Architecture in Context: Helin Workshop 9783034611473

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Architecture in Context Helin Workshop

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Peter Davey

Architecture in Context Helin Workshop

With an essay by Riitta Nikula

Birkhäuser Basel

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Graphic design: Hannele Grönlund, Helsinki Cover photograph: Tuukka Norri, Helsinki Project coordination: Marja-Riitta Norri, Helsinki; Michael Wachholz, Berlin Translations: Gareth Griffiths & Kristiina Köhli/Riitta Nikula Maija Kasvio A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., USA Bibliographic information published by the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in databases. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. © 2010 Birkhäuser GmbH P.O. Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ∞ Printed in Germany ISBN 978-3-0346-0604-2 987654321 www.birkhauser.ch 4

Contents

Memory and Rigour:

The architecture of Pekka Helin and his team

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The Art of Making Places

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by Riitta Nikula

Living with Nature Villa Saga, the archipelago of Hiittinen Villa Vetro, Kirkkonummi Villa Marga, Raasepori Villa Krona, Kimitoön

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Urban Living Eiranranta Housing, Helsinki Pan-Gyo Housing, Seoul, South Korea Sibelius Block Experimental Housing, Borås, Sweden Laivapoika Housing, Helsinki Sandels Senior Citizens’ Housing, Helsinki Ylätuvanpolku Housing, Helsinki

58 64 68 74 80 86

Urban Textures Kamppi Centre, Helsinki Fornebu Area, Bærum, Norway Kakolanmäki Area, Turku Concept for Hernesaari, Helsinki

92 102 106 110

Civic Identity Parliamentary Annexe, Helsinki Ministry for Social Affairs and Health, Helsinki Sello Library and Music Hall, Espoo Forssa Swimming Baths Vesihelmi, Forssa Nordic Arts Centre, Helsinki Jyväskylä Airport Passenger Terminal, Jyväskylä

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Civilising the Workplace Finnforest Modular Office, Espoo Nokia Head Office, Espoo Baltic Square Office Block, Helsinki Ahlström Salmisaari Office Building, Helsinki UPM Group Head Office, Helsinki

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Appendix The workshop Catalogue of works Illustration credits 5

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PETER DAVEY

M E M O RY A N D R I G O U R : The architecture of Pekka Helin and his team

On a quiet street not far from Senate Square, the centrepiece of Helsinki’s neo-Classical heart, is a late 1990s building that at first seems rather reticent. It is part of the government complex, and houses the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health. Unlike many of its contemporaries built in similar settings elsewhere, Pekka Helin’s design does not strive to demonstrate ­differences with older buildings; nor does it sedulously ape them. Like the surrounding nineteenth-century tenements, it has window openings punched above each other into plane walls, with the whole topped by a sort of mansard roof. Scale and relationships of solid and void are similar to those in Classic­al and Jugendstil neighbours, and openings are connected by horizontal elements. Yet, instead of projecting from the wall plane like traditional string courses, the horizontal components of the composition are in fact recessed strip windows. Instead of stucco-faced masonry or rough stone, the elevations are finished in smooth red granite slabs and the external corner, at the junction of Kirkkokatu and Meritullinkatu, is glazed to dissolve visually. The entrance is signalled by brass doors below a glazed cleft in the cladding, through which a tall atrium complete with flying bridges can be glimpsed. Inside, rose-coloured polished plaster enlivens the general feeling of restraint. Throughout, detailing

is crisp and unassertive. Simple silvery grey steel sections are clearly articulated and offset by the warmth of wood in places that are touched, handrails and fixed furniture for instance. Everything is calm, but with underlying strength. Nowhere is this reticence better seen than in Helin & Co’s music school, chamber concert hall and public library at Sello in Leppävaara, one of the district centres of Espoo, Finland’s rapidly expanding second city, just west of Helsinki. The two cultural buildings are on a new market square built over super­ markets and commercial facilities at ground level. Both are largely clad in dark patinated copper elements, which are relieved by passages of glass in the foyers, letting daylight in and offering vistas of the often animated square to those involved in the usually introverted activities of the two buildings. Scale and texture are given to what could otherwise have been featureless boxes by the delicate grid of the joints between the copper cassettes, which seem to weather rather like the stone slabs they recall. Internally, as in the ministry, you are welcomed in the building’s big space, where a long bridge hovers suspended over the entrance hall, echoing a balcony on the other side of the volume. People on the upper level move at right angles to the entrance route, emphasising your own progression to the heart of the

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1, 2 Ministry for Social Affairs and Health, Helsinki. 3 Sello Library, Leppävaara, Espoo; lobby. 6

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building. The bridge is constructed of glass and grey steel and is as clearly articulated as the bridges in the ministry. Cool metal and glass are enlivened by the warmth of red hand-polished plaster – one of Helin’s favourite materials for public buildings. Construction is intended to be direct and explicit, to the extent that the diagonal braces of the steel structure are exposed internally. But, keen as he may be on making construction in metal and glass legible (or perhaps because of the fact), Helin’s approach rarely resembles the worship of technology, characteristic of British high-tech architecture, which so often attempts to achieve ‘look! no hands’ effects. Helin & Co’s buildings clearly tell the story of how they were built. More obviously responsive to historical context are the big ­urban works. Helin was master planner and architect for a large part of the Kamppi development, in which Helsinki’s central bus station disappeared underground, releasing a very big inner-city site, and creating a subterranean transport interchange with the metro system. Helin was also responsible for designing offices and part of the retail component. Here – at least in the office parts – he has been clearly influenced by the work of Sigurd Frosterus, an architect who in the early decades of the last century fought against what he considered to be the

picturesque, over-folksy wilfulness of the National Romantic school of architects like Eliel Saarinen. Frosterus and his followers replaced it with dark, stern forms of rationalised Classicism, a style in which much of the early twentieth-century commercial centre of Helsinki was constructed, notably the Stockmann department store, close to Kamppi. Helin’s brownish-red brick facades of the office buildings, simply and rhythmically penetrated by vertical rectangular windows, are clearly Frosterian. The three blocks are firmly locked into Kamppi’s elaborate under­ground infrastructure so that they can stare haughtily across the street to a pallid 1950s red-brick tenement. A short distance from the Kamppi complex is a block that is even more reflective of its context. The annexe of the Parliament building is on a very tricky site, where the grid of the city shifts, leaving a vacant triangular plot across a side street from Parliament. Helin & Co won the competition for developing this site and produced a building that clearly responds to its neighbours: the Parliament House itself, a scraped neo-Classic­ al 1920s monument by J.S. Sirén built in pink Kalvola granite, and the Hankkija Office Building, a severe predecessor of Frosterian rationalism built by Jarl Eklund in dark brown brick. In the new building, similar brick clads a triangular block containing individual offices. Attached to this is part of a glazed

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4 Sello Library, detail. 5 Kamppi Centre, Helsinki; facade of one of the office blocks. 6 Parliamentary Annexe with J.S. Sirén’s neo-Classical Parliament House in the background. 7 The facade of the Parliamentary Annexe adapts to the dimensions of the Hankkija Office Building (left) by Jarl Eklund. 7

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cone which is clad in Kalvola granite where it is cut off to face ­Mannerheimintie boulevard, like the Parliament building itself. Like the triangle, the cone is largely occupied by the offices of the Members of Parliament (the annexe is connected to the main building by tunnel). Strikingly, offices on the external sides have full-length windows so that members of the public can observe their MP at work (in the curved part of the cone, a complicated double-glass wall inhibits irate citizens from taking violent action against their representatives). Internally, the conic part contains a top-lit atrium where a cafeteria is overlooked through sloping glass walls by inward-turned offices. The void is a version of the devices often used in the architecture of the north to bring precious daylight into the middle of a deep plan. Other examples of this principle of planning are shown in different ways in many of Helin’s buildings. One of the most dramatic is the building of the Nokia Head Office on the Otsolahti Bay in Espoo near Tapiola. Here, edges of suburb, forest and sea meet; a motorway cuts the site off from much of its surroundings, so there is no clear context, but there are some beautiful moments. The main blocks have central top-lit atria and no opportunity of maximising the internal impact of daylight is lost – even the treads of the elegant spiral stairs that

form sculptural events in the atria are translucent to reduce their shadows. Balustrades and the metal elements of the internal walls surrounding the atria are in Helin’s metallic grey, while passages of exposed wood in floors and balcony ceilings warm the spaces visually. Control of internal temperature and humidity is enhanced by double-glass facades. The double facade creates a wide continuous space between the outer layer of glass and the inner one: it acts as a thermal buffer, and allows windows in the insulated heavy-concrete inner skin to be opened at will by inhabitants to provide a supply of fresh air from the buffer to individual offices. On hot days, louvres in the parapets can be opened automatically to transform the whole buffer into a thermal chimney. In winter, the louvres remain closed so the trapped air acts as an insulating layer. Similar devices had been successfully demonstrated further south in countries like Germany and Switzerland, but it was only slowly accepted elsewhere. Helin was determined that the Nokia headquarters should ­incorporate its first ­application in the Nordic countries. He ­calculated that, in terms of energy savings, the payback time for the additional cost of the fabric would be only seven years. The system is backed up by heat exchangers in the air-­conditioning system that prevent heat being wasted in

8 Parliamentary Annexe, top-lit atrium. 9 Nokia Head Office, Keilalahti, Espoo; interior view. 8

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10 Finnforest Modular Office, Tapiola, Espoo. 11 Baltic Square Office Block (Sitra/ Pricewaterhouse Coopers), Ruoholahti, Helsinki. 12, 13 The metal workers’ Murikka Institute, Tampere.

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exhaust air, and by chilled ceilings that allow temperature to be balanced­in individual offices.

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basement level (there are some exceptions for fire escapes). As a result, Finnforest’s construction emitted much less carbon dioxide than a conventional office block of the same size – by some 40,000 tons. Partly for this reason, wood is increasingly used by Helin – for instance in the interiors of both the Nokia building and in the parliamentary annexe.

The Nokia Head Office may have been the first example of the use of double facades in the north, but the complex is far from being Helin’s first exercise in sustainable building. It is an example of his continuing preoccupation with environmental issues that started before most architects had even heard of concepts like sustainability and global warming. As early as the metal workers’ Murikka Institute (1974–77), Helin, then in partnership with Tuomo Siitonen, was experimenting with among ­other tactics black floors in common areas that were intended to absorb solar heat that entered the complex through large windows, and was then re-radiated by the floors at night. Cooling for the air-conditioning came from the waters of the local lake. The systems worked, but were not widely adopted for lack of client interest at the time. Helin has been a pioneer in exploring the large-scale use of wood in building. Timber construction is more or less neutral in terms of carbon emissions, for it locks the element into the building fabric, from which it is released only by fire or rot. In the demonstration Finnforest Modular Office at Tapiola, wood is almost exclusively used for structure and ­cladding above

Double facades were used again in the Baltic Square Office Block (Sitra/Pricewaterhouse Coopers) in the Ruoholahti area of Helsinki, previously ­devoted to heavy industry, which has recently been transformed into a quarter for service and IT industries.­Sitra’s accommodation is in a tower, where double walls on east and west sides modulate the climate of cellular offices (the organisation is the National Fund for ­Research and Development, and Finnish civil servants demand individual offices). The open, flexible work spaces required by the international accountants are in a lower block containing ­Pricewaterhouse’s big, mainly open-plan offices. Here, offices­, a top-lit atrium, a café and a shop are also enclosed by double walls, built like those of the tower with a structure of CorTen rusting steel (a substance that can easily be recycled). The atrium is an echo of the lobbies of New York skyscrapers or the glazed arcades­of London or Paris, which simultaneously

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contain private spaces and public thoroughfares. Such urban types could surely be explored further in the context of Nordic winters. Relationships between public and private zones are critical in housing, and Helin & Co have much experience in the field. One of the earlier schemes was at Borås, a small city in southern Sweden, which held a competition for new ideas for suburban housing in 1990. A separate site in the glaciated and forested landscape that surrounds the city was devoted to each of the four major Nordic countries. Helin & Siitonen won the competition for the Finnish site. Their entry involved two differ­­ ent building types, one by each partner, but only Helin’s was constructed. It consisted of two rectangular blocks of housing, wedge-shaped in section, and set at a slight angle in plan. The wedges rise from one storey to six at the highest end. Between the two is a tapering semi-public court leading to the lift at the highest end of the scheme from which there is access to individual flats that vary in size, with two-storey units at the top of the wedges. Entrances and kitchens are on the court sides of the slabs, with the more private areas for living and sleeping on the outer flanks of the scheme. Each flat has a generous balcony

detached from the main mass. Fabricated in silvery-grey steel, balconies are stacked above each other among the trees as virtually separate structures from the white-painted main blocks that have concrete frame structures with precast floors, walls and sloping roofs. The latter are covered in layers of peat and soil and sown with grass and meadow flowers. Each unit has a terrace that penetrates the green roof layer, providing inhabitants with close contact with nature yet a great degree of privacy. That combination is what most people hope to gain from living in the suburbs, yet the Borås scheme makes a contribution to carbon management by suggesting forms of housing that offer the benefits of suburban living, but at much higher densities than are obtainable with normal detached houses; potential economies in land-take, transport and heating are obvious. In inner-city housing, the balance between nature and built fabric must be struck in different ways. The site of the ­Laivapoika scheme in Ruoholahti is constrained by roads and a new ornamental canal by Juhani Pallasmaa, so the resulting block is a rough wedge in plan, with perimeter housing surrounding central semi-private gardens. Like the Borås housing, the buildings are clad in precast panels, this time textured and

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coloured (mostly in white and different kinds of blue). These heavy elements are relieved by passages in steel and glass in balconies and stairwells. For instance, the glass blocks round the stair at the eastern end of the complex act as a focussing device for the light of the rising sun, concentrating it in the inner court. Nature enters the city with quiet drama. Laivapoika is a scheme that establishes a new context in the ­immemorial European urban scale of tenement housing, ­although it is gentler than the big commercial buildings like the Sitra Tower further north. At quite the other end of the spectrum of housing design are the villas created in the forest by Helin & Co for individual families. They all respond intimately to their sites. For instance, the plan of the Villa Vetro at Kirkko­ nummi, which overlooks the Porkkala fjord from a wild promontary, is determined by the prospects of the nascent archipelago, the need to preserve as many mature trees as possible and by the exposed glacier-scraped rocks. On the fjord side, a sinuous glass wall fringed by a wide larch deck was evolved, winding through apparently untouched nature and offering ever changing views of fjord and forest. Here again is a response to context as sensitive as that of the ministry to the neo-Classical heart of Helsinki. Results are of course very different.

Contextualist and carbon-conscious he may be, but Helin­ nowhere adopts either of the two currently fashionable ­approaches. One, the iconic, meaninglessly writhes and capers to draw attention to itself. The other approach is vacuous in its attempt to create an apparently existing context à la Prince of Wales. Helin attempts neither. His powerful architecture is intended to complement the existing rather than either overwhelming or copying it. His work gains its authority from a thorough understanding of human scale and human behaviour that is visible in his planning of everything from office blocks to individual houses. His constructional approaches are always legible and clear, and his commitment to environmental sustainability patently becomes ever more important. Helin & Co’s buildings exude integrity and gentle authority: quiet, thoughtful, humane but tough – thoroughly Finnish.

