Delivering healthcare infrastructure at scale is often one of the most complex challenges in the built environment. When a large new hospital was commissioned in Finland, set to serve thousands of patients and staff across multiple facilities, project stakeholders faced intricate engineering demands, tight construction timelines and the need to collaborate efficiently across disciplines.
For Granlund, a Finnish building services design consultancy, and Consti, one of Finland’s leading building technology contractors, the project was an opportunity to modernize hospital construction using digital tools. By adopting Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), the teams transformed how they collaborated, planned, and delivered complex mechanical, electrical, and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems - ensuring accuracy, speed and safety at every step.
Granlund has deep expertise in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) design for healthcare. As head of department, Eero Tähkäpää and his team were responsible for a wide scope of work on the hospital, from energy-efficient systems and HVAC design to full electrical planning. With over 1,000 design documents and multiple disciplines working concurrently, maintaining quality and consistency was critical.
"The whole quality control process is based on ACC," said Tähkäpää. "We use the tools to manage internal checks, then pass plans to contractors via the same platform. It’s how we make sure everyone sees what’s been approved.”
The alliance-based delivery model added further complexity. Rather than working in isolation, Granlund had to closely integrate its workflows with contractors and hospital representatives from the beginning. This approach made cloud collaboration not just beneficial, but essential.
Beyond quality control, the adoption of digital workflows has allowed Granlund to drive continuous improvement across its project portfolio. Lessons learned in this hospital project are already informing new initiatives and refining the company’s internal standards. "This isn’t just a one-off," Tähkäpää added. "We are embedding these tools and approaches across more of our healthcare projects."
—Eero Tähkäpää , Head of Department, Granlund
On the construction side, Consti took responsibility for HVAC installation; a major undertaking given the project's scale. Ville Kananen, Project Manager, explained that Consti was involved from early planning through to on-site installation. This early engagement helped navigate potential issues long before construction began.
"Normally, contractors join just before building starts, and coordination happens on site," said Kananen. "But for this project, we were involved years earlier, which allowed us to go through the designs, provide feedback, and make sure everything could actually be built."
That proactive approach paid dividends. Instead of uncovering issues on site, the team used ACC to conduct clash detection and adjust plans in advance. "When the first installations began, we were confident that everything would fit. That saves both time and money."
Historically, communication across large projects in Finland has been heavily reliant on traditional methods like email, causing delays, missed feedback, and miscommunication. "Comments would get buried and no one knew if someone had acted on them," Tähkäpää explained.
By centralizing collaboration in ACC, the teams created a shared digital workspace where everyone - from designers to installers and hospital stakeholders - could track the latest versions of plans, leave comments and verify updates in real time, collaborating on a central model at the same time from anywhere. Working in a shared data environment reduced time syncing models and minimized model corruptions, ensuring all team members worked with the same version of the model. This transparency accelerated decision-making and reduced risk.
"The comment goes directly on the model, and everyone can see it," said Kananen. "There’s a record, and it’s much easier to follow."
Having a single source of truth also ensures regulatory compliance. With such a large-scale public project, documentation, approvals and audit trails must be fully traceable. ACC makes this easier, providing a digital paper trail that aligns with industry standards and satisfies the hospital client’s legal and procedural requirements.
The benefits of this new workflow are tangible. For example, marking up redline drawings used to require manual updates and back-and-forth scanning.
"Previously, we would make redlines on paper, scan them and send them off," said Kananen. "Now we do it directly in ACC. That cuts the time in half."
Similarly, real-time model access reduces rework. In projects like this, last-minute design changes can force contractors to demolish finished work, wasting materials and labour. In this hospital build, the teams estimate they’ve avoided hundreds of hours of duplicated effort.
"Usually we’d have 200 hours of rework on site over the course of one year of building. On this project, it’s maybe 10 or 20," said Kananen. "That’s a huge saving."
This reduction in rework is particularly impactful in high-cost areas like HVAC spaces. "Misfitting a single air duct bend can cost several hundred dollars," Kananen noted. "If it doesn’t fit, it has to be replaced with a new one. ACC helps us avoid that."
