Business and customers

MEP design is Granlund’s largest business area and the company is a market leader in the field. Business profitability in 2024 remained good, but the competition became clearly tougher during the year.  

The electrification of society increased the demand for electrical design compared to HVAC design. Many different electricity-based energy and charging systems were planned during the year. Stricter energy and sustainability reporting requirements increased the need for building automation design. Renovations of automation systems were also carried out as separate projects.  

Many of the most significant projects of the year were alliances that extensively employed MEP designers. Data centers, industrial properties and high-security properties also provided an important workload. 

In architectural design, Granlund developed strongly and the volume of operations grew strongly. During the year, Granlund’s architects were employed in data center, industrial and school projects and other public projects, for example. 

In addition to recruitments, successful acquisitions were made. Late in the year, the merger of Raami Architects with Granlund strengthened the expertise in the architectural design of hospitals. At the same time, the number of employees increased from 40 to approximately 80. The growth enables the joint design of increasingly large projects and responding to the increasingly strict reference requirements of the industry.  

Architectural design is now carried out nationwide at six locations. The long-term goal is to increase the number of employees in one of Finland’s three largest architectural offices. 

In spite of the general market situation, Granlund’s structural designers had plenty of work in renovation in the retail and industrial sectors, data centers and alteration and maintenance projects.  

The strategy created in the spring was aimed at growth and providing special structural design expertise for demanding projects together with other design sectors. The number of employees tripled and the business expanded from Mikkeli and Lappeenranta to Joensuu, Kuopio, Tampere, Hämeenlinna, Espoo and Helsinki.  

Recruitments strengthened special expertise in areas such as wood construction, building physics, carbon footprint optimisation and digital technologies, the need for which will increase as the Building Act is revised.  

In 2025, the aim is to continue growth and also carry out acquisitions.  

Special design services cover lighting, AV and presentation technologies, fire safety engineering, telecommunications and safety technology, cleanrooms, refrigeration technology, securing electricity supply, professional kitchens and fixed hospital equipment.  

Versatility proved to be Granlund’s strength. Professional kitchen design grew and the focus of cleanroom design shifted from healthcare to industry. The greatest demand was in electrical engineering-related services, such as AV, telecommunications and lighting design. Fire extinguishing system designers were busy with data centers. On the other hand, the year was more challenging in refrigeration technology and fixed hospital equipment design.   

The current global situation increased the need for security design. Throughout the projects, the emphasis was placed on high-security operating methods and confidential data processing. 

The Finnish hospital design market reflects that a large proportion of the country’s university and central hospitals have been built. Major projects will continue, but construction will focus more on alteration and renovation projects, psychiatric hospitals and health and wellbeing centers.  

During the year, Granlund’s hospital designers were busy with the Laakso Joint Hospital alliance, which was in its most intense phase, and the launch of the Tampere University Hospital modernisation programme. The wellbeing services county reform continued to be reflected in the business, and new implementation methods, such as the lease project model, were experimented with in projects.  

The focus will gradually be shifted to the international market. Granlund is a member of the Finnish Integrated Hospital Design Alliance IHDA, which also designs hospital projects internationally. 

The pace of data center construction was exceptionally high during the year. The development of artificial intelligence boosted the growth of Granlund’s data center operations to an all-time high, which strengthened its position as a market leader in the Nordic countries.  

In data center services, the tasks of the pre-planning phase, such as site assessments and plot due diligence, were emphasised more than before. High-quality work in the project planning phase resulted in additional work in the overall design of data centers as well as construction management and supervision.  

The growth was addressed by recruiting new project management experts and by making more extensive use of the design resources of Granlund’s various business operations and subcontractors. A significant acquisition was also made in Sweden when K-Lab Projektering AB joined Granlund.  

Going forward, the aim is to maintain the market position and quality of operations and continue sustainable growth.  

The market for energy efficiency projects was more challenging than in previous years. Property owners only made mandatory investments, and most energy subsidies were discontinued.  

