Finnish architectural studio Kivinen Rusanen Architects has completed the Tammisto Electricity Substation in Vantaa, a city in southern Finland (around 20 kilometers from Helsinki). This substation has served the Helsinki metropolitan area as a central power grid hub for many decades and its older systems required modernization. The studio’s approach provides an urban infrastructural facility with an architectural quality; the use of custom-made water-struck bricks laid in different masonry patterns imbues the substation with a sense of warmth and depth.

芬兰建筑工作室基维宁-鲁萨宁建筑事务所（Kivinen Rusanen Architects）完成了位于芬兰南部城市万塔（距赫尔辛基约 20 公里）的塔米斯托变电站（Tammisto Electricity Substation）。几十年来，该变电站一直是赫尔辛基大都市区的中央电网枢纽，其老旧系统需要现代化改造。工作室的设计方法为城市基础设施提供了一种建筑品质；使用定制的水击砖，以不同的砌筑模式铺设，使变电站充满了温暖和深度感。

“The architectural goal was to give a unified appearance to the new and newly improved buildings and structures on the site,” says Kivinen Rusanen Architects. The site’s oldest structure is a former protected substation designed in 1947 by Finnish architect Aarne Ervi. The design for the new substation building harmonizes with Ervi’s design: the former substation has a low and long structure with a tall transformer tower at one end, gabled roofs, and ornate red brick facades — it is now used as an office building. The new substation’s facades feature water-struck bricks (a method that uses water to remove the brick from its mold) with varied warm tones and textures. Kivinen Rusanen connected the new substation’s architecture to its erstwhile counterpart through the building’s scale, massing, and facade materials. It is also aligned with an adjacent residential area's scale and fabric.

"基维宁-鲁萨宁建筑设计事务所（Kivinen Rusanen Architects）表示："建筑设计的目标是使场址上新建和新改建的建筑和结构具有统一的外观。该基地最古老的建筑是一座前保护变电站，由芬兰建筑师阿尔内-埃尔维（Aarne Ervi）于 1947 年设计。新变电站大楼的设计与埃尔维的设计相协调：旧变电站的结构低矮而颀长，一端是高高的变压器塔，屋顶呈坡状，外墙是华丽的红砖--它现在被用作办公楼。新变电站的外墙采用水击砖（一种用水将砖从模具中剥离的方法），具有不同的暖色调和纹理。基维宁-鲁萨宁（Kivinen Rusanen）通过建筑的规模、体量和外立面材料，将新变电站的建筑与之前的变电站连接起来。它还与邻近住宅区的规模和结构相一致。

The Aarne Ervi-designed former substation is on the left:

“The old substation's two-part composition inspired the triangular cuts in the new building's mass,” says Kivinen Rusanen. “The building is divided lengthwise into three different sections defined by these cuts.” Access is provided to the substation’s facilities at either end; the longer central section houses the main processing equipment and cable rooms. The building features a two-story layout with serving spaces on the ground floor and the main equipment room and control room on the first floor. Its total floor area is 1,705 square meters (18,353 square feet).

"Kivinen Rusanen 说："旧变电站的两部分构成启发了新建筑体量中的三角形切割。基维宁-鲁萨宁说："建筑纵向分为三个不同的部分，由这些切口界定"。变电站设施的入口位于两端，中间较长的部分是主要处理设备和电缆室。建筑采用两层布局，底层为服务空间，一楼为主设备室和控制室。总建筑面积为 1,705 平方米（18,353 平方英尺）。

The water-struck bricks are laid in four different masonry patterns that highlight the substation’s massing and its spatial arrangement. To complete the four masonry patterns across various parts of the building, thirteen different types of custom-made brick were needed. “Detailed 3D models of the brick facades were used to produce drawings for each type of brick and the supplier made the necessary molds for all of them,” explains Kivinen Rusanen.

水砖以四种不同的砌筑模式铺设，突出了变电站的体量和空间布局。为了完成建筑各部分的四种砌筑模式，需要 13 种不同类型的定制砖。"Kivinen Rusanen 解释说："砖外墙的详细 3D 模型被用于绘制每种砖的图纸，供应商为所有砖制作了必要的模具。

The building’s frame is constructed using prefabricated concrete and its double-skin facades are supported by a steel frame set in the cavity. The substation’s north and south sections receive natural light through double-skin walls composed of lattice brickwork and full-height glass curtain walls with approximately a meter (three feet) of space between the two. The central section is windowless, however the main equipment room receives indirect natural light through the spaces at either end. 

建筑框架采用预制混凝土结构，双层外墙由设置在空腔中的钢架支撑。变电站的南北两部分通过由格子砖墙和全高玻璃幕墙组成的双层外墙接收自然光，两层外墙之间留有约一米（三英尺）的空间。中央部分没有窗户，但主设备室可通过两端的空间间接获得自然光。

Kivinen Rusanen Architects also upgraded two concrete transformer bunkers built in the 1980s. Their facades were treated with an “Umbra color patination”: this is a chemical coloring process in which dye-forming reagents are absorbed into the surface of the concrete — reacting with the cement, they form a reddish-brown surface that resembles a rust color. The effect ensures that the site’s different buildings have a warm, unified appearance.

基维宁-鲁萨宁建筑事务所还对两座建于 20 世纪 80 年代的混凝土变电站进行了改造。它们的外墙经过了 "Umbra 着色 "处理：这是一种化学着色工艺，染色试剂被吸收到混凝土表面，与水泥发生反应，形成类似铁锈色的红褐色表面。这种效果确保了场地内的不同建筑具有温暖、统一的外观。

“The Tammisto Electricity Substation project seeks to give an architectural image to sustainable urban infrastructure development,” says Kivinen Rusanen. “It contributes to society's electrification, provides a reliable power supply, and aims to improve the aesthetic and cultural integrity of the site and the surrounding landscape.”

"基维宁-鲁萨宁（Kivinen Rusanen）说："塔米斯托变电站项目旨在为可持续的城市基础设施发展树立建筑形象。"它为社会电气化做出了贡献，提供了可靠的电力供应，并旨在改善现场和周围景观的美学和文化完整性。