The amendment of the local detailed plan for the Laakso Joint Hospital was approved
The City Council approved the new zoning plan for the Laakso Hospital area. The zoning plan has been amended based on feedback from city residents.

The City Council approved the new zoning plan for the Laakso Hospital area. The zoning plan has been amended based on feedback from city residents. Among other things, the future main building has been partially lowered and moved away slightly from the street, which will help in preserving the residential street-like nature of Urheilukatu. At the same time, the amount of new construction in the project has decreased slightly.
The approved zoning plan will enable the hospital campus of HUS and the City of Helsinki, providing modern care, to be implemented in the Laakso Hospital area. Both new buildings and additional space in the rehabilitation building can be constructed in the area. The old, prestigious hospital buildings and the hospital garden will be protected.
A new main access road will be constructed from underground to the Laakso Hospital area via Auroranportti, as traffic volumes in the hospital area will increase. Although the current transport intersections to the hospital area will remain, the amount of traffic generated by the hospital is estimated to decrease on Urheilukatu.
New parking spaces for a maximum of 650 cars, as well as facilities for escort traffic and maintenance are planned for the underground spaces. There will be a logistics tunnel between the Meilahti and Laakso Hospital areas.
The focus in the drafting of the plans has been easy mobility and navigation in the extensive hospital area, as well as to take into account, for example, the needs of pleasant patient yards and hospital operations.

The new hospital will bring modern services to a more accessible location
HUS and the City of Helsinki have planned the new hospital and hospital project at the same time as the zoning plan has been under preparation. The hospital’s new main building will be located on Urheilukatu. Residential buildings, a health center and the daycare center will be demolished at the hospital’s new site. A new building is to be built in the lush northern part of the area to provide psychiatric care for children and adolescents. The third new building, planned on the eastern part of the area, will also be allocated to the use of psychiatric care.
The prestigious hospital buildings in the northern parts of the lot that were built at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s and the former tuberculosis office from the 1950s will be renovated. The hospital buildings will be converted into outpatient clinic use as well as into premises for administration, education, and research. The hospital garden will be restored.
Laakso Joint Hospital will provide treatment for psychiatric and somatic illnesses. The hospital will have facilities for psychiatric inpatient care for HUS and the City of Helsinki, for specialized neurological rehabilitation organized by HUS and for half of the wards of the Helsinki City Hospital. In addition, there will be facilities for outpatient clinics supporting hospital operations, as well as for teaching and research.
The facilities of Laakso Joint Hospital have been designed in cooperation with the hospital personnel as well as patient and customer representatives. The project has received the 2021 Mielen avain (Key to the Mind) recognition for laudable work in promoting the concepts of inclusion and expert by experience.
The Laakso Joint Hospital project is urgent
The facilities, which will be replaced by the new Laakso Joint Hospital, are located scattered in different locations. They are in poor condition, and just by doing repairs they can no longer be transformed to meet the needs of modern nursing and, for example, the privacy of patients.
According to the current timetable, the hospital’s construction project will take place between 2022 and 2030. The construction project is implemented by the Laakso Joint Hospital Alliance.
The planning of the implementation has been aimed at speeding up the construction site phase and thus reducing the disruption that is inevitably caused to the residents of the area. In addition, residents are taken into consideration by directing site traffic to drive mainly through the Laakso square. More detailed information will be provided on the construction work as the schedules and the scope of the work are confirmed.
Main image: On the hospital grounds, approximately 110,000 gross floor square meters of new facilities could be built above ground and approximately 30,000 gross floor square meters of underground spaces. Laakson LATU.
More images of Laakso Joint Hospital based on initial planning