City of Helsinki approved on Tuesday April 26 the plans to build a 4-storey annex building to the northern end of Hartwall Arena. The annex will be completed by the end of March 2012, just before the 2012 IIHF World Championship. The annex is designed by Finnish architect Pentti Kareoja. 

- This is a long-term investment. We want Hartwall Arena to be the leading multi-purpose arena in Europe. For this we definitely need more space and better services to our customers, says Chairman of the Board Hjallis Harkimo.

Harkimo also points out that additional space is needed, if Arena wants to host major international events in the future.

Mika Sulin, general secretary of the upcoming IIHF World Championship, is pleased with the plans as well. 

- From our point of view, this is a very good thing. In ice hockey the situation is the same as in any other big event – space needs have grown tremendously over the years and any additional square meters available are greeted with pleasure.