The business developed services and created new implementation concepts for electrical energy demand response and smart electricity procurement. In addition, services were expanded from design and consulting to turnkey deliveries, in which Granlund is responsible for the entire project from project development and technical planning to implementation and operational assurance.  

In energy design, reporting and calculation were automated with history data and data management. Individual project development phase preliminary studies were carried out in Sweden.  

In 2025, growth is particularly expected from turnkey deliveries, which are transparent to customers, and new service concepts. 

The renovation market was characterised by caution, which was also reflected in the demand for survey services. Few extensive renovations were started, and projects minimised alteration work and spared building components. A positive side was the support for the circular economy and lower-carbon construction.  

Granlund retained its position in renovation design and grew in electrical design, construction management and supervision. The number of employees increased to approximately one hundred. Customers appreciated Granlund’s comprehensive service and decades of experience in LTP repairs of buildings of different ages.  

In 2025, the goal is to grow the renovation business in all sectors. The strongest growth is expected in construction management and supervision. The organisational changes aim to centralise the development of different areas and create the prerequisites for growth in line with the new department division. 

Granlund’s data-driven services support the monitoring of the situation picture as well as budget and schedule control in the project management of the construction project phase.  

In 2024, the awareness of 4D design increased significantly in the industry and net sales doubled. BIM-based scheduling was used, for example, in data center and industrial projects and in scheduling the planning of the Laakso Joint Hospital.  

Cost control services expanded to include new customers. Granlund performed well in public tenders and secured significant new framework agreements. Growth will continue to be supported by establishing a separate department for cost control services in 2025. The aim is also to develop the use of digital quantity data in the control of construction projects. 

Although the property management market was characterised by uncertainty, the public sector in particular remained active and developed its business intelligence practices with the help of consultants. Property maintenance control was improved with Granlund’s AI-Capex calculation tool, for example.  

Strategic partnership with loyal customers was emphasised in property management services. A large number of new customers were secured during the year, and they were offered maintenance and repair debt management services. Municipalities also needed support for the social and healthcare reform.  

Although there were fewer surveys related to property transactions than before, there was demand for services related to the sustainability of properties and technical management. The surveys emphasised combining the maintenance, energy efficiency and sustainability perspectives. 

The market situation was challenging during the year and price competition increased. Energy consulting did very well in the situation, even though growth was more modest than expected. Long-term customers remained and employee turnover was low. Energy consulting for construction projects remained at the previous year’s level.  

Energy consultants were busy with continuous services offered to long-term customers, such as building services optimisation and energy management, which improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality. Significant new customer contracts were also signed in the Nordic countries. Interest in demand flexibility and district energy solutions is increasing.

Future growth is expected in data-based energy calculation services for demanding properties and property portfolios that utilise artificial intelligence tools, automation and analytics. 

Granlund maintained its position as a versatile technical and strategic sustainability expert in the real estate and construction sector. The year was particularly good in sustainability services for construction projects and the construction product industry. A service solution was developed for the preparation of environmental product declarations (EPD) to produce more accurate data for customers.  

Granlund’s range of sustainability consulting services expanded. In addition to environmental certificates, carbon calculations and circular economy consulting, there was demand for new services related to waste and CSRD reporting and biodiversity, for example. Our experts also worked as outsourced sustainability managers.  

Customers have a growing need for strategic sustainability consulting in the real estate and construction sector and product industries, as well as for biodiversity, carbon footprint and sustainability targets in design and construction management. 

The demand for the device information management software Granlund Designer increased during the year. The background was the digitalisation of the construction industry, which is catching up with other industries. Granlund Designer functions as the same type of data management tool in the planning and construction phase as Granlund Manager during the use of the building.  

In addition to properties, the benefits of Granlund Designer were discovered in demanding industrial projects in particular. The software helps to meet the requirements of the new Building Act, for example, and digitalises many data management stages during a construction project.  

Granlund Designer and Granlund Manager will also be commercialised as a whole in the future. Together, the software products offer a solution for data management throughout the property’s lifecycle.