Two city plan alterations to take place in the Sori area - registration open for the invited design competition
The planning area is located in the south-eastern part of the city centre of Tampere, with good transport connections and commercial services. The area is bordered in the north by Vuolteenkatu, in the east by the railway area, as well as by the Kansi and Nokia Arena area, in the west by the Hatanpää highway and in the south by the Tampere highway. Sorinkatu runs through the area.
Centre functions and pedestrian environment
The aim is to form the Sori district into a centre area of housing, jobs and services, which also considers the needs of tourism and events. The area is strived to be developed into a pleasant and safe district with pedestrian-focused environment that is built in a high-quality and sustainable manner.
Public parks and urban greenery will be added to the Sori area. Planning also ensures that affordable housing is enabled. With regard to transport, connections for pedestrians and cyclists will be developed, and a bicycle and car park solution which is functional in a dense city centre environment will be created.
The area has local detailed plans confirmed between the 1930s and 1960s, as well as in the 1980s. At present, the area holds administrative, office and commercial buildings, a few apartment blocks and a fuel distribution station. Administrative buildings are connected by pedestrian tubes.
On the eastern side, the Sori district joins the Nokia Arena and Kalevanharju districts. To the north of the Sori bridge, alterations of the local detailed plans of both Pohjoiskansi and Asemakeskus are pending.
Objectives of local detailed planning
The development of the Sori area will be the target of the local detailed planning programme this and the following year. A new floor area of 40,000 square metres is sought for the Sori area, of which 25,000 square metres are proposed as the share of the residential floor area and 15,000 square metres for other activities. The floor area targets will be specified as the planning progresses.
The objective of the local detailed planning for the northernmost area is to identify the cultural environment and preservation values of the buildings, specify the plan symbols and study supplementary construction adapting to the values of the plots. The northern part of Sorinkatu street is meant to become a pedestrian street.
The total surface area of local detailed plan alterations is approximately 3.8 hectares, as is the extent of the competition area. In addition to the city, the area has private landowners, the largest one being Senate Properties. The street area is owned by the City of Tampere.
Competition registration opened
The City of Tampere and Senate Properties organise an invited architectural competition for the design of the Sori district in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA. The Sori district design competition seeks urban planning solutions and ideas for the basis of local detailed planning in the area.
The contract notice of the City of Tampere concerning the architectural competition has been published, and the participation notices must be submitted by 12 noon on 11 February 2025. The competition design teams are selected based on the selection criteria announced through the open registration procedure.
Four design teams that meet the qualification requirements are selected for the design competition by drawing lots. Competitors must form multidisciplinary working groups involving professionals from different fields of design. The working groups must have access to expertise of architects, landscape architects and traffic planning. Expertise in sustainable construction and the circular economy is also desirable in the working groups.
The plan is to select the participants of the design competition in mid-February, and the actual competition period will begin in early March. The registration-invited competition ends on 16 June 2025.
The competition entries will be assessed, and the competition will be resolved in autumn 2025, and the preparation of the local detailed plan will continue. The aim is to put the local detailed plan draft and proposal on display during 2026.
