Builder SRV marked a topping-out ceremony on 3 September at the LUMI AI Factory site in the Renforsin Ranta district of Kajaani, Finland, signalling major progress on the transformation of a roughly 200-metre-long structure that once housed industrial papermaking equipment. CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd. is overseeing the conversion into a data center designed to house the next-generation LUMI-AI supercomputer and the experimental LUMI-IQ quantum computer, with the facility expected to go live by the end of 2027.
Work commenced in January 2026 and currently engages approximately 115 people on site, with staffing expected to reach around 150 at peak activity. The project has drawn heavily on local talent, with roughly half of the building services workforce coming from the Kainuu region.
The project has progressed very well according to schedule and in close cooperation with the client. It allows us to draw on our experience in delivering facilities that incorporate advanced technologies while maintaining high standards of quality, sustainability, energy efficiency, and occupational safety. Building services engineering naturally accounts for a significant share of the project, and our own team of top experts in the field ensures that the solutions meet both the client's objectives and the demanding requirements of cutting-edge technology.
Jarkko Salmenoja, Unit Director at SRV
SRV is simultaneously constructing a data center for DayOne in Kiveriö, Lahti, due for completion in 2027, and previously delivered the Helsinki Data Center for Telia.
Today, we are not only marking an important milestone in the construction project. This project is significant from a much broader perspective than the building itself. Data centers form a vital part of the digital infrastructure and ecosystem on which high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and data-driven services rely. This investment aims to enable researchers, companies, and public sector organisations with the computing resources required to solve increasingly complex challenges.
Kimmo Koski, Managing Director of CSC
Building systems at the heart of the project
A six-month commissioning and testing phase for all building systems will commence in early 2027. The data center's construction relies heavily on sophisticated building services engineering, encompassing cooling infrastructure, electrical systems, and the coordination of numerous technical subsystems. Electrical work represents a particularly substantial component of the overall effort. Maintaining precise environmental conditions will be essential during operations, particularly temperature regulation. To achieve this, the project will install approximately 3.5 kilometres of welded liquid cooling pipework.
The design strategy has maximised the reuse of the former paper mill's existing framework. Approximately 450 cubic metres of cross-laminated timber (CLT) will form the walls of the data hall, with the material sourced from nearby Kuhmo, where the underlying timber also originates. Additional load-bearing steel structures have been incorporated to support the building systems, totalling approximately 326 tonnes of steel.
The LUMI AI Factory represents one of the European Union's AI Factories, with its data center built to accommodate the next-generation EuroHPC supercomputer LUMI-AI alongside the complementary experimental LUMI-IQ quantum computer.
