The SokoPro project bank was part of the Tampere University of Technology’s building project planning simulation course

The RSS Autokaupan Showroom project involved planning a sales space for an imaginary car dealership in the district of Hatanpää in Tampere. The aim of the course was to learn how to work together with other building project parties, prepare the documents needed for a building permit and develop the students’ professional planning and management competence for the future.

The course participants each assumed their own roles in the project, such as that of a planner or project client. The building project also involved monthly planning meetings, in which the participants reviewed the progress of the planning process towards the ultimate goal. As a result of the project, the students were able to successfully prepare all the documents and plans necessary for applying for a building permit.

We got a chance to interview Tampere University of Technology students Jenni Nurmi, Elisa Varis, Leo Salomaa and Tatu Rauhala. Nurmi and Varis represented property development consultants in the project, while Salomaa and Rauhala assumed the role of principal designers.

What kind of challenges did you face in project planning?

“From the perspective of a property development consultant, the most challenging part was keeping the commission within the confines of the budget. The work that went into determining costs and the clients’ requirements was very eye-opening, as none of us had much experience in regard to the distribution of costs.

In addition to this, scheduling the project and providing instructions to different parties took some time. The primary focus was on learning new things, and the collaboration between different disciplines was rewarding.” summarise property development consultants Jenni Nurmi and Elisa Varis.

How well did you manage to steer the project from the perspective of a property development consultant and architect?

“Jenni and Elisa did very well in steering the project, keeping it on schedule until the end and making sure that the necessary plans were completed on time. Collaboration with the architects was seamless, and it was very educational to find out things yourself compared to traditional learning methods.” state the property development consultants.

The project’s architects also praised the straightforward progress of the project and the fact that plans were completed on time. Tatu Rauhala, who served as a principal designer in the project, says that his main duties included scheduling planning and highlighting potential conflicts between different design disciplines. The architect should preferably be one step ahead of the rest of the planning group at all times and solve problems collaboratively.

SokoPro’s strengths in project planning?

The project’s property development consultants and principal designers both emphasised the importance of the project bank for information exchange. SokoPro facilitated collaboration and speeded up decision-making in the planning phase by enabling paper-free operation, fast information exchange and the systematic development of documents.

What kind of benefits did using a project bank provide in regard to the future?

“The project bank provided the course with a feeling of a real project and using it gave us experience in using SokoPro and how documents are managed in real projects. Although the project bank was relatively easy to use, the training held at the start of the course proved very useful.” praises Jenni Nurmi, one of the project’s property development consultants.

Project architects Leo Salomaa and Tatu Rauhala already had prior experience in using project banks in various projects. For them, SokoPro’s features made work more efficient and freed up resources for actual planning work during the course.