The financial savings are mirrored by improvements in sustainability. By reducing duplication and streamlining materials procurement, the project teams are minimising waste and improving resource efficiency; critical goals in modern healthcare construction.
—Ville Kananen, Project Manager, Consti
While ACC is primarily a collaboration tool, its impact on design quality shouldn’t be underestimated. By facilitating faster feedback loops and improving coordination, the platform helps ensure that every decision, from duct routing to equipment placement, is made knowing the full context.
"The biggest benefits are in rooms like the central HVAC spaces," said Kananen. "We have 40 or 50 of them, each with large ducts, pipes and units. One mistake can be very costly, and ACC helps us spot and fix problems early."
These rooms house high-capacity ventilation systems, complex heating and cooling circuits, and specialist systems for hospital-grade hygiene. Getting them right is crucial not just for cost, but ultimately for patient safety.
Tähkäpää also pointed to ACC’s role in version control. With hundreds of design updates throughout the project lifecycle, having a platform that logs and timestamps every change makes a real difference. "We always know which version is current, and that reduces confusion and risk."
Despite the benefits, transitioning to digital workflows can sometimes not be smooth sailing. Many field workers were unfamiliar with tablets and wary of new technology. "Change was slow at first," said Kananen. "Some of our team had never used a digital tool before, but the more we use it, the more value it shows."
To overcome that, Kananen took on a personal mission to train colleagues, demonstrate workflows, and share the benefits. "You have to use it to understand it," he said. "The more people tried ACC, the more they saw how it helped."
Tähkäpää echoed the sentiment. "Everything new is hard at first, but we saw clear gains in accuracy, efficiency and quality. That made adoption easier."
These insights are now helping both companies define best practices for future rollouts. From customised onboarding materials to targeted user support, their evolving change management strategies are becoming a model for digital transformation in Nordic construction.
The hospital project spans multiple phases, with the main building set to open in 2028 and further renovations continuing through to 2030. Maintaining continuity across such a long timeline is a challenge in itself - one that ACC is helping to solve.
"The planning of the project started in 2017 and will finish in 2030. We’ll all be retired by then,” jokes Kananen. “But ACC helps us keep track of everything. It’s one platform for the whole project.”
The team also sees potential in expanding ACC’s use further. While it’s currently central to HVAC and MEP workflows, Consti hope to harness its potential in other design disciplines too. "It would be even more powerful if everyone used it," said Kananen. “We are interested in exploring its potential.”
Looking ahead, both Granlund and Consti are keen to integrate ACC even earlier in future projects. They see potential for automated design-to-fabrication workflows, more robust data capture and better use of ACC’s built-in features.
"In the next phases, we want to start using ACC right from the beginning," said Kananen. "That way, everyone gets used to the system before the construction phase starts."
The companies are also exploring how ACC can support more strategic project reporting. With increasing demand for evidence-based decision-making, having structured data on design quality, issue resolution and collaboration metrics could be a game-changer.
The biggest takeaway for both companies? Early and continuous collaboration is essential.
"The earlier we collaborate, the better the plans, and the smoother the construction," said Tähkäpää. "That’s been the key lesson for us."
And with the support of a platform like Autodesk Construction Cloud, that collaboration is not only possible; it’s scalable, repeatable, and measurable.
"We're not using ACC to its full potential yet," admitted Kananen. "But we’re on the journey. And every step we take brings more value to the project."
—Eero Tähkäpää , Head of Department, Granlund
As one of Finland’s most ambitious hospital projects, this development is a landmark in both scale and approach. By embracing digital collaboration through Autodesk Construction Cloud, Granlund and Consti are showing what’s possible when design and construction teams work as one.
"This isn’t just about saving time or money," said Kananen. "It’s about building something that works, that lasts, and that people can rely on."
With more phases to come and thousands of patients to serve, the work is far from done. But thanks to strong partnerships, shared tools and a clear vision, the project is already setting new standards for hospital construction in the digital age.