14 Suburban housing at Borås, Sweden. 15, 16 Laivapoika (Shipboy) Housing, Ruoholahti, Helsinki. 16

17 Villa Vetro, Kirkkonummi.

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RIITTA NIKULA

T HE ART OF MAKING P L A C E S

“The current global shift from one epoch of architecture to another may be real progress if, instead of a single new, quickly outdated truth, an idea of a polyphony of forms, of several independent architectures is adopted. This must not, however, mean that we should throw ourselves into dogmatic relativism; architecture is bound to culture by a changing field of ideology – knowledge, ethics and community ties – not by mysticism, arbitrariness and escapism.” Pekka Helin, 1980

When an architect designs something new for an urban fabric that has been built up according to the conflicting needs and ideals of several generations, he is required to retain control over two particular dimensions that differ awkwardly from one another. Each new building in the cultural landscape always shows equally clearly the designer’s own sense of history as well as how skilful he is in the application of the techniques and materials of his own time. After the Second World War, Finland became industrialised and urbanised in rapid bursts. In the building industry, prefabricated construction began to be developed comparatively late, but then in the 1960s it took over the market almost completely. New structural solutions and building materials were developed in the belief that with their help a better world could be built and welfare could be spread more evenly. The building industry became a powerful factor in the nation’s economy. Pekka Helin studied architecture at Helsinki University of Technology at a time when anything new was unquestioningly considered better than the old. The architect’s job was defined in terms of problem-solving, and the young generation were taught to look only forward. The history of architecture had a marginal place in the educational curriculum. Indeed, Alvar Aalto had happily quoted Nietzsche’s words ”Nur die Dunkelmänner blicken zurück” [Only shady characters look back]. Helin did not quite agree with this formulation. In an interview in later years he fondly remembered an art teacher from his school days who was also a researcher and who had made the pupils in the school in Tampere pay attention to the sturdy ­architecture of Lars Sonck. During Helin’s student days, Aarno Ruusuvuori represented the strictest line in modernism among the professors at the Department of Architecture, ”a cultivator of pure form, pure space and pure light”, as Helin characterises him. An opposite viewpoint to this arose outside the department with architect Reima ­Pietilä’s aesthetics of the free form, in which Helin took an interest early 12

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1 Tasankotie housing blocks, Tapanila, Helsinki. 2, 3 Woodnotes House, Kauklahti, Espoo.

on. When discussing his Finnish educational background, significantly he mentions only these two masters of modernism. Perhaps the tension between Ruusuvuori’s strict right-angled proportioned geometry and Pietilä’s robust free forms could be a key to explaining the starting point of Helin’s own architecture. It seems as if Helin was from the beginning receptive to the influence of Ruusuvuori’s detailing that was polished to the extreme. Helin’s early main work, completed in 1977, Murikka, the Finnish Metal Workers’ Union training centre in Tampere, despite its geometrically strict basic design, softly completes the forms of the surrounding natural landscape, while its materials and detailing pay homage to the hard precision of metalworking. Those who want to see architecture as a battle of styles like to refer to the opposing pairs of supermodernism versus the organic. The battle of names is always pointless, but if treated as a game Helin could be defined as the supermodernist who is not shackled by the right-angle, a builder of systems with a rich geometry who intervenes in nature and culture so that the original beauty of the location is highlighted. This is the ­approach I have taken when discussing Helin’s main works from the early years up to the present. A rapid beginning: offices for modern work environments The Finnish architectural education system has been both praised and criticised for its pragmatism. Since the times of Eliel Saarinen, Armas Lindgren and Hermann Gesellius, students have launched their careers with victories over the ­established masters in architectural competitions. They have also received apprentice training, working as assistants for their professors in the private offices that the professors have run in parallel with their teaching duties. On the other hand, having a job whilst studying complemented in an important way the strengths of the professors and directed the students into completely new areas. As a student, Helin worked in the City of Helsinki Regional Planning Association and Helsinki Planning Department and not in small private studios. Helin’s proposal in the town planning competition for Luolaja in Hämeenlinna in 1971 was also his final diploma project. It won first prize and the City of Hämeenlinna subsequently drew up the town plan on the basis of the proposal. Helin graduated as an architect with a project that was not only a competitionwinning entry but also suitable for implementation. Pragmatic architectural education produced a maximal result. In 1973 Helin, with architects Tuomo Siitonen, Matti Nurmela, Jyrki Tasa and Kari Raimoranta, formed the joint office Katras,

which was successful in several architectural competitions. In 1979 Katras was divided into two practices. The office of Helin & Siitonen then began a successful cooperation that lasted two decades and in which each partner also had his own projects. Helin & Co was founded in 1998. Helin’s résumé of work is long and encompasses almost all ­areas of architecture. Even though grand public buildings and innovative office buildings understandably draw most attention, it is important also to mention housing design, which from the 1980s onwards has continually been significant to Helin. Throughout this period, he has designed both luxury private houses and social housing in different settings; student housing, housing for the elderly and disabled as well as houses for millionaires, situated on shorelines and open fields, in old city districts and in new areas. Helin’s work in housing can be illustrated with a just a few schemes. An interesting early example is the group of high-rise blocks on Tasankotie road in the district of Tapanila, Helsinki, completed in 1980. It is a sturdy courtyard milieu comprised of three- and four-storey blocks, with a circulation system of access galleries. The blocks are rental accommodation produced within the strict budgetary limits set by the City of Helsinki. Particularly notable in this unostentatious solution is how easily the new housing block sits within the lively wooden housing of the existing old villa district as well as the surrounding open field landscape. The housing block is constructed from prefabricated elements combining red and yellow brick and grey concrete. The pitched roofs softly press the multi-storey blocks into the landscape of open fields. Even in the small flats the floor plans and lighting have been solved with exceptional attention to detail. A more recent achievement in housing design by Helin, which has also received more attention, is the Woodnotes House built for the 2006 Housing Fair in Kauklahti, Espoo. It is a spacious, single-family house that received praise from both professionals and the general public. Critics’ favourites have probably never before come top in public opinion polls. The multi-storey housing group from 2008, designed by ­Helin for the Eiranranta district of Helsinki, on the other hand, has raised heated discussion in the capital, the question being whether it is necessary in Finland to build housing areas for rich people in the best locations with the finest views. The special solutions and top-of-the-range fittings have raised the price of these apartments sky high. There has, however, not been any disagreement about the excellence of the design. Swimming halls, together with other facilities for the well-­ being of the general public, have generally been seen as 13

socially important and are praised by both critics and users. The design solution for the elegant Tampere Swimming Centre came about already in the winning proposal in an architectural competition held in 1972, the joint designers for which were Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen, Antti Laiho and Klaus Lindh. The uncomplicated spaciousness of the swimming hall, completed in 1979, situated in the district of Kaleva, turns recreational swimming into a serene environmental experience. The clarity of this powerful building is uncontrivedly linked to the surrounding park and 1950s cityscape of multi-storey residential blocks. It is pleasant to swim in a landscape amidst the varying colours and lighting conditions of the changing Finnish seasons. The Hollola swimming hall and multi-purpose centre was built in 1986, the design of which was also based on a competitionwinning proposal. The joint designer with Helin and Siitonen was Petri Eerikäinen. Combining a youth centre with a swimming pool makes the spatial layout of the building complex more multi-faceted, but without compromising on clarity. The swimming hall for the city of Forssa, completed in 1993, is more complex than previous ones. Helin himself wrote of the scheme that when planning began in 1988, both the ascetic, performance-centred stage and the spa cliché with the plastic foliage and pink flamingo had already passed. After these came “comfort through the authentic means of architecture”. Due to the building’s oblique corners and varying window shapes, the solution skilfully catches external light and reflects it back into the water. Even the foliage is genuine, a product of nature. There is, however, one interesting gap in Helin’s production. He has not designed a single church, even though modern Finnish church architecture is regarded, particularly from an inter­ national perspective, as an important phenomenon, an area of design where work is of a particularly high standard, where aesthetic ambition can blossom most freely. Helin explains that when studying the history of architecture he was shocked by the fact that architects in the nineteenth century focused their skills on the decoration of ceremonial buildings of the ruling class still at a time when engineers were changing the principles of all building by developing refined steel construction. He was impressed by the ethical mission of early modernist architecture, the understanding that it was possible to improve the world through design of housing and cities. For these reasons Pekka Helin and Tuomo Siitonen decided early on to leave the architectural competitions for churches to others and to focus instead on tasks that had larger social

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4 Tampere Swimming Centre. 5, 6 Swimming hall and multi-purpose centre, Hollola.

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7 Nokia Head Office, Keilalahti, Espoo; roof terrace.

implications, such as various kinds of housing and work environments, and cities. But not getting involved in church design did not prevent Helin from appreciating the finest achievements of Nordic church architecture. Noteworthy among his scarce literary output is a well researched article, published in the Finnish Architectural Review in 1986, on the architecture of the Swedish master architect Sigurd Lewerentz, who died in 1975. In the article he succinctly analyses the Skogskyrkogården cemetery in Stockholm, designed by Lewerentz with Gunnar Asplund. Helin writes almost affectionately about the landscape of the cemetery and the architecture of its different chapels as well as the fascinating way one moves around this unique place. Of course, he also discusses the intrigues of the history of the design of this expansive totality. Helin does not fall into sentimentality. To date, Helin has designed a total of two to three million cubic metres of built space. It is impossible for the layperson to perceive such a large volume, but even a brief visit to the commercial centres he has designed in Kamppi in Helsinki and Sello in Leppävaara and the office buildings of Nokia, Sitra, ­Ilmarinen and Finnforest, opens up new dimensions of thinking,­where the old concepts of ‘house’ and ‘building’ have to be redefined. Helin has daringly attempted to ascertain how large totalities can be built in a controlled manner following a single plan, and how many functions it is possible to intersperse within a single architectonically innovative totality. He has purposefully broken down the borders of the job descriptions of the town planner and architect. This is the scope of his ambitious and intellectually, aesthetically and practically engrossing architecture. How much can a single architect achieve, and how large an office and expert group does it take to achieve productive cooperation? I contemplated these particular questions when following the construction of the Kamppi Centre in the centre of Helsinki from 2000 to 2006. First an enormously wide and deep hole was excavated replacing the former military parade ground from the era when Finland was a grand duchy; each digger seemed like a toy sitting in a doll’s house. Then something began to be built rapidly in the middle of the city, every week ­offering something new to marvel at, but for a long time ­offering no clues to the curious passers-by why the concrete and steel were placed exactly as they were. Following the building site was popular entertainment for the general public.­When occasionally public tours of the building site were arranged, people 16

of all ages queued for hours to be allowed to the bottom of the excavation to hear what was going to be built there. After its completion, the Kamppi Centre changed the focus of the commercial centre of Helsinki more than any other individual building project since the Senate Square ­designed by C.L. Eng­ el in the first half of the nineteenth century. The work of Helin’s office in the capital has grown to such an extent that an older colleague wrote that the city should remove a letter from the name of the city, because the name ‘Helinki’ corresponds better to the modern appearance of Helsinki. The quip can be understood as a joke tinged somewhat with jealousy, in that Helin’s grands projets are always unique buildings designed for specific places; in a historical environment emphasising the value of the old, and in a new area creating identity not only for the specific site but also for the whole area. I will now try to analyse this claim through examples of Helin’s main projects. The Nokia Head Office – Keilalahti, Espoo Not a single road sign directs the traveller from Helsinki to the neighbouring city of Espoo. The person who drives along the Länsiväylä highway that leads westwards to the coastal town of Hanko, however, arrives through a gate that expresses explicitly the unique character of the young city. On the left side of the highway is the first of the two columns of the gate, the decorative Sinebrychoff summer villa built on Karhusaari island in 1892, which solemnly gazes out to sea. Karhusaari island, with its buildings and tree-lined avenues, beautifully built by a brewery family, is an impressive memorial to the former ­rural parish of manor houses and villas which after the Second World War became a strange quilt of industrial areas and commuter suburbs. Espoo has been a city only since 1972 and now has a population of 240,000. The Keilalahti shoreline, on the right side of the highway, is lined by a row of modern office buildings. The steel and glass facades are a gleaming testimonial to the competitive optimism of the IT industry that began in the 1990s. In the row closest to the Sinebrychoff villa is the second column of the ­Espoo city gate, the angular volume of the Nokia Head Office designed by Helin. The first stage, completed in 1997, is sited at the point where the curve of the bay meets the highway. ���������������� The second­stage was completed in 2001. The eventful cooperation between Nokia and Helin began in 1983 when the Helin & Siitonen office won the invited architectural competition arranged by the company for the design of their new head office in Keilalahti. The competition proposal

was based on the principle of connected squares and the triangular shapes contained within them. As a cubic composition strictly demarcated from nature, the first form of the Nokia Head Office had a heavier appearance than what was eventually built. There were discussions with the company about the choice between granite and the cheaper alternative of concrete as facade materials. The architects’ own preference, granite, won. Nokia did not get a granite building in the end, although the basic geometry of the volumes and spaces was already established at this early stage. The completion of the first Nokia building, based on the 1983 competition proposal, had to wait a long time due to the City of Espoo’s cumbersome town planning process. During this time the company reduced its operations and began to focus on IT technology, which coincided luckily with the right ­moment in global economic history. Nokia, as a conglomerate, had already at the beginning of the 1980s strengthened its position in the IT and consumer electronics market. Towards the end of the decade Nokia became the largest IT technology company in the Nordic countries. When global markets were deregulated, Nokia’s Keilalahti ­office building did not become the head office of a conglomerate but rather the decision-making centre of an IT company that developed and produced the latest in communications technology, and which expanded its operations. Economists have analysed the Nokia phenomenon from different angles, but one can see the economic history of the company represented in the various stages of Helin’s design, from the first planning delay via one economic recession to the great economic upswing. When construction of the building finally became possible, Nokia arranged a new invited competition at the turn of 1994 and 1995 to ensure a suitable solution for the new situation. Helin and his assistants submitted as many as eight proposals and received first and second prize. To quote the architect’s own presentation in the Finnish Architectural Review following the completion of the first part of the Nokia Head Office in 1997: “The basic idea was to pack a large volume into a compact form­in a manner that would leave the central characteristics of the Tapiola landscape intact. Vertically, the mass was articulated to match the horizontal skyline drawn by the woods. The plot is situated close to a motorway interchange; the curving multi-level car park shelters the yard and the main building. Between the sea and the building lies the pedestrian and 17

