Finest Floating explores potential of floating structures for Helsinki-Tallinn metropole

#Finland #Floating cities #Urban resilience

Finest Bay Area Development (FEBAY) and the Dutch company Blue21, a research and design company of floating projects world-wide, announced to join forces to unlock the full potential of what the Finestbay and greater Helsinki area could become.

Innovative infrastructure

This partnering resulted in a joint company, Finest Floating, which will realise sustainable floating projects in the FEBAY area.

The company will develop and provide innovative floating structures suitable for residential, recreational, energy and food production, and more traditional piers for boat/water activities.

Render of the floating island in the Gulf of Finland as a station on the undersea railway Helsinki-Talinn

Render of the floating island in the Gulf of Finland to function as a station of the undersea railway Helsinki-Tallinn. (photo: FEBAY)

Undersea railway tunnel

The initiative by Finest Floating builds on the project by FEBAY to construct a 103 km Helsinki-Tallinn undersea railway tunnel. The tunnel across the Gulf of Finland connects both capitals and is regarded the final track of Rail Baltica, a high speed railway connection between Brussel, Berlin, Warsaw, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki.

Peter Vesterbacka, founder and executive chairman of FEBAY is spearheading the privately funded project that plans to involve 60 tunnel boring machines using plasma drilling technology.

Both governments of Finland and Estonia support the project and signed a memorandum of understanding in April 2021, enabling further studies.

Impression of Blue21's concept of a self-sustaining floating city. (image: Blue21)

Floating self-sustaining islands

Vesterbacka’s plan for the tunnel also envisions four stations and development areas that will bring the two cities together into a single metropolitan area. Two stations are to be situated at the airports of Tallinn and Helsinki and two others are new-build floating islands in the Gulf of Finland.

Dutch company Blue21, a scale-up specialised in developing floating urban projects, has been involved in designing the floating centres since 2020. Their initial studies not only include the design of floating structures but also the reuse of waste, food self-sufficiency, energy autarky, circular water systems and carbon positivity.