SSAB’s own steels feature prominently in Raahe steel mill's new research and office building

Photo: Nick Tulinen

The new building is located by the road leading to the factory. The research center will carry out research into both raw materials and the finished products produced at the factory, and will help to prepare for future fossil-free steel production. The new laboratory is one of the largest in the Nordic countries, measured in terms of sample volume, and is in operation 24/7.

Photo: Jaakko Mylly

The research center contains the Raahe factory's analysis and testing facilities for raw materials and end products. The office contains meeting and visitor facilities as well as workspaces for approximately 100 office employees. The building has a total floor area of 7,836 m2 and a cubic capacity of 42,930 m3.

SSAB’s own steel grades feature prominently in the building

The building has a steel frame, and steel piles have also been used in the foundations. The facade was supplied by SSAB’s subsidiary Ruukki Construction. COR-TEN steel and GreenCoat-coated Ruukki Sandwich panels were used for the exterior cladding. On the east and south sides of the building, excessive heating and sunlight have been eliminated by using a separate solar protection wall with frame parts and cladding made of COR-TEN steel.

Photos: Juho Turpeinen and Jaakko Mylly

Perforated and backlit COR-TEN cassettes have been used to highlight the main entrance. The steel frame of the building enables functional adaptability of the space – the office section, for example, has a group of meeting rooms divided by movable partition walls which can be opened up to create a room for a hundred people if necessary. The ceilings are also made of color-coated steel plate from SSAB’s Hämeenlinna factory.

Surprising choices of materials in interior design too

In the interior areas, steel is prominitely displayed in the lobby. COR-TEN and GreenCoat-coated perforated panel cladding also improves the room’s acoustics.

The front of the reception desk is made with ballistic protection Ramor 500 W steel. It combines the properties of protection steel and weathering steel in one product. This combination is ideal for applications such as public building facades.

Photo: Jaakko Mylly

Ramor 500 W steel has a good-looking surface without external corrosion protection. Weathering steel is a low-alloy steel with excellent corrosion resistance in outdoor conditions. Durability is based on an oxide layer that develops on the surface and forms a dense protective layer on the steel surface. This oxide layer is called patina. Normal patina formation requires outdoor conditions and alternating rain and sunshine. An artificial process was used to create a patina-like surface for this interior cladding.

The building takes both functionality and appearance into account. The high lobby is bright and airy. The “steel pipe forest” on the roof also highlights SSAB’s pipe production. The walls are made of perforated steel plate and backlit or ballistic-protection COR-TEN plate. The steel structures are counterbalanced by a high moss-green wall and wood-surface battens.

Pneumatic tube system used to send samples to the analysis laboratory

Samples from the factory are sent to the research center's laboratory along a penumatic tube bridge built for them. The bridge material is SSAB’s weathering steel COR-TEN, which also works well with the building. The weathering steel pneumatic tube bridge requires no surface treatment and is maintenance-free, which also reduces maintenance costs. The project has involved building a total of approximately six kilometers of new pneumatic tubes at the factory, using old pneumatic tube bridges and routes.

Photos: Jaakko Mylly and Nick Tulinen

The building is energy efficient and designed to last a long time. The environmentally-friendly aspect of the steel primarily relates to the absence of a need for maintenance and the long life of the material.