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bicycle way included in the city plan. The unique vistas towards the surrounding nature have contributed to the orientation of the spaces as well as the planning of the terraces. The leading objective of the design was to build a working environment for the new millennium that could inspire creative­ thinking and interaction. This has been achieved through a ­repetitive, easily altered spatial unit catering equally well for both individual and group working. Communication is enhanced­through transparency between the different areas and spatial groupings and through the cellular landscape office and desk areas. A versatile and flexible working environment is achieved through the repetition of the basic spatial unit and the large number of options for the secondary spatial division. The plan is developed around a triangle of 1,000 net square metres in which the number of restricting, fixed structures and installations has been kept to the minimum. The communication plan within the building encourages positive encounters; informal interaction has been acknowledged as a platform for innovative thinking. The spaces are arranged around two atria, whose ground levels act as versatile agoras housing a restaurant, meeting place and exhibition area. The building has the first double facade ever realised in the Nordic countries, marking a step towards more sustainable development. Passive means are used to save the energy needed for cooling during the summer and heating during the winter. The exterior thermal stress is relieved through the double facade, the interior stress through cooling beams and convectors.” When the building was completed, Maj-Lis Rosenbröijer’s landscape planning brought a verdant copse of birches into the new Finnish landscape of technical innovation. Unexpected experiences unfold within the interior of the building. The warm colours of the many different types of wood and the greyish green and blue of the hand-floated stucco lustro on the walls create a warm atmosphere in the tall atrium spaces. The organic material and the hand-crafted wall surface create a sympathetic alliance with the technical geometry of the steel and glass. Nokia employees heap praise on the functionality of their workspaces. One of the directors lived in Tapiola, a ten-minute bicycle ride from his workplace. He happily recounted that it was necessary, however, to reserve more time for the journey because walking from the entrance via the atrium and spiral stairs to his own office always took him at least fifteen minutes because the route allowed him to meet so many colleagues

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and to discuss so many issues along the way. My own unforgettable personal experience of the Nokia building is set in the sauna facilities on the top floor. They are stylish yet restrained, and the usual problems of company saunas for entertaining guests, the clichéd luxury or the heavy Finnish nationalism, are not present to disturb the mood of Nokia’s guests. It is a place for carefree relaxation. Both Nokia and the city of Espoo developed in unforeseen bursts of activity. The extension to the Nokia Head Office was completed in 2001. Helin presented the work in the Finnish Architectural Review under the headline “Half-cylinder and cone”: “The extension to the Nokia Head Office became necessary due to the company’s rapid growth. Extra space was needed, some 16,500 square metres gross, equalling half the existing floor area, or room for approximately 700 employees. Out of the three proposals, the company management chose a scheme comprising a tall curved mass and a lower rectangular block. A semi-cylindrical atrium situated between the principal masses is used for dining, conferences, and festive events.” Helin’s succinct presentation provides an in-depth explanation of the use of the various spaces. Technology, however, is the main focus. A lot of development work had been carried out for energy-saving purposes, including the further development of the double glass facade system from the first stage. When it comes to the final result, it is very rewarding to walk around the outside of the building. The composition is, with its reflections and enclosed and transparent sections, something of a Gesamt­ kunstwerk. On the side of the building facing the sea, a semicircular facade wraps around a composition of two triangles, ­increasing the compactness of the composition. Viewed from the main road, the new extension harmoniously joins to the curve of the adjacent multi-storey car park, the latter having an increasingly important role in the facade facing the road. Ruoholahti Pressures to build in Helsinki in recent decades have been aimed at both increasing density in the old city districts as well as building along the shorelines east and west of the city centre. Large areas have already been built along the coast and the pace of development has been increasing. The construction of a new large port in Vuosaari, east Helsinki, led to wasteland and parts of the old harbour area being cleared, creating space for the construction of new housing. These new buildings compliment the historical areas of the Helsinki cape in many ways, bringing 18

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8–10 Small business enterprises in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, in the 1980s. 11, 12 Laivapoika housing block, Ruoholahti, Helsinki. 12

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13 Baltic Square Office Block (Itämerentori Tower, Sitra/Pricewaterhouse Coopers Office Building), Ruoholahti, Helsinki. 14 Ilmarinen Head Office, Ruoholahti, Helsinki; top-lit atrium. 15 Ilmarinen Head Office and tower of the Baltic Square Office Block.

gradual yet complete change to the entire city. As recently as the 1980s, the Ruoholahti seafront was still a diverse area of small business enterprises: heaps of sand, tatty wooden fences, masons’ yards, piles of old tyres and derelict telephone boxes made the place ruggedly romantic. The potential of the area that lay dormant next to the city centre was then discovered and in 1988 a town planning competition was held, won by Pauliina and Juha Kronlöf. Based on their winning entry, from 1992 to 2002 a new city district was built south of the main traffic artery, Itämerenkatu street, on each side of a canal, the sides of which were clad in natural stone. The new city district was effectively tied to the city centre by the introduction of the western terminus of the city’s metro line and a tram line. The objective was to create a city district for 20,000 inhabitants and over 10,000 workplaces. The street grid of the residential blocks of Ruoholahti continues the scale of the old city centre, the pedestrian traffic of the residential courtyards and public areas is supported by the stone-clad canal landscape designed by Juhani Pallasmaa. The housing blocks were built with the aim of social equality: the city’s own rental flats and market-rate housing were placed around common courtyards in five- to seven-storey blocks. The city’s housing production office kept tight control of the pro­ cess and costs. Experienced architects were chosen for the individual design tasks. Helin was commissioned to design the eastern gate of the ­canal scheme. The Laivapoika housing block, completed in 1995, is the most prominent element of the whole area, a building composition free of conventionality. Whenever walking around in the area you can still find yourself stopping to wonder about some detail or other in the scheme that you have not noticed before, due to the lighting conditions at any particular moment. The housing block is divided up into three buildings comprising a total of six lamella-like units. The predominantly white tower at the corner rises to a height of eight storeys, while the rest is six storeys. The north side terminates Eerikinkatu street which continues from the old city centre; the southern side offers unrestricted views over the harbour seafront to the sea, while the west side overlooks a park. Much attention was paid to the development of the structures, materials and floor plans of the flats. Helin wrote that the difficult relationship between the formula for the detailed town plan and a finely detailed room programme was only solved after three months of hard work. The fact that prefabricatedelement technology had to be used for the facades due to

economic considerations was turned into an advantage. The facades of the Laivapoika housing area differ on each side of the block. The fenestration, together with the colours and skilful changes in materials, have an exhilarating effect on the cityscape. Vertical and horizontal lines come together in a composition that is simultaneously strongly enduring yet always shifting. The balcony towers between the lamella blocks, built in glass bricks and steel, provide a rhythm to the thunder-blue facades. The blue of the prefabricated concrete elements of the facades is integral, and by means of grooves applied by a special technique a tough and solid appearance with strong tactile qualities was achieved in casting. The contrasting white elements are smoothly cast in white concrete. Choosing the Finnish Concrete Architecture Award for 1995 probably did not require long debate. Anyone moving around Ruoholahti in the 2010s cannot help but wonder why more durable innovations comparable to the solution of Laivapoika were not built. In addition to ordinary flats, the Laivapoika housing area also comprises special units for disabled persons, artisans, old ­people and those with mobility handicaps. There are common spaces for the use of all residents at street level and the stairwells have been designed to provide a dignified atmosphere. The common spaces and passages in the sheltered courtyard are clad in schist and plants have been carefully selected. ­Already, one can note the passing of time from the growth of maple trees and ash trees. The banking crisis of the early 1990s paralysed office building construction. The housing blocks in Ruoholahti had to wait a long time for the row of office buildings that from the beginning had been intended as a protective wall between them and the main road. Plots reserved for the office buildings were left fallow for a decade and, at some point, willow bushes were planted on them as an environmental artwork. During that period there was a sufficient supply of empty office space in the city. As the turn of the millennium approached, however, the situation changed, when the IT industry began its meteoric rise. The operating culture and working methods of the organisations changed. The old office buildings, with their individual offices, were deemed unsuitable as cooperation and communication were given priority. Hence innovations were sought in the layout of open-plan offices, and new kinds of office buildings were needed. When in recent years there has been talk about ”Nokia Finland”, the often harsh critique of the architecture has been 21

directed at the glass-facade office buildings that quickly grew up along Itämerenkatu street in Ruoholahti. The row of office buildings, all of an even height, has been criticised due to an apparent contradictoriness. The glass of the facades is, due to its transparency and how it is traditionally interpreted, a mat­ erial that suggests openness; but in the new office buildings­ the glass is the mysterious envelope of enclosed spaces, ­beyond which the uninvited cannot enter. Anni Vartola wrote in 2005: “One of the paradoxes of our time is how this architecture of the democratic IT society, that has created a new working culture, an architecture of open spaces and glass facades­, has in fifteen years become the symbol of a repressive social aloofness.” The tall Itämerentori Tower, which can be seen from afar, provides a compositional rhythm for the tall row of buildings of Ruoholahti. The tower, designed by Helin and completed in 2000, has become the landmark for the area. From the 1920s to the 2000s there was generally a strong negative attitude in Helsinki towards buildings that rose above the old city skyline. There have been many arguments, but the “tower faction” has won only in the case of the Keski-Pasila area of the city, which is still at the town planning stage. Kenneth Frampton has, like many others, particularly praised Helsinki for its restraint: the Helsinki skyline is not broken by the tower blocks of competing companies, and the church towers still retain their esteemed position. Helin explains the urban planning premise for his tower design as follows: ”This entity, comprising offices, a café and a shop, is located in the core of the new Ruoholahti area in Helsinki, which within a short time has grown into an important centre of IT companies and expertise. The building also acts as significant landmark over a wider area of the city and as a townscape node, with clear elements according to the theory of Kevin Lynch.” Helin further explains that ”the surroundings and the design’s emphasis on sustainable development and ecology, set by the objectives of the users, led to a combination of Cor-Ten steel and refined steel in the facade materials. […] Innovative use was made of steel in the structure, from the frame to the details. Energy saving and the durability of the envelope are promoted by the double facade, carried on Cor-Ten sections and stiffened by acid-resistant steel bars. The construction also substantially attenuates traffic noise.” Cor-Ten steel was invented in the USA at the beginning of the 1940s. According to Helin, Eero Saarinen made architects aware of the material when he used it in a couple of large

projects in the 1960s. He estimates that the first project in ­Finland to use it was an office building in Veräjämäki, ­Helsinki, designed by Jaakko Laapotti in the 1970s. According to ­Helin, the use of Cor-Ten steel cannot be regarded as a fashion trend. The material is expensive and requires particularly care­ ful ­detailing and construction. Its use, however, is justified in terms of sustainable development. Cor-Ten walls do not require surface finishes and the manufacturer will recycle any material taken out of use. The design of the tall tower and the adjacent five-storey lower section opens up both practically and visually the wall of enclosed glass buildings. The rich geometry of the primary volumes breaks down the heavy stereometry that threatened the area. On its east side the Itämerentori Tower terminates the row of glass buildings, while on its west side it links with the early twentieth-century industrial buildings, the brick former factories and power station. The newcomer lightly takes visual support from the chimney of the power station. The tower functions as a joint both visually and in practice. The spiral staircase demanded by fire regulations is placed in a glass cylinder which emphasises the height of the tower, giving it a lighter appearance. The combination of dark steel and clear glass is vibrant. The wall that overlooks the lower section of the office floors of the tower has a bright blue stucco lustro surface, Helin’s elegant signature, at the junction of the two. The spacious atrium and shops keep the flow of people in movement. Opposite Itämerentori, at the point where the multi-lane Länsiväylä highway takes an awkward tight curve eastwards, between the historic hospital and the cemetery, is Helin’s second office building designed for Ruoholahti. The head office of the Ilmarinen insurance company, completed in 2002, is a counterpoint to the tower, with its large low volume mysteriously hidden on the site so that its cobalt-blue steel facade elements help to provide a structure together with the different materials, creating a totality with a well-controlled rhythm. One would not assume that there are six floors in the Ilmarinen building, and the glass roofs of its atrium spaces rise to a height of almost 30 metres. At the rear of the building, the enclosed courtyards subtly mute the atmosphere in relation to the solemn surroundings. Schist-clad walls protect the courtyards, with pedestrian routes separating them from the natural stone wall of the adjacent cemetery. Vigorously growing trees give the finishing touch to the overall calmness of the place. The Finnish Parliament Annexe The Finnish Parliament Annexe is a dynamic union of steel, 22

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16 Parliamentary Annexe between the old Parliament House and the Hankkija Office Building. 17 Old black poplar trees on the plot before the construction of the Parliamentary Annexe. 23

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18 Aerial view of Kamppi Centre and surroundings. 19, 20 Construction site of Kamppi Centre. 21 Kamppi and Helsinki Railway Station in the 1950s. 22 The wind-swept landscape of open bus platforms on the site of the present Kamppi Centre in the 1970s.

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glass, concrete, brick and granite. Its skilfully organised bi-partite volume binds together the historical conflict between three different buildings in the heart of Helsinki to create a balanced cityscape. The red-brick former Nikolajeff (nowadays Hankkija) building from 1913, designed by Jarl Eklund, was in its time the modern northern landmark of the city’s southern districts. The heavy Classical Parliament building, designed by J.S. Sirén, had from 1931 onwards stood on its rock base, looking over the extensive railway yard area as an uncommunicative granite block. As late as the 1950s, Sirén almost desperately hoped that it would be tied into the cityscape. On the south side of ­Mannerheimintie road, the dramatically curving Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Steven Holl, brought in 1999 a third difficult element to the most problematic node in the city. When the design of the Parliament Annexe began, many people wanted to protect the wedge-shaped park that was left between the railway line and Arkadiankatu street. In particular, the rare old black poplar trees on the plot became the centre of attention and a movement to protect them was founded. When construction began in 2001 on Helin’s scheme – based on the winning proposal in a 1999 architectural competition – most of the poplars were felled. The annexe was completed in 2004. The melancholy plot adjacent to a railway cutting became a spatial artwork breathing in a contemporary rhythm, where every form and material is tied to its surroundings, so that the best features of the older architecture are highlighted. The Hankkija building received as a companion a dark brickclad volume, whose sharp corners, roof terrace with excellent views and free fenestration play with the more delicate vertical rhythms in a way typical of the architecture of its time. The main facade of the building faces the Kiasma Museum, and here the brick-clad part is joined at a shallow angle by a lower element. Towards Mannerheimintie the windowless facade is clad in the same Kalvola pink granite as the facades of the old Parliament building. The double-glass facade curving above the railway cutting respectfully acknowledges the solid plinth of the Parliament building. When walking around the building one notices how all the verticals and horizontals of the lower part have been dimensioned to follow the proportions of the surroundings. From the roof terrace restaurant opposite one can best see how skilfully space has been organised in the public square and park in front of the annexe. The many artworks in the square in front of the building further prevent the feared introversion of an institutional building.

