Helsinki's Train Factory brands itself around a railway 'lift here' mark

The Train Factory is a former locomotive manufacturing site in Helsinki's Vallila district, repurposed into a major hub for contemporary dining, live entertainment, art and sport. For its rebrand, local agency Hasan & Partners was asked to build an identity that stemmed from the building itself while largely avoiding the predictable railway-themed motifs that heritage venues usually reach for.

The centrepiece is a 'T' based on a utilitarian graphic found on the sides of train carriages, telling engineers where a carriage can safely be lifted during maintenance. The agency reimagined the technical instruction as an 'emblem of elevation' — a shape that also reflects the triangular profile of the building's distinctive skylights. 'The challenge was to design an identity that would borrow from its past while avoiding the obvious,' said Hasan & Partners' design team.

The same thinking runs through the whole system. The logotype and signage take inspiration from traditional Finnish train-car numbering, and a heavy industrial typeface gives the identity a deliberately robust feel. Rather than inventing an arbitrary brand palette, the agency took its primary red from the brick façade and its yellow and grey-blue accents from old factory markings and the industrial cranes still visible inside the space.

The identity has been rolled out across The Train Factory's wayfinding, digital presence, social media and wider communications. Creative Review covered the project on 3 September 2026 as a neat example of smart design giving a disused site a new lease of life without mothballing its heritage — an outmoded visual reference point made relevant again.