office to bring the company's land-based personnel closer to the ships' main base and core operations.