Stylish play directs the visitor into the interior spaces where only the security system slows entry further into the building. The large spiral stair invites visitors down to the atrium on the lower ground floor. The crescent-shaped atrium, which is enclosed by an upward-opening conical surface, is the main space of the building. This skin is formed of flat glass panels­ fixed in place like fish scales. The entity becomes a sort of fused chronological mapping device and kaleidoscope. It ­reflects and partly forms multiple images of people’s movements in the building, the passing of clouds in the sky and the light of the moon or the sun – all depending on the position of the person observing, and the time of year and day. Many different types of wood and natural stone have been used in the interior design. One conference room has even been clad with panels cut from the black poplar trees that previously grew on the site. Kamppi Centre For many decades there was a lot of empty space in the centre of Helsinki. Until the 1990s the Finnish Parliament House overlooked an increasingly quiet railway yard, even though there had been plans since the 1910s for the Töölö bay area to be part of a modern city centre. The Kamppi area, with its former Russian barrack buildings and parade grounds, also waited many decades for a more efficient use than a wind-swept landscape of open bus platforms. The last remaining barracks, transformed into a bus station, was a reminder of times past. Helsinki City Planning Office made thorough preparations for the town plan of the Kamppi area, and in 2000 a site devel­ opment competition was arranged for the area. It was won by Helin’s team and in 2006 the huge building complex was completed on the plot lined by the streets of Urho Kekkosen katu, Fredrikinkatu and Salomonkatu and on the Manner­ heimintie road side by the Lasipalatsi building and the former bus station, now in use as an exhibition space. The bus stops for both the capital region’s western local bus traffic and the long-distance bus traffic were placed underground, beneath the commercial areas, offices and apartments. In the vast project, responsibility was divided between several people. Apart from the overall concept, Helin was also responsible for the office and commercial premises, Juhani Pallasmaa for the shopping centre, Aki Davidsson for the bus terminals, Marja-Riitta Norri for the housing, and Kirsi Gullichsen for the Tennispalatsi public square. The Kamppi Centre is a new kind of complex in Finland, a composition that combines many requirements, and through 25

which many people are forced to walk due to the placement of the bus traffic. The ordinary consumer also easily enters into the shopping mall because its overall size is clear and spacious. The shops and eateries can easily be found. Moving around is effortless. Everybody creates natural routes through the large city block and into its interior, according to their own needs. There are indeed complaints that the youth already enjoy Kamppi too much. It has probably been a surprise for many that the underground bus station has proven to be an effective public transport facility. Due to an efficient ventilation system there is no smell of fumes, and a clear signage system, which particularly takes into consideration the visually impaired, provides excellent ­orientation and assures that transfers from the metro to a bus are easily made. The Helsinki resident who has grown attached to the historical city, with its streets, squares, parks and the layered, reasonably sized city blocks comprised of buildings of many different ages, has in recent years for good reason been seriously concerned at the construction of hypermarkets increasingly further away from the city centre. There is a continuous debate about the fate of small corner shops. Recent opinion polls, however, show that not all Finns want to live in a single-family house and drive everywhere by car. Energy-political understanding is growing. It is now perhaps possible to believe that the corner shops and large Kamppi Centre can live in harmony for a long time. New dimensions of wood construction Since the end of the twentieth century new ecological consciousness has brought a new focal point to the development of architecture, one which continues to be strengthened. The carbon footprint of a building is a new quantity in the world of construction. In practice, the aim of an individual building developer to achieve a cost-effective result has changed to the consideration of all construction from the viewpoint of future generations. Sustainable development is a serious task. Wood has been rediscovered as a building material also for large schemes. Even though the Finnish national economy for centuries relied on the wood treatment industry, the main export products consisted of wood pulp and paper. Wood construction was forgotten after the 1950s post-war reconstruction era in all but the construction of single-family houses and for traditional structures. Wooden buildings more than one storey high have been rare exceptions due to the building regulations which were in

use from the eighteenth century onwards, introduced as a result­of destructive city fires. The strict planning and building­ regulations­had been developed to prevent the recurrence of fire disasters. Due to the strict fire safety regulations, the construction­of wooden multi-storey buildings was for a long time regarded as impossible, even in principle. Only the increase in ecological thinking and foreign examples brought about the reconsideration of the potential of the most traditional Finnish building material. When wood eventually was approved for the facades of multi-storey buildings, it first entailed clumsy solutions constructed over concrete structures. There is now active and varied development in wood construction. Wood is seen as having potential. When completed in 2005, Pekka Helin’s and Peter Verhe’s Finnforest Modular Office (FMO), designed using wooden modules, was Europe’s tallest wooden office building. FMO, built in Tapiola adjacent to the Länsiväylä highway, is based on the winning entry “Sydänpuu” (heartwood) in an architectural competition arranged by Finnforest in the spring of 2003. Sixty-one practices applied for entry to the competition, ten of which were then selected to participate. There was critical debate about the results. Juha Ilonen, appointed as member of the jury by the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA), wrote about the situation as follows: ”The FMO competition of 2003 can in many ways be considered a watershed of Finnish architecture that has set a new standard for professional expertise. It coincided with a time when the dominant mode of office development, glass architecture, was arriving at its ideological saturation point, and was on a collision course with the new energy norms. The models for organising offices had become an established routine. […] During the competition, the renaissance of timber building was reaching entirely new dimensions in Finland. The Sibelius Hall in Lahti had already been built, and now was the turn of Finland’s biggest wooden office building. The brief included modularity, ecological sustainability, flexibility, adaptability and the appropriate application of timber structures.” On completion, Helin and Verhe explained in detail about the use of the innovations and wooden standard modules in their scheme: ”The building consists of rectangular modules, reminiscent of stacks of sawn timber. At the end we have used a conical module, which makes reference to typical forms in woodworking. The modules are hidden within an architectonic spatial 26

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23 Finnforest Modular Office, Espoo.

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system where the tall circulation spaces inside alternate with the open-ended atria on the outside. The workspaces are interspersed between these in such a manner that all units have views framed by timber structures onto different parts of Tapiola and its surroundings.” Only an engineer could understand the number of technical solutions and wood types used in the building. Lay users find the calm appearance of the building and the warm atmosphere of the interiors attractive. One can recognise themes evident from the Parliament Annexe in the combination of the sturdy rectangular and the truncated conical forms, the latter adding a light touch to the composition. The memorable shape of the building was designed to emphasise its status as a landmark for the southern approach to Tapiola. The office building sends a strong and positive message for the international ­market in wood construction. 24

24 The metal workers’ Murikka Institute, Tampere.

Old and new It would be worthwhile analysing Helin’s architecture in more depth in terms of the use of materials. In addition to two state awards, he has received the Finnish Concrete Architecture Award in 1995, the Finnish Steel Construction Award as many as four times, in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006, and furthermore the European Steel Construction Award in 2001 and 2007. He received the Finnish Wood Award in 2006. Helin speaks equally positively about the properties of concrete, steel, copper, brick and wood. He finds unique ­technical­ and aesthetic potential from all these materials. ­Innovative product development of materials has always been important for him, as he demonstrated in the copper facades of the Murikka Institute, the double glass facades in both stages of the Nokia building, the structure and colour of the concrete prefabricated elements of the Laivapoika housing area, the ­oblique steel constructions of the Kamppi Centre, Parliament Annexe and Finnforest building, the corrugated steel and glass of the Sitra Tower, the blue metal facades of the Ilmarinen building, or the unfolding potential of wood in the Finnforest building; this list could easily continue. The different uses of brick construction could be a chapter in itself, and likewise the use of glass in a range of projects from villas to head offices. The unique features of Helin’s architecture also include a rich use of colour. He discovered stucco lustro treatment of ­rendered facades when visiting the Venice Biennale at the ­ ­beginning of the 1990s, learning that Carlo Scarpa had ­applied 28

the same technique. It was possible to successfully apply this technique in Finland, too. The hand-floated coloured walls bind together, complement and enrich the interiors of the large office buildings. In the Nokia Head Office the greyish-blue surfaces form a soft supportive background to the composi­ tion of metal, glass and wood. In the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health building in Helsinki the play of colour and light flashes out into the streetscape from behind the heavy granite facades, while the light blue of the Itämerentori Tower offers a similar surprise for the person walking at the base of the building. The profound turning points in politics, the economy and culture have since the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century ensured a stormy substrate for architecture. Star architects and wow-factor architecture have been created in the spasmodic publicity of styles, trends and brands. Fortunately there is also a more sustainable art of building. Pekka Helin’s answers to questions in the 1990 Museum of Finnish Architecture exhibition publication ”An architectural present – seven approaches” regarding which historical architecture he has most admired and been most strongly influenced by, remain 20 years later both honest and important. They reveal principles behind all his work. – ”Old factories, work milieux in general; harbours, especially small fishing ports at night when there’s been a good catch, have been the most impressive experiences.” – ”An environment in which life, work, people, local nature, houses and structures are closely bound together into a meaningful weave is very impelling.” – ”Most important is to work for the integral, clear, authentic, minimal. People in the so-called developed world are beginning to be surrounded by an ever increasing mass of junk, unnecessary goods and information.” – ”Architecture is nearer to the reality of today and tomorrow if it starts from scarcity. Similarly, its methods are stronger, more influential. When there’s too much noise, one needs silence.” The silences of Helin’s buildings are eloquent.

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L I V I N G W I T H N AT U R E

With a relatively small population and large land area, most Finns have intimate connections to the wild. Helin’s country houses are profound meditations on relationships between artefact and nature.

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VILLA SAGA The archipelago of Hiittinen

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1, 2 Archipelago with islands, solid rock, junipers, pines and wild roses.

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3, 6 A shelter made of wood and glass, a place to enjoy the changing drama of nature in the archipelago. 4, 5 Floor plans.

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7 Back side of the villa. 8 Grey boards from nearby and stone from the site. 9 Cross section. 10, 11 Themes of the archipelago in the interior: wire railing, rope, and choice wood.

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VILLA SAGA The archipelago of Hiittinen Year of completion 1995 The site of the Villa Saga is a beautiful inhabited island of the ­Hiitti­nen inner archipelago, with a view to the south towards the Galtarna ­islands. The owners wanted to experience the natural environment, weather and changing seasons, so there was no attempt to follow the insular tradition of seeking the most sheltered site for building. Natural materials were chosen for the exterior: wooden frame, board facing, stones obtained from the site, and the roof of green copper merge into the vegetation. The grey finish of the facing was inspired by rocks and their lichens. The coating is wholly non-toxic and based on natural wax. In the yard, to spare the rock flora, the enclosed recreational areas and paths take the form of terraces and bridges. The interior is largely wood: the walls of white-glazed, broad deals; the

floors of bleached, very broad Douglas fir planks; the kitchen fixtures of maple. The entrance floor is of quartzite slabs and the fireplace is of stone taken from the site. In contrast, boat cables with their blocks and rigging screws are used in the railings, with a little stainless steel netting and hemp rope around the only steel column. Nature, exterior and interior merge together through large windows, canopies and terraces. The heights of the interior and the floor levels­ vary according to topography. The upstairs sauna, the bedroom and a balcony have views over Galtarna to the Bengtskär lighthouse. ­Observed from the sea, the building disappears into the branches of the pines on the rock face.

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VILLA VETRO Kirkkonummi

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1, 2 Supporting structure made of concrete cast on site, exterior cladding of granite, copper and larch.

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3–6 The interiors are fairfaced concrete, in parts wax stucco, with floors of oak planks.

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VILLA VETRO Kirkkonummi Year of completion 2004 The Villa Vetro was designed for clients who worked abroad for a long time, so the focus of the architecture is on the presence of nature on the Finnish archipelago and the northern light. Interior spaces overlap­ and flow out to a larch-covered deck, bordered by glacier-grooved rock, lichened surfaces, horizontally growing junipers and old pine trees. Below, islands delineate the seascape where a bay opens behind a headland. Around midsummer, the sun rises and sets over the sea. The curved plan of the villa stems from the qualities of the site, its topo­g­raphy, and views from interior spaces. The design, right down to the choice of materials, was evolved in close cooperation with the clients. The gleaming light concrete, with the texture of the timber formwork, creates a receptive surface for the

play of light. Concave wall surfaces have been given a finish of pale grey wax-polished stucco. Interior floors are of solid oak. The seaward facade is almost all glass. The landward side rises between the rocks as a wall clad with gabbro stone, made lighter by larch screens and pergolas. Above the wall is a strip of windows with copper grating. The fan-shaped roof is also copper-clad. The untouched natural environment was protected vigilantly during construction. An area of ground that could be worked on was set aside near the entrance, where a nondescript red-brick building was demolished. Natural plants typical of the area were replanted there: stonecrop, wild strawberry, juniper and wild rose.

7 Nocturnal view of the terrace. 8 Cross section. 9 Siteplan: divided into three parts, the building follows the topography of the site.

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1, 2 Interior with floors of soapstone and oak.

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VILLA MARGA Raasepori

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3–5 North, west and south facades.

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6 The house is stepped to fit into the petite scale of the seaside landscape. The materials are grey wood, slate stone, and turf on the roof. 7, 9 Details of the interior. 8, 10, 11 Floor plans: ground floor (family hobbies), top floor (bedrooms) and first floor (main living area).

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VILLA MARGA Raasepori Year of completion 2004 Villa Marga is located on the site of an old, ruined fisherman’s croft in the Ekenäs archipelago. A sheltered meadow, a steeply rising rock and a tall conifer forest define the immediate surroundings of the building. The remnants of the little farm include a cowshed and a storehouse, now both used in small-scale organic cultivation and independent forestry. Waste wood is used in the storage stoves – the main heat source. The structure is of wood and steel: the timber is exposed, and a very precise light steel frame forms the rational skeleton of the complex. Living areas are grouped around a sheltered inner courtyard that descends towards the shore in shallow terraces. The court and the spacious glass veranda connected to it provide a summer party place for friends and family. Rooms are on three floors, partly because of the permitted plan size, and partly because the arrangement saves energy through convection and air stratification – bedrooms are on the top floor so, at night, lower floors can be kept cooler. The ground floor is a place for family hobbies, accommodating, for instance, a big loom. The whole house is a clear description of family life and, though it embodies the latest technology, it offers the atmosphere of a primitive hut.

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VILLA KRONA Kimitoön

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1, 2 A summer place on a rocky island by the Gullkrona sea area.

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3 Built of gluelam ring beams and sawn larch, the house has a roof covered with sedum. Seaside windows. 4 Landward side of the villa.

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5 Bedroom with view of the open sea. 6 Living room corner.

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7 Exposed fans of laminated beams. 8 Exterior cladding.

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VILLA KRONA Kimitoön Year of completion 2010 A small remote island in the Gullkrona Archipelago offers a panorama of changing seasons in the northern Baltic: late sunsets fill open skies and early sunrises dramatise rocky islands. In spring, constant birdsong greets the end of severe winter. Warm calm midsummer days are filled with scents of pine and juniper. Autumn storms drive huge waves over the rocks to freeze gradually, generating abstract formations of drifting ice. Finally, all is covered with snow. The villa is built to experience all this and counteract periods of urban hard work. The geometry of the building relates to the forms of the bedrock with its varied colours and glaciated grooves. Larch, which naturally weathers silvery grey, clads the exterior, while sedum changes from green to brown on the roof during the summer. Exposed fans of laminated beams and columns form the structure. Inside, cladding is warm pine with paler ash flooring, making a welcoming cave in the wilderness.

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10 Floor plan. 11 Cross section. 12 Sauna.

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URBAN LIVING

Helin’s urban housing schemes offer both density and individual privacy and, without pastiche, take their place in the continuum of city life.

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E I R A N R A N TA H O U S I N G Helsinki

1 Seaward terraces. 2 Top floor apartments. 3 Following double page: all apartments afford panoramic views of the sea from the main living spaces. 59

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EIRANRANTA HOUSING Eiranranta 3, 5 and 7, Helsinki Year of completion 2008 Eira is one of the Jugenstil districts of Helsinki, characterised by the proximity of the Baltic and the archipelago. The narrow area between the old quarters and the sea was partly neglected until the City of Helsinki made a plan for a new development of high-standard housing. An invited competition was held for the first three housing blocks, which determine the edge of the new quarter towards the seashore. Two of the blocks have eight floors, the third seven floors and the total number of dwellings is 43. Ground and first floors are partly occupied by shops and offices with common spaces for the apartments. Flats in each block are gathered around a spacious staircase leading from the underground car parks to residential floors. Apartment sizes vary between 70 and 270 square metres and include many different layouts. All have a bathroom with a sauna or large pool, a balcony or terrace and a fireplace, as well as separate spaces for housekeeping. Room height is over three metres. There is a panoramic view from the main living spaces to the sea in all apartments, and in the largest ones the water can be seen from the dining space, library/workplace and the master bedroom. The terraces of the twostorey studio apartments that top each block are directed towards the historic town and the sunset. Balconies of the seaside dwellings have a curved full-height panorama window. The frame structure is concrete cast in situ. Outer walls are brick plastered with colours matching those of surrounding old buildings. Finnish natural stone and painted metal cassettes are used in parts of the facades.

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4 Staircase of a two-level apartment. 5 A two-level apartment (top) and a typical apartment of approximately 180 square metres with a variant floor plan (bottom). 6 Site plan. 7 East facades. 62

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PA N - G Y O H O U S I N G Seoul, South Korea

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1 Proposal for the overall design of the competition area. 2 Typical cross section.

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PAN-GYO HOUSING Seoul, South Korea First prize in an international invited competition 2006 and follow-up commission, estimated year of completion 2011 The competition brief called for a mixture of terraced and multi-­family housing in a natural, pedestrian-friendly setting with emphasis on ecology and sustainabilty. The competition entry set out to preserve the natural land- and treescapes as much as possible by hugging the contours of the hilly site. The jury particularly liked the ’intense identification with the site and culture, and the desire to exploit these to the full’. Appreciation of nature and ecology in a deeper sense means in this case adjusting the forms of building in harmonious dialogue with ­topography, plants and water. The new way of thinking means also returning to the conformity of building in balance with nature as it is in traditional Korean culture.

The curves of houses embrace the green common space in between, with playgrounds, brooks, common facilities and clubs. The green belt is flowing continuously through the area and is connected with green arteries to the park above and the blocks beside. The terraced houses and multi-storey houses are designed to have the same morphological basis. There are no major differences between the two housing types. The scale is close, the overall appearance and the cityscape are harmonious. The apartments represent the architecture of our century: modern flowing space concepts, excellent functionality,­ the equipment of today, possibilities for social interaction, facilities for a multitude of hobbies and for working at home.

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3 Axonometric view of a fragment of the terraced housing. 4 Diagram of a two-level apartment and plan of an apartment in one level. 5 The stepped composition of the buildings highlights the topography of the sloping terrain.

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1 Experimental building designed for a former sheep pasture, seeking to combine the advantages of a house and a block of flats.

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S I B E L I U S B L O C K E X P E R I M E N TA L H O U S I N G Borås, Sweden

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2 View of the back of the building. 3 Balconies of small flats. The terraces of the large flats are embedded in the turf roof (see page 57).

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4 West side with stacked balconies. 5, 7 Typical apartments, three bedrooms and two bedrooms. 6 Floor plan of the competition entry. 8 Axonometric drawing, competition entry.

SIBELIUS BLOCK EXPERIMENTAL HOUSING Borås, Sweden Year of completion 1993 Borås is a small city some 35 miles inland from Gothenburg in southwest Sweden. In 1990, it held a competition for four areas of housing of Hestra Garden City, a new development on the town's north-west edge, each to be designed by a Swedish, a Finnish, a Norwegian and a Danish architect. The winning architects in each sector were to bring the best of their national social housing traditions to bear on a delightful forested landscape, permeated by traces of agricultural activity like old drystone walls and punctuated by little rounded hills left behind by glaciation. The Finnish scheme is an experiment in medium-rise housing and consists of two rectangular blocks set at an angle to each other to enclose a long thin wedge-shaped courtyard. The blocks are set on a storage and service plinth and rise from one storey at their southern tips to eight at the northern ends, where the blocks are joined by galleries that connect them to a common lift and stair tower. Hence, mechanical circulation is kept to a minimum and the court is enclosed to the 4

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north so that it can form a contained outdoor place for social interaction and young children's play. Though the apartments differ in section, basic planning is similar for them all. Living areas either stretch right across the block, or they have kitchen alcoves that extend the living space to the other side of the complex. The main part of the living room is always on the outside overlooking the landscape. Kitchens are on the court side while master bedrooms are on the forest side to give the experience of waking up among trees. Most flats are entered from the court side in their northern corners, and ingenious and economical use of diagonal circulation always gives a long view across the whole dwelling to the opposite corner and the forest beyond. In all, there are 24 flats with three rooms and a kitchen. Two-level apartments with either three or four rooms and a kitchen, with ­double-height living rooms, are located under the sloping roof with terraces cut into the roof slope. Flats have virtually free-standing

balconies (or at the lowest level private gardens) on the forest side of the blocks. The structure is an in-situ concrete frame with prefabricated concrete floors and cladding. Roofs of both blocks are covered with 200 millimetres of topsoil sown with grass and wild flowers. If the architects had been able to carry out their intentions fully, the building would have been a great deal greener. They wanted to cover the walls with mesh, so that the vertical surfaces could be wrapped in creepers, and the whole composition would look like an angular abstraction of the landscape from which it emerges; but the builder simply refused to incorporate the mesh. Yet the Sibelius block is an important contribution to the development of medium-rise housing, which responds to and respects its magnificient site and offers inhabitants a wide and flexible range of living opportunities.

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L A I VA P O I K A H O U S I N G Helsinki

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1 Preceding double page: view of the Laivapoika housing block from the northwest over the canal. 2 Entrance to the high part.

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3 Projecting balconies with a flying canopy. 4 The solid surfaces of the facade are precast coloured concrete, the grey units fluted.

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LAIVAPOIKA HOUSING Laivapojankatu 3, Helsinki Year of completion 1995 Ruoholahti is part of the western harbour of Helsinki, not a long walk from the centre. It used to be rather run down, with decaying industrial buildings next door to the thriving shipyards. The city authorities produced a plan for the district which intended to give the area the mixed uses of a proper urban area, incorporating a large residential element. One of the first results was the Laivapoika scheme. The planners demanded an urban block that could take its place as one of the defining elements of the reconstructed quarter. At the same time, both they and the funding system demanded a very complex­ inter­weave of habitation types and functions: all new housing schemes in the area had to contain free-market owner-occupied flats, govern­ ment-subsidised owner-occupied flats and social housing for rent. A very wide range of people had to be accomodated, ranging from 6

5 Floor plan. 6 Site plan. 7 View of the yard.

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large families to individuals and elderly folk; a group dwelling for the disabled­ was required, as were individual flats for elderly and people with mobility handicaps. The larger flats are subdivisible so that they can change as families alter in structure. All flats have a spacious balcony or roof terrace. Some of the larger ones have a sauna, and there is a communal sauna on the roof with a terrace overlooking city and sea. Other communal rooms are provided at ground floor. The site is wedge-shaped, with its east apex on an uneasy corner of busy roads. To the north is a new canal and urban landscape. Southwards, the scheme looks out over the road to the harbour; westwards, the design opens itself to the afternoon sun. The complex falls into three main pieces, two six stories high, with a north-east corner tower a couple of floors taller. Parts are linked

by flying balconies which, constructed of steel and enclosed in glass blocks, provide delicate knitted seams between the heavy concrete walls of the enclosed dwellings. The balcony tower at the eastern apex of the court is intended to act as a prism, collecting and reflecting light into the public space. Precast cladding panels are either white-smooth, or blue-grey, the latter deeply, precisely and finely grooved, giving a surprising delicate and sensuous quality to the places which you can touch. Natural materials and detailed craftsmanship are emphasised in the landscaping of the court to contrast with the industrial nature of the buildings. Planting is with native sub-boreal vegetation: crabapple, wild rose, juniper, yew, dwarf pine in the court, with maple and ash on the canal bank.

8 View of the living area of a top-floor flat. 9, 10 Typical apartments. 11 Floor plan of the corner section of the building.

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1 The building interacts with the unified street facade of the 1920s and 1930s in Helsinki’s Töölö district.

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SANDELS SENIOR CITIZENS’ HOUSING Helsinki

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2, 3 Facades facing the street (top) and the courtyard (right).

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4 The inner courtyard is part of the old hospital milieu. 5 Site plan.

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SANDELS SENIOR CITIZENS' HOUSING Välskärinkatu 4, Helsinki Year of completion 2000 A site on the edge of the grounds of the Hesperia Hospital in Helsinki has turned out to be an excellent location for senior citizens' housing: a variety of services is close, a park is next door and the street is peaceful. A further valuable and unique factor is the fine architecture dating from the beginning of the 1930s that lines the adjacent east side of the street. The new building has been fitted into the streetscape to form a dialogue: it is lower than the multi-storey buildings opposite, and is set back a little from the street line. The architectural expression consciously represents the present day but takes into account the context. Solid parts of the facade are rendered and painted, insulating the building

blocks. Glass has been used in large windows and surfaces to bring in an abundance of natural light. Simple steel details converse across the street with the horizontal flashings and simplified decorative motifs of the transition period between Classicism and Functionalism. The new block comprises 88 apartments, most being two- or oneroom flats. There are also service and club spaces, and exercise, sauna and swimming pool facilities for residents (and partly for outsiders). The whole block has been designed for the needs of physically challenged people, and special equipment will be introduced gradually to serve the individual needs of the residents.

6 Ground floor plan. 7 First floor plan. 8 Pool for physical exercise, designed to meet the needs of senior citizens.

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1–3 The semi-detached houses at the time of their completion. Each house has a private yard, balcony, conservatory and sauna terrace. There is a common yard in the centre.

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Y L Ä T U VA N P O L K U H O U S I N G Helsinki

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4 Built for the Housing Fair in 1981, these experimental houses aimed to save energy, mainly by using passive systems.

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YLÄTUVANPOLKU HOUSING Kotitorpantie 3, Helsinki Year of completion 1981 The experimental housing scheme was designed for the 1981 Housing Fair of energy-saving houses built on the initiative of the City of Helsinki. The site, Torpparinmäki on the edge of the city, is undistinguished and flattish, a part of the muddle of housing, factories, bits of forest and lumps of rock which seem to surround every city in the three northern Scandinavian countries. It is surrounded by other schemes made for the same exhibition, which are all at best mediocre. The Ylätuvanpolku housing scheme contains eight semi-detached houses. The four houses shown here have four rooms, kitchen and sauna (99 square metres). Each house has a two-level plan with a living room flowing straight off the hall/dining area, and bedroom/ study on the ground floor. Bedrooms and sauna are above. One of the bedrooms looks into a conservatory and the other opens into it. One amusing device is the cooling-off terrace outside the first-floor sauna. This is roofed but otherwise enclosed only by simple open trelliswork which gives a certain privacy to naked steaming bodies. With a conservatory that warms up even in cloudy weather it is possible to make use of the exterior facilities for three to four months longer than usual. It is square grids that give the houses much of their external effect. From the garden side, you approach through the squared gate of the

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fence, which is echoed in the larger grids of the living room windows and the conservatories. There are memories of the early Aalto – for instance the great gridded window of the Viipuri library. While the south faces are dominated by big glass prisms, the other elevations are (as is proper in energy-saving houses) virtually opaque, with only the odd, carefully placed small window to allow in a little light or a peep out. The solid walls are of massive precast sandwich concrete slabs, which are painted white or covered with off-white square tiles (grids again). Using this limited range of colours and forms, the architects have created spaces and images of much subtlety and complexity. The drive to achieve a high level of energy economy is seen in the compact basic massing of the buildings and in the way all the rooms intended to be lived in face the sunny side. All of the houses have an insulated double wall between dwellings, making each dwelling an independent energy consumption unit. This also clearly improves sound insulation. The area is connected to the district heating network. The individual dwellings are air-heated, with the replacement air obtained from the conservatories. Two of the semi-detached houses are equipped with solar panels to help heat the hot water for domestic use.

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5 Floor plans of a semi-detached house. All four houses have similar floor plans and elevations. 7, 8 Living room views. 6, 9 East, south and north elevations. 10 Courtyard facade. 11 A recently taken photograph of one of the houses.

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12 End wall of a house: massive precast sandwich concrete slabs painted white or covered with off-white square tiles. 89

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URBAN TEXTURES

Helin’s planning schemes are intended to generate rich and varied urban life, giving opportunities for fulfilment to individuals and communities alike.

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K A M P P I C E N T R E , O F F I C E S A N D PA R T O F T H E S H O P P I N G C E N T R E Helsinki

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1 Office units on Urho Kekkosen katu street. 2 Siteplan: Kamppi Centre in the urban structure. 3 Daylight gets into the park square through narrow upper courtyards.

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4 View of the Tennispalatsinaukio square: balconies of housing blocks and canopies of commercial spaces (right), shopping mall (in the background). 5 Section across the Narinkkatori square, shopping mall and Tennispalatsinaukio square, showing the connection of the centre to the underground arrangements of metro, bus terminal and parking. 6 Elevation and section (underground) from south-west to north-east. Urho Kekkosen katu street, Narinkkatori square. 7 The short brick facade of Urho Kekkosen katu street. On the right residential and commercial buildings from the 1920s and 1930s, on the left the Kamppi Centre. 4

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8, 9 Preceding double page: the linking of the commercial spaces and the apartments above, facade facing the park square.

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KAMPPI CENTRE, OFFICES AND PART OF THE SHOPPING CENTRE Urho Kekkosen katu – Fredrikinkatu – Salomonkatu, Helsinki Year of completion 2006 Kamppi Centre has become a meeting point for people of all ages. It is an urban mixture where new intertwines with old both functionally and physically. In 1999–2000, the City of Helsinki held a design and tender competition for development, design, building and funding of the Kamppi quarter, the old bus terminal area in the heart of the city. The aim was to create a vital commercial and office centre with some housing, bus terminals and extensive pedestrian areas. After the competition, Helin & Co took charge of the offices and part of the commercial accomodation. Four other architectural offices designed the housing, squares, pedestrian areas, the department store, underground bus terminals and the parking area. The office component is divided into three units, an ideal solution from users’ and investors’ point of view. The three office buildings are built above the commercial centre. Taking advantage of the topography, the five office floors of each block have entrance halls on street level, as well as direct access by lifts or staircases to the commercial centre, bus

terminals and subway. Each floor also has its private entrance lobby. Office floors are normally occupied by between one and three tenants. Floor lay-outs are a combination of open-plan and cellular, a rarely found mixture in older office buildings in the centre of Helsinki. Brick and copper facades line the Urho Kekkosen katu street and complete the streetscape of which only the south-eastern side was built earlier. So the city centre has gained a lively brick-lined street, with Sähkötalo (Electricity Building) by Alvar Aalto at one end and the new campanile of Kamppi at the other. The development's commercial spaces complement the service functions of the city centre and improve its competitive position in comparison to other commercial centres at the outskirts. This is important in order to strengthen the vitality of the city centre and to avoid urban decline in which old centres fade into repulsive no-man’s-land. Kamppi Centre is easily reached by public transport – crucial environmentally.

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13 Longitudinal section of the centre’s entire building complex. 14 Typical floor plans. On the right the shopping mall and Narinkkatori square by Juhani Pallasmaa, on the left commercial spaces and offices (Helin & Co), above them apartments by Marja-Riitta Norri and the Tennispalatsinaukio square by Kirsi Gullichsen. 99

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15–17 Typical interiors in the centre.

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1 Fornebu and Oslofjord. Master plan for the conversion of a former airport area into a new suburb. 2 The former Oslo airport at Fornebu. 3 Computer simulation of the master plan: nocturnal view.

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FORNEBU AREA Bærum, Norway

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4 The former airport at Fornebu. 5 The shoreline areas are connected by a green core.

FORNEBU AREA Bærum, Norway Competition entry, first prize and follow-up commission 1998

6 Computer simulation of the master plan. 7 Detail of the master plan.

In 1998 Oslo airport was removed from Fornebu to a more distant location at Gardermoen. So a large and particularly well-situated area on a promontary protruding into the Oslo Fjord not far from the city centre became vacant for urban construction. The landowners were the State of Norway and the City of Oslo, even though it is part of the municipality of Bærum. The aim of the competition in 1998 was to locate some 20,000 workplaces and an equal number of inhabitants in the area. The principle of the competition design was to create a coherent but versatile cityscape and a living urban texture, which would generate attractive street scenes, human scale, good functionality and architecture of high quality. Interaction between nature and construction was an important feature of the project. The site is surrounded by the sea. From the open heart of the area, green zones lead to the seashore in all directions. Housing quarters have direct connections with the green areas, which offer good conditions for leisure and children's play. The new Fornebu is being built gradually. This was taken into account in the flexibility of the structure, which needs to apply to different building types and alternative functions. In both residential and work environments, the balance between privacy and community is important. Accordingly, residential blocks in particular were organised into public, semi-public and private outdoor and indoor spaces. To preserve chronological continuity, some usable structures from the airport ­period were saved.

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Conversion and infill building of an old prison area in central Turku. 1 Elevation to the south-east towards Aurajoki river. 2 Site plan of urban structure, infill buildings marked in red. 3 Computer simulation of the master plan.

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KAKOLANMÄKI AREA Turku

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4 Remand centre (late 19th c.) and the surrounding infill development. 5 The mental hospital and the western cell (early 20th c.) and the surrounding infill development. 6, 7 Sections from south-east to north-west.

KAKOLANMÄKI AREA Turku Awarded competition entry and follow-up commission 2005– Turku, the former capital of Finland, is the oldest city in the country,­ founded at the end of the thirteenth century when Finland was under­Swedish rule. Nowadays it has some 174,000 inhabitants. Until recently,­ the Kakolanmäki hill has been a closed prison next to the heart of the city. It is dominated by rocky hillsides, park-like woods and old stone buildings. At the end of 2007, prison activities were transferred­to a new location. An architectural competition on Kakolanmäki was held in 2005 and the master plan now being implemented is based on the Helin project. An area of 20 hectares with remaining historical buildings will be open to citizens. Kakolanmäki will be an urban environment and an active part of the city structure. There are ca. 40,000 square metres of existing buildings to be conserved, and approximately 60,000 square metres of new accommodation will be constructed. Kakolanmäki is one of the seven eminences of Turku. The hilltop rises 40 metres above its surroundings, giving beautiful views in all directions. The prison walls of Kakola have dominated the city silhouette

for a long time. They can still be seen from near and far, even from the sea, so Kakolanmäki hill is part of the national scenery of the Aurajoki river region. Most of the old buildings date back to the period of 1845–1908, when Finland was under Russian rule, and are considered an important part of both cultural and constructional heritage. New buildings are planned to be lower than the old ones, allowing history to be the focus. Materials, forms and structures will match the context. The almost untouched rocks and woods will be united with green belts and outdoor routes which start from the city centre. The ferry across the Aurajoki river is also a part of outdoor routes. In future, the Kakolanmäki hilltop will also be reached by a cable car. The lookout spot of the hill will be accessible for the disabled. Cars will not overwhelm Kakolanmäki in future. Traffic will be directed only to certain arrival points and parking will be located underground, below the newer building area.

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1 Concept plan for the conversion of an old harbour area into housing “islands”, marinas and cruiser pier. 2 Housing blocks facing the sea. 3 Site plan.

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CONCEPT FOR HERNESAARI Helsinki

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CONCEPT FOR HERNESAARI Helsinki 2007 Hernesaari is part of the chain of islands in front of Helsinki, connected to the southern part of the inner city. For a long time, Hernesaari was occupied by industry, harbour and storage. The coastline and the buildings have served such needs, without a vision of the future. In the Helin design, the area is organized into a group of five new islands. To the east, they are connected by a main street and a cruiser quay. The eastern coast, open to sea storms from the south-east, is a park for experiencing nature. The architecture of the buildings and the beach landscape are morphologically from the same root, derived from the nature of the outer islands: stones, rocks, cliffs and islands, surrounded by the sea, fog, rain and blocks of ice. In the island concept, the block borders do not follow rational city regulation or geometry. The architecture contributes to the scale, threedimensional structure and views. Environmentally conscious construction, energy efficiency and sustainable materials will be implemented. Residential uses are the most important of new Hernesaari´s functions. The silos and industrial buildings worth preserving will change their functions accordingly, offering services and employment. A harbour basin for yacht clubs will be placed behind the cruiser quays. On the south side there will be marine sales and exhibition activities and seaside restaurants. Between the heliport and the housing a water sports centre with training, office and residential facilities is projected. There will also be a marine swimming pool connected with health services (saunas, spa, gym will be included). About 2,400 apartments can be built, and with auxiliary functions a floor area of 215,000 square metres will be generated. In addition, an area of 48,100 square metres related to marine functions is included in the plan.

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4, 7 The architecture of the islands is an abstraction of shoreline rocks and pack ice formations. 5 Plan of one of the new islands. 6 Longitudinal section. 8 Cross section.

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CIVIC IDENTITY

All societies need buildings that are symbols of communal endeavour and shared values. Helin’s constructions vary from the annexe to the nation’s parliament house itself to municipal centres that give figure to previously formless communities. 115

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PA R L I A M E N TA RY A N N E X E Helsinki

1 The work of the Members of Parliament reaches out to the citizens. View from the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. 2 Site plan. 2

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3 The curved, transparent office wing facing the main building. 4 The kaleidoscopic atrium, where the movements of people and clouds as well as the light of the sun and the moon recur in the glass surfaces. 5 Following double page: the meeting room of the Grand Committee, which prepares key government bills and deals with EU affairs. 118

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6 The MPs and their assistants have offices quite similar in style.

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7 Corridor connecting the office sections. 8 Ground floor plan. 9 Plan of a typical office storey.

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10 Lift lobby with offices in the background. 11 Atrium stairs.

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PARLIAMENTARY ANNEXE Arkadiankatu 3, Helsinki Year of completion 2004 The nineteenth-century heart of Helsinki is a precise model of neoClassical urban propriety, but twentieth-century parts of the centre are much less coherent. To the north, isolated object buildings, Parliament, the National Museum and Aalto's Finlandia concert hall straggle along Mannerheimintie street. The Parliament building is an austere Classical block in pink Finnish granite by J.S. Sirén, massively colonnaded and raised on a stepped plinth. An addition was needed because the 200 Members of Parliament were each assigned an assistant, so demand for individual offices doubled. The site, the only available within walking distance of the Chamber – to which it is now connected by an underground passage – was a tatty triangle of park. The design had to fulfil a daunting set of constraints. To the east, the building line of the adjacent city block, Kamppi, had to be observed. To the west, roads restricted the site to an acute-angled triangle. The height had to be no greater than that of the National Romantic ­Hankkija building that terminates Kamppi, while the massing had to respect the Parliament building. Into this extremely constricted mould, 259 offices had to be poured, along with formal committee rooms and a good deal of ancillary accommodation. The solution was to sink four meeting and services floors below ground, so allowing all offices to have daylight. Of the seven levels above ground, the topmost is devoted to the international department of parliament (civil servants), and the first floor is largely devoted to offices for the parliamentary ombudsman. On the ground floor, there is a visitor centre totally open to the public, with a bookshop, information

sources and a cafeteria. In the middle of all this is an atrium that stretches from the restaurant, one level below ground, up through the whole building to its glass roof. The move allows daylight to be brought into the middle of the deep plan. Some offices get their daylight from this dramatic space, others from the perimeter. The atrium is made generous and unclaustrophobic by a curved wall that leans outward to north and west. It is the inner echo of the curve of glass that looks out at the Sirén building. This part of the building has flanks of the pink granite that Sirén used. The southern and eastern part of the new annexe is clad in dark purple bricks, reminiscent of those used in the Hankkija building. Both halves respond to their contexts, but their relationship to each other is more problematic, dramatically illustrating the urban fault line in the city that runs east-west straight through the building. Though the outside may be divided, interiors are consistent. As in the Sirén building, the architects have designed much of the furniture, and Finnish materials are used wherever possible, for instance, floors of common areas are of granite or spectrolite. Panelling of the Grand Committee room, the auditorium and the small conference rooms off the restaurant is of different Finnish woods – one of the small rooms has veneers from poplar trees formerly growing on the site, complete with dark figuring from urban pollution. So, while the new annexe is in many ways a model of how to build for a contemporary democratic legislature, it draws deeply on the nature of the site and the very stuff of which Finland is made.

12 Elevation to the north-east towards Mannerheimintie street: the volume and materials of the annexe relate to the adjoining commercial building from the 1910s as well as to the old parliament building. 13 Plan of the lower-level atrium floor: the meeting rooms follow the historical iconography of the institution. 14 Granite, glass and brick are in common with the neighbouring buildings.

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M I N I S T RY F O R S O C I A L A F FA I R S A N D H E A LT H Helsinki

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1 The ministry building is articulated to fit in with the historical architecture of the Kruununhaka district. 2 Site plan with surrounding urban structure. 3 The three-dimensional treatment of the fenestration.

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4 The work of art by Robert Lucander in the small atrium is the winner of an art competition. 5 The main entrance is directly from Meritullinkatu street.

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6, 7 The atrium with wax stucco wall and connecting bridges.

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8 The prevailing material in the meeting rooms is typically oak. 9 Cross section with yard elevation.

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MINISTRY FOR SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH Meritullinkatu 8, Helsinki Year of completion 1999 Helsinki's centre is largely neo-Classical, ranged round the monumental Senate Square by Carl Ludwig Engel, built between 1818 and 1822 as a celebration of Finland's incorporation into the Russian empire as a Grand Duchy. About 40 years ago, some of the original buildings near the government quarter were wantonly pulled down because of their poor state of repair, and one of the gap sites, at the corner of Kirkkokatu and Meritullinkatu streets, remained an inner urban car park until it was occupied by the headquarters of the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health. The original buildings in the area are of brick and stucco, but the new one is in Finnish granite. Nevertheless it conforms to the general height of the area and, in its way, responds to the strong modelling of its ­Classical and Jugendstil neighbours. As usual with modern developments in nineteenth-century cityscapes, the architects were faced with the elevational problem of having to insert more floors with wider windows than their neighbours. Granite was chosen as an honorific material to indicate that the building is in government service. The complicated three-dimensional treatment of the fenestration is intended to relate to the tall windows of the surrounding buildings. A rounded glass corner connects the two main street facades, and the main horizontal lines of the neighbours, the eaves and the string over the base floor, are echoed in the new building.

The main entrance, covered by a minimalistic glass canopy, is signalled by a transparent cleft in the rational elevation. From this, light pours into the tall hall, which is grand and welcoming simultaneously. A pink wall of polished plaster rises behind the reception desk. Bridges fly over the entrance route. To the right of the hall is the ministry library and the staff canteen, which seems to be in use during most of the day for informal meetings. Straight ahead are a couple of formal committee rooms, and to the left is the entrance to the scheme's most daring move: a crescent of offices which curls into the heart of the city block. On plan, this looks rather like a wilful formal device. In fact, it allows the cellular offices to have daylight and a view of the sky. The white concrete walls and brass window frames of this back area are intended to bring light into the core of the site – a constant pursuit of Finnish architecture since the arrival of modern technology. Light is reflected from the white surfaces down into the courts, the principal one of which is outside the café. The sixth floor has a glass arcade on the inner arc of the curve of the back wing that looks into the courts, and serves the official conference rooms and the sauna, compulsory in all official Finnish buildings. Rooms at this level have picturesque views over the rooftops of Helsinki to Engel's Lutheran cathedral in Senate Square.

10 Plan of a typical office floor. 11 Facade towards Kirkkokatu street.

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S E L L O L I B R A RY A N D M U S I C H A L L Leppävaarankatu 9, Soittoniekanaukio 1 A, Espoo

1 Stairs leading to the library from the entrance square of the district centre. 2 The west facade of the concert hall is clad with patinated copper.

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3, 4 The main storey and the facade of the library. 5 The entrance square of the district centre: on the left a block of flats and behind it the library; on the right commercial spaces.

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6 The reception area in the library. 7, 8 The fairy tale room in the children’s department, the so-called Story Bubble, designed by Hannele Grönlund, from outside and inside. 9 The main lobby with a work of art by Silja Rantanen.

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10 Stairs connecting the main levels of the library. 11, 12 The interior of the chamber music hall is dominated by acoustic shelves and recesses. 141

13 Longitudinal section of the chamber music hall. 14 Floor plans: on the left the chamber music hall, on the right the library. 15 Stairs in the foyer.

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SELLO LIBRARY AND MUSIC HALL Leppävaarankatu 9, Soittoniekanaukio 1 A, Espoo Year of completion 2003 Leppävaara is one of the regional centres in Espoo city. The new Sello commercial centre, including important cultural activities, is the heart of the region. The Library, the Sello Music Hall, facilities for the Juvenalia Music College and Espoo Department of Culture, are placed around a piazza that extends over a podium of supermarkets. Because of the public transport terminals, Sello is also the junction point of an area that expands over the city limits. Facades of the cultural buildings of dark, patinated copper cassettes, baked aluminium gratings and brown Ylämaa granite contrast with the steel store fronts. From Leppävaarankatu street a portico leads up to the piazza. An arcade passage of steel construction, with delicate steel columns framing wood louvres to shade expansive windows, runs in front of the south elevation of the library, all the way to the Music Hall. Public levels of the library are ranged around a steel-framed atrium. Spaces for young people face the main entrance from the square, while adult areas to the rear overlook the street. A cylindrical space,

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called Story Bubble, functions as story-telling space for young children. Reading rooms, work areas (including a 160 square metre IT zone) and non-fiction stacks surround the atrium on the upper floor. A glass bridge leads to the balcony in the double-height lobby of Sello Hall. The hall is a rectangular room, 23 metres long, 16.8 metres wide and 13 metres in total height, with 402 seats. Due to its location, insulation of background noise was particularly demanding. The solution was to make the hall a floating structure separated from the rest of the building frame by the room-inside-room principle. The floor is a floating concrete slab. Recycled cotton-fibre paste provides a rough, in­ tegrally coloured wall covering that dampens reverberations. The fibre is mixed with glue and sprayed onto a double layer of gypsum boards. Together with all technical systems, they are installed on a steel frame separated by vibration absorbers from the concrete structures of the building.

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F O R S S A S W I M M I N G B AT H S V E S I H E L M I Forssa

1 The pool area is arranged into structural and functional sectors.

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2 Rear facade towards the sunbathing lawn. 3 Facade towards the main street and the entrance. 4 Stairs from the pool level to the mezzanine. 5 The lobby of the mezzanine facilities.

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6 Site plan. 7 The top of the slide with a bridge to the island. 8 Longitudinal section. 9 Ground floor plan. 10 First floor plan. 11, 12 Details: cold water pool and stairs to the mezzanine.

FORSSA SWIMMING BATHS VESIHELMI Eteläinen Puistokatu 2, Forssa Year of completion 1993 Forssa is a town in the south-west of Finland which was founded as a centre for cotton spinning by James Finlayson, a British industrialist,­in the middle of the last century. In 1988 its 20,000 inhabitants decided to have a swimming pool built. Swimming in Finland is out of the question in the open for much of the year, so a heated indoor municipal swimming pool can, during the gloomy and frozen winter and in the cold spring and autumn, if properly designed, become a social centre. For a start, as well as the standard 25 metre exercise pool with its diving boards, there are lots of different varieties of water to splash about in: a wave place, a water slide, a children's pond, whirlpool baths, a therapy and teaching pool, and for the really hearty, a cool water pool. As well as these aquatic delights, the brief at Forssa includes saunas, a café, a solarium, gyms, disco and aerobic rooms and places for physical therapy. And there is a suite which citizens in less serious moods can hire to drink beer round an indoor barbecue and wander in and out of private saunas.

The roughly square site in a suburban setting is between an old quarter of villas and a new development of low slabs of flats. All the aquatic parts of the building are in one big space: a huge double-height volume that contains all the different pools (and the height of the ­high diving board). The swimming hall is a square on plan which itself is divided into four lesser squares, the south-westerly one of which is rotated by 20 degrees to the main mass. (It takes its cue from the angle of the neighbouring flats.) The rotation allows large areas of glass to be created in the roof between the concrete waffled slabs of the main roofs, so projecting daylight down into the middle of the big aquatic space. A great, warm, comforting, luminous and exciting volume is generated. Almost all the pools are linked in a free-flowing geometry. Little canals between bosky islands allow you to swim between one kind of experience and the other. The great slabs of the roof are carried on cylindrical in-situ, white-painted concrete columns which are so thin

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and wittily placed that they seem almost invisible. This spatial triumph is serviced and overlooked by a two-storey part of the complex, again set at 20 degrees to the main square block. The glazed entrance and café are approached from the north-east corner. A counter that moves from selling tickets to buns lines the long wall of the place. To the left is a long, largely top-lit corridor that gives access to the changing rooms, efficient transitional places between outer and inner worlds. Or you can turn off this corridor and go upstairs or by lift to the upper level of gyms, party suite and eventually out to the terrace, where a mobile bar can serve people who want to sit in the sunshine looking down into the great pool hall. The entrance, the diving board, the progression of the route to the interior through the changing rooms – all these are made plain by glass and metal interventions in the smooth white, mechanically rendered lightweight concrete walls that encase the noble volume.

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1 North-east elevation. 2 View of the north-east facade of the elongated building. 3 South-west elevation.

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4 The passageway through the building. 5, 6 The entrances to the succession of rooms are located in a “tunnel” cutting lengthwise through the building.

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7 The old vaults have been preserved and the required partition walls are lightweight filigree structures. 8 Barrel-vaulted areas run through the building.

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9 Office room. 10 Meeting room.

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NORDIC ARTS CENTRE Susisaari B 28, Suomenlinna, Helsinki Year of completion 1981 The building, originally a Russian barracks, lies on Suomenlinna Fortress Island between two bastions, with a pedestrian way running through it. It was built in 1866–68 as accommodation for 500 soldiers on the site of a smaller barracks that dated back to the period of Swedish rule. After the Civil War, in 1918, 1,747 Red prisoners were crammed into it. Conditions were so crowded that they had to sleep in shifts on the floor. From 1919 up to the end of the 1930s Finnish soldiers were billeted in the building. In the early 1940s it was divided up into living quarters of various sizes. In 1972 these were demolished and the space was allocated to the National Museum as a central warehouse. From the autumn of 1985, it was used by the Nordic Arts Centre, and after a chequered history, it has now been adopted as its new centre by the Helsinki International Artist Programme. It is a single-storey rendered building, made up of thirteen barrel-­ vaulted areas running across the building, with a narrow corridor in the centre. The style is Classical – somewhere between Empire and Neo-Renaissance. Elevations were originally quite ornamental, but

were altered to their present form in the early 1870s. At the end of that decade the original turf roof, which was leaking, was replaced by a sheet-metal mansard roof. In the renovation, the clean-line spatial geometry of the building was preserved. Inside, the numerous small rooms and auxiliary areas typical of modern spatial programmes were grouped in separate “cubes” on the centre corridor, allowing the original arch of the vaulting to continue uninterrupted above the new walls. In its new role, the building has been used for many different functions; it contains art studios, assembly and storage spaces for exhibitions, a small exhibition room, office and meeting rooms, a photography­ laboratory and an apartment. New air-conditioning equipment and main electrical wiring were installed under the floor in a special tunnel. Installations­in the studios were left visible on the walls of the vaults. The complex may be functional but it inspires and serves a very wide range of individual and communal activities.

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11 Longitudinal section. 12 Floor plan. 13 The centre comprises the exhibition hall, workshop rooms and offices.

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1, 2 The gluelam canopy, parallel to the direction of the runway.

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3 Lateral view of the building and canopy. 4 Cross section of canopy detail. 5, 6 Waiting area café and luggage claim area.

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The original 1988 annexe: 7, 8 Landside entrance. 9, 11 Café. 10 Airside facade in the 1990s (the canopy was swept away by the 2004 extension).

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JYVÄSKYLÄ AIRPORT PASSENGER TERMINAL Annexe, renovation and extension Tikkakoski Year of completion 1988 (annexe and renovation), 2004 (extension) PASSENGER TERMINAL ANNEXE AND RENOVATION When discussing the design of Stansted Airport north of London, ­Norman Foster frequently recalled the small rural airports of the 1930s where the travellers could walk into one side of the shed and see their aeroplane waiting on the tarmac: this directness and sense of the drama of flying is what Forster hoped to capture in his new airport. Jyväskylä's airport is one of the nodes of Finland's internal air system, but it is a small affair by international standards. It is compact enough to allow naturally just that visual engagement between passengers and the process of flying that Foster was seeking at his much larger scale. The architects at Jyväskylä emphasised the relationship by placing the café in the middle of the building, virtually opposite the landside entrance and crowning it with a glass tower that has the dual function (from the inside) of emphasising the drama of landing and take-off and (from the outside) of adding a punctuation mark to what would otherwise be a virtually undifferentiated horizontal box. The 11

10 North-east elevation of the original extension (landside). 11 Axonometry of the 1988 annexe. 12 Cross section of the annexe (left) and its subsequent extension in 2004 (right).

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13 South-west elevation of the 2004 extension (airside). 14 Floor plan of the extension.

side wall of the tower is inflected to emphasise both effects, and to hide the baggage handling area from the café. The impression of light and space within the building is enhanced by a long strip of skylight that illuminates the foyer, which receives yet more light through the large glazed screen of the arrival area. In the foyer, finishes are very simple: white walls with blue tiled surroundings to the doors. Detailing is restrained and unfussy, with admirably organised signage and simple yet thoughtful touches like the stainless-steel rings that protect the columns from damage by trolleys and baggage. On the outside, this restraint could have led to a dull box. Cost constraints kept the outer walls to simple precast sandwich slabs finished with brown tiles. Instead of trying to enliven the box with rubbishy decoration, the architects chose to erect a curved steel canopy all along the landside and over the arrival and departure points of the airside. The suspended structure of this elegant device provides all the decoration and visual diversity needed and reminds us that much architectural ornament is an abstraction of previous structural orders.

This handsome and practical little building asks why we do not use real structure to useful and visually enlivening ends more often, rather than messing about with decorative forms that have now lost all meaning. PASSENGER TERMINAL EXTENSION The extension is seamlessly located flush with the passenger terminal, so creating a new air-side façade (where the original canopy was swept away, while the land side remained intact). The load-bearing structure of the extension consists of concrete-filled steel stanchions, steel beams and hollow-core slabs. The airside facade has a steel and glass wall and a laminated timber canopy that runs the entire length of the facade. This canopy is supported by laminated timber arches of planed spruce, and its inner curve is clad in birch ply. Facade cladding is of planed, heat-treated softwood battens. The interior is panelled in clean black alder. Increased use of timber compared to the original building is a response to the need for sustainability. 14

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CIVILISING THE WORKPLACE

Most work is now in offices. Helin has explored radical forms of the building type, both urban and rural, that suggest new ways of working and constructing the ­buildings.

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FINNFOREST MODULAR OFFICE Espoo

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3, 4 Structural use of wood has been maximised also in the load-bearing skeleton. Concrete has been used in lift shafts, stairs and the basement.

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FINNFOREST MODULAR OFFICE Tuulikuja 2, Espoo Year of completion 2005 For the architect of the twenty-first century, timber is a fascinating building material that sets new challenges, even though it is probably­ the oldest and most tested material still in use. Wood makes a more positive impression on the human mind than many other building materi­als. When moderately processed it is a living natural product, a locally produced material requiring little energy. It is a renewable ­resource that binds carbon dioxide and stores heat. It is easy to process­ and to repair. But during the past decades its use has been excessively restricted by public authority regulation. Now these artificial impediments­are being removed. Finnforest is a wood products company specialised in serving industrial building and construction, other industrial customers as well as

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the home and lifestyle area; it uses Nordic wood as a raw material. As an opening for new possibilities of timber, Finnforest organised in 2003 the Modular Office architectural competition, in which the entry “Sydänpuu – Heartwood” was awarded first prize. When completed, it was the tallest timber office building in Europe. Its prefabricated, modular frame, wall and cladding units can be used to make individual timber office buildings. The system is based on a series of simple, rectangular basic modules, to which curved special modules may be added. Lifespan of the basic structural elements was set at over a 100 years at a cost that matched the average for office buildings. The Finnforest building consists of rectangular modules, reminiscent of a stack of sawn timber. At the end a conical module has been used.

8 Cross section. 9 Ground floor plan. 10 Office floor plan.The design is based on variable, modular spatial units and their productisation.

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Modules are hidden within an architectonic spatial system where tall internal circulation spaces alternate with the open-ended atria on the outside. Workspaces are interspersed between these in such a manner that all units have views framed by timber structures onto different parts of Tapiola and its surroundings. The scale of the working environments is small. They are suited for working alone and small groups, with equipment to meet varying needs. Materials, colours and detailing differ from the convention. The objective has been to promote positive interaction between social and physical environments, to create an environment that is tranquil and conducive to concentration.

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11 Facade detail. 12 The site is located in southern Tapiola and is neighboured by residential buildings. 13 Outdoor atrium on the entrance side.

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4 Main entrance. 5 Northern end of the second stage.

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6 Places for communication: the lifts and the open staircase open to the bridges of the atrium on each floor. 7 View of the interior of the second stage. 181

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8–11 Second-stage interiors: atrium-restaurant, meeting room, exhibition space and auditorium.

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NOKIA HEAD OFFICE Keilalahdentie 4, Espoo Year of completion 1997 and 2001 The first invited competition to find a design for a new headquarters building for Nokia was set up in 1983 and won by Pekka Helin and Tuomo Siitonen. The design was abandoned due to appeals against the city plan as well as fiscal decisions. In the early 1990s the company was reorganised and the number of its staff grew substantially. The options for increased space were re-examined through a second architectural competition in 1994–95. The site remained the same. The tip of a wooded peninsula in the raggle of land and sea to the west of Helsinki at Espoo has been cut off by one of the motorways which slice across forested islands and open water. One reason for choosing the place was its proximity to the Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Otaniemi University of Technology (now part of the Aalto University). The building’s basic design idea is very strong and simple. Two rectangular atria are arranged on an axis which runs parallel to the shore. Triangles of office space are set on both sides of the atria, so creating two squares in plan, which are linked by the entrance and glazed bridges. To the west, the main building is partly shielded from the motorway by the elegant grey arch of the three-storey car park; between the two is a calm entrance court. To the east, the Nokia Head Office looks

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over sea and islands towards the city; in front, there is a cycleway and promenade. The building's height has been carefully arranged to coincide with the tops of the surrounding trees. But there is no attempt at naturalness. The two glass-clad prisms with their transparent link form a very precise artefact shining smooth against the amorphous green background. Closer inspection reveals a building with a life of its own behind the crisply detailed but impassive, tightly stretched grey outer skin (the first double facade realised in the Nordic countries). When you go into the building, the glazed link between the two squares transports you from the noise and pollution of the motorway to calm long views of sea and trees, also allowing vague glimpses of the towers of the city on the horizon. The glass entrance hall with its sloping east wall soars upwards with thin, trussed laminated wood bridges delineating space into layers. Colours are predominantly cool and neutral. To left and right, the big spaces of the atria beckon with a much warmer palette of colours. Small ground-floor meeting rooms overlook the bay and the right-hand atrium houses two auditoria. The other atrium is the more dramatic. In plan it is identical, but without the auditorium, its organisation is much more immediately clear. 12 Connecting bridges. 13 Cross section, second stage.

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The short sides are open galleries which act as lift lobbies, bringing users out to dramatic views of the big space. The long sides of the atrium are fully glazed, with cellular and open-plan offices overlooking an interior volume flooded with light from the sloping glass roof. At ground level is the firm's restaurant. Its beautifully chosen cherrywood floor makes the place warm and welcoming, and indeed the austere elegant greyness and transparency of the whole space is made cheerful with deft touches of ruddy wood: red-oak ceilings in the galleries, wooden furniture in the offices, wood strip walls round the dining area, and even wood on the nosing of the spiral stairs. The office triangles each offer about 1,000 square metres of usable floor space and can accommodate between 40 and 80 people. Planning can be varied easily. In the mid 1990s the town plan for Keilaranta in Espoo included the Nokia Head Office, the headquarters of the Neste petroleum company and a boat marina with an adjoining park. Subsequently, the City of Espoo drew up a plan for extensive development of the waterfront area, which had become an important commercial site. The extension to the Nokia Head Office became necessary due to the company’s rapid growth. Extra space was needed, some 16,500 square

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metres gross, equalling half the existing floor area, or room for approximately 700 employees. Nokia's senior management gave a clear design brief for the building: the extension should neither dominate nor be dominated by the existing building. In other words, the extension should be perceived as a part of the complex despite its differing geometry. So the choice of materials relates to the existing building: a concrete frame enclosed in a glass envelope supported by a uniform, extruded steel framework, extensive use of warm-coloured wood on the floor, ceiling and interior wall surfaces, as well as trowel-finished paintwork applied to the stiffening concrete walls. A semi-cylindrical atrium between the principal masses is used for dining, conferences and festive events. The entrance area facilities, health care services, Brand Room (VIP showroom), auditorium, conference room and kitchen are organised around the atrium space on the ground floor. The first floor is reserved for conference rooms and temporary office work units. The second floor and higher levels comprise offices. Energy conservation and durability were among the central design criteria, as they were for the existing part of the building.

14, 15 First stage, plans of ground floor and upper floors. 16, 17 Second stage, plans of the ground floor and a typical upper office floor.

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B A LT I C S Q U A R E O F F I C E B L O C K Helsinki

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1 East facade. 2 Facade detail. 3 The atrium, designed for exhibitions of technology, was finally made to house a pedestrian passage, café and shop.

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4 The vertical space of the staircase and lift lobby. 5 Office lobby with informal meeting area. 6 Meeting room. 7, 8 Main entrance.

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BALTIC SQUARE OFFICE BLOCK Itämerentori 2, Helsinki Year of completion 2000 The old part of Ruoholahti in Helsinki is characterised by massive redbrick industrial buildings, and the Baltic Square Office Block is located at their junction with new residential quarters flanked with office buildings. The site is also a busy road junction leading to the centre of the city. Baltic Square consists of a sixteen-storey tower and a lower volume of three five-storey office wings, enclosing a pedestrian gallery covered by a glass roof of nearly 1,000 square metres. The high-rise volume is intended to look slim. Office layout is based on an open building principle in which the structure, vertical services and technology provide a minimum limitation to the flexibility of the building and to its possible future uses. The ground floor contains lobby areas with their associated conference facilities and the pedestrian gallery that provides a café-restaurant and shops throughout the building. The building also has two basement floors which accommodate storage space as well as technical and staff facilities in addition to a car park. The frame consists of steel columns and beams and precast concrete slabs. Basements are cast in situ. Elevations are mainly double skin structures. Materials include glass and Cor-Ten weatherproof steel, with stainless steel on certain parts of the tower. The advantages of the double skin relate to energy consumption, maintenance charges, soundproofing and data protection. Cor-Ten was justified on ecological grounds, such as its complete recyclability. In addition, Cor-Ten links the building to the industrial past of the area. On top of the high-rise volume there is a traditional log sauna with views to the sea. It was erected by crane to its position when the building was nearly finished.

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10 North elevation. 11 West elevation. 12 Cross section.

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13, 16 A speciality of Finnish work culture: sauna bath carpentered from logs and located on the upper terrace. 14, 15 Ground floor plan and typical upper floor office plan.

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1, 2 An industrial area changing into offices: on the left Ahlström, on the right a building designed by Väinö Vähäkallio for Alko Inc. in the 1930s.

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AHLSTRÖM SALMISAARI OFFICE BUILDING Helsinki

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3, 4 Seaward facade. 3

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5, 6 The ground floor accommodates communal areas: a restaurant, the reception and most of the meeting rooms. 7 A typical teamwork room on one of the upper floors. 8 View of the restaurant from the atrium.

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9 Ground floor plan. 10, 12 The top-floor entertainment premises with sauna. 11 Cross section.

AHLSTRÖM SALMISAARI OFFICE BUILDING Salmisaarenaukio 1, Helsinki Year of completion 2007 Towards the end of the 1930s, the Ahlström Corporation built a highstandard office and commercial building typical of the era in the centre of Helsinki. Over the past 70 years, the corporation, the city and working life have undergone many changes – in structure and operations, and in terms of the possibilities offered by technology. Now, the office block that Ahlström Capital has built in the Ruoholahti area of Helsinki, on a site that became available when no longer needed for the storing of coal, similarly represents the current time. Working facilities are universal and modifiable, with emphasis on openness and interaction. There are several different end users in the building: Ahlström, Alko, BaseAn, Comptel and Fennovoima take up most of the space. Common facilities include a restaurant and a conference centre. Exhibition facilities at the street level enliven the shore promenade. Parking space is provided behind these in the basement as part of a public parking garage.

Floors wind round a central space that opens up to the market square to the north. Views over the strait and Seurasaarenselkä Bay toward the Keilaniemi area are celebrated in the planning. The steel frame carries lightweight precast steel units used in the structural sections of the outer walls. The material is most clearly visible in the wind braces of the tall glass wall and in the lattices of the roof lights. Intermediate floors are hollow precast slabs. The exterior is dominated by red brick, both in surfaces and as a tectonic structure like the old industrial buildings. The thermal load of the large window openings has been compensated with metal screens and special glazing. The site plan and the strict interpretation of it by building control authorities made it necessary to clad the two top floors completely in glass. Had it been possible to treat the volumes and the surfaces more freely, more challenging possibilities of architectural expression could have been used.

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1 Office floor plan. 2 Site plan. 3 Cross section. 4 On its site in a former railway yard area opposite the Finlandia Hall, UPM will be one in a row of new office buildings. 3

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UPM GROUP HEAD OFFICE Helsinki

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UPM GROUP HEAD OFFICE Helsinki, Töölönlahti Invited competition, first prize and follow-up commission 2009– UPM comprises three business groups: energy and pulp; paper; and engineered materials, in which fibre- and biomass-based businesses and recyclable raw materials and products are cornerstones. In 2008– 09 an invited competition was held for the firm's head office, to be built in the new Töölönlahti area currently under construction in the centre of Helsinki. The site is in the core of, for the present, open urban landscape, where the central park, the sea and the city meet. The new row of office blocks indicated by the master plan will be surrounded by monuments like Finlandia Hall, the National Museum, the Parliament buildings, new concert hall and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, all framed by a projected park. The master plan strictly limits the height, the footprint and the form of the volume. The main theme of the Alvar

Aallon katu street is a sequence of gates of which the UPM building is the first one. It is asymmetric and wide enough to attract pedestrians to continue along the street. Inside, the atrium is the heart of the organisation. It is not just a vertical void through the building, but a unifying element linking different functions and groups of people, generating communication and articulating the traffic in the entrance hall. Office floors are flexible to meet rapid changes in the organisation. Space can easily be divided into separate rooms or converted to large open areas. Vertical traffic is in the centre with short routes to individual departments. Both internally and externally, the UPM sets a standard that should inform the whole Töölönlahti area.

5 UPM’s own wood components have an important part in the architecture.

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6 A part of the building spans over Alvar Aallon katu street.

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THE WORKSHOP

”...in the background of success is the remarkable versatile talent to master and interpret complex situations in an impressive manner regardless of location, scale or budget. …” (National Committee for Architecture in October 2006) Staff Total number of employees currently 49 Competitions 37 first prizes in architectural competitions in Finland and abroad Awards National Award for Architecture 2006 (Pekka Helin), 1983 (Pekka Helin & Tuomo Siitonen) ECCS European Steel Design Award 2007, 2001 Finnish Steel Construction of the Year 2006, 2004, 2000, 1997 Wood Award 2006 Ecological Building of the Year 2001 Facade of the Year 1997 Finnish Concrete Architecture Award 1995 National Board of Housing Award 1989 Company history KATRAS Architects 1973–79 (Pekka Helin, Matti Nurmela, Kari Raimoranta, Tuomo Siitonen, Jyrki Tasa) Helin & Siitonen Architects 1979–98 (Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen) Helin & Co Architects 1998– 204

Pekka Helin and his team in front of the office, June 2010.

Present staff Ilkka Andersin, Lasu Aura, Hanna Euro, Jutta Haarti-Katajainen, Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Tarja Hildén, Riitta Huumo, Aaro Hälikkä, Satu Jaatinen, Anne Jylhä, Tuuli Kassi, Harri Kemppainen, Tatu Korhonen, Antti Korkkula, Taneli Koskela, Harri Koski, Matti Kärkkäinen, Antti Laiho, Seija Lindertz, Kaarina Livola, Ritva Mannersuo, Mirko Nieminen, Marja-Riitta Norri/MRN Architects (close collaboration), Tuukka Norri, Kirsi Pajunen, Aija Palmi-Haapala, Jaakko Parkkonen, Heta Rautiainen, Nikolai Rautio, Reeta Sakki, Teija Salmi, Tommi Sassi, Riitta Soininen, SannaMaria Takala, Satu Tervo, Liv-Jaana Tirkkonen, Susanna Tolvanen, Mandi Tuominen, Peter Verhe, Mika Vesterinen, Tuomas Wichmann, Päivi Willman, Elisaveta Zuravljova Trainees (summer 2010): Tau Hartikainen, Jaro Koski, Kati Saarela, Tuomo Salmi, Caius Verhe Former employees Anna Aalto, Markus Aaltonen, Juha Andersson, Christopher Bearman, Leena Brooke, Daniel Bruun, Heather Cameron, Tom Cederqvist, Petri Eerikäinen, Seija Ekholm, Simo Freese, Mihail Galkin, Hannele Grönlund, Riikka Haapamäki, Petri Helin, Totti Helin, Jari Huhtaniemi, Ann Charlott Hästö, Hannu Jaakkola, Vesa Jäntti, Pasi Kaarto, Nuutti Kanerva, Erkki Karonen, Virpi Karonen, Sari Kauria-Räsänen, Johanna Keränen, Eeva Kilpiö, Kari Kuosma, Mari Kuukasjärvi, Jonni Laitto, Jenni Lautso, Petteri Lautso, Kari Leppänen, Kimmo Liimatainen, Klaus Lindh, Jukka Lommi, Titta Lumio, Alessandro Manaigo, Juhani Maunula, Kirsti Menna, Johanna Nordman, Vesa Näsi, Harri Ojala, Pertti Ojamies, Rebecca Ott, Timo Patomo, Leena Petäjä, Kari Piela, Jarmo Pulkkinen, Jyrki Rihu, Lauri Rissanen, Johanna Rope, Ari Sahlman, Petri Sakkinen, Antti Salaterä, Pia Sarpaneva, Sanna Siltala, Virpi Söderblom, Katariina Takala, Vesa Tiilikka, Jari Tirkkonen, Kari Uusi-Heimala, Esko Valkama, Tommi Varis, Juha Vesen, Lauri Virkola, Hanna Virusmäki, Virve Vuolasvirta, Vesa-Jukka Vuorela, Inga-Lill Wahlroos, Kirsi Wass Marcus Ahlman, Riikka Ahokas, Laura Amplo Rella, Tuula Asikainen, Niila Aunio, Maria Avellàn, Markku Axelsson, Jukka Björn, Minna Borg, Vivi Brooke, Ari Bungers, Caterina Casagrande, Tony Castillo, Laura Eerikäinen, Sayaka Eguchi, Eila Eklund, Reijo Eklund, Sari Eklund, Eeva-Liisa Elo, Antti Eskelinen, Ann Griffin, Daniela Grotenfelt, Catharina Gylling, Hanna Haapakoski, Tesoc Hah/iArch Architects (collaboration), Isa Hartikainen, Sirpa Hartikainen, Kimmo Heinonen, Hedwig Heinsman, Otso Helenius, Eija Hirvikoski, Tero Hirvonen, Sampo Honkala, Marjaliisa Honkanen, Jaana Hopeasaari, Juha Huuhtanen, Eero Hyvämäki, Riitta Hyvärinen, Jannina Häkkinen, Antti Hänninen, Vera Ilman, Petri Ilmarinen, Päivi Jaakonsaari, Senja Jousniemi, Merja Jousniemi, Miina Jutila, Leena Juutila, Jyri Järvelä, Päivi Jääskeläinen, Virve Kaartoluoma, Esa Kaivos, Nina Kapli, Susanna Karjalainen, Emil Katajainen, Leena Kekkonen, Julius Kekoni, Lars Kernler, Pekka Kerttula, Antti Keto, Jarkko Kettunen, Pia-Mari Kilpimaa, Pia Kilpinen, Maria Kleimola, Myriam Kochs, Milla Koivulehto, Marianna Kolinen, Päivi Kontu, Petri Kontukoski, Aulikki Korhonen, Eija Korkalainen, Jorma Koskinen, Salme Koskinen, Anna Kozlo, Jahja Krasniqi, Sari Kujanpää, Katrina Kummu, Esa Käppi, Essi Käppi, Petri Laaksonen, Satu Laine, Karitta Laitinen, Pirkko Laitinen, Kirsti Larja, Eeva Lehtinen, Tapani Lehtinen, Helena Lehtonen, Juhana Leiwo, Kirta Leppo, Wei Li, Nina Liimatainen, Johan Lindfors, Osma Lindroos, Katri Lisitzin, Nemesio Martinez Lopez, Teija Losoi, Markku Luotonen, Hannu Luukka, Minna Magnusson, Terhi Manninen, Kati Markkanen, Kaisa Martikainen, Paula Markkula, Sakari Mentu, Krista Meskanen, Timo Metsänen, Jouni Multimäki, Matti Muoniovaara, Joel Mäkelä, Tarja Mäkeläinen, Arvi Mäkitalo, Monika Männikkö, Mikaela Neuvo, Reija Niemi, Annikka Niinikoski, Ville Niiranen, Väinö Nikkilä, Arja Nikkinen, Merja Nikunen, Susanne Nill, Eija Niskanen, Outi Niskanen, Martti Norja, Mauno Nousiainen, Jarmo Nuutinen, Hanna Oijala, Anne-Maritta Oksanen, Marja-Liisa Palmu, Hanna Partanen, Minna Partti, Heimo Paukkunen, Pauli Pehkonen, Päivi Pekkalainen, Anne Pelkonen, Ismo Penttinen, Juha Pihlaskari, Anna Puurtinen, Minna Pyy, Seija Pääläinen, Pham Ngoc Quang, Ville Rautiainen, Eric Rawlins, Päivi Rehvonen, Judit Rètzalvi, Jouni Riikonen, Eliisa Rintanen, Liisa Ritvanen, Minna Rouhiainen, Markus Ruuskanen, Jaana Räsänen, Leila Räsänen, Jaana Saarelainen, Jouni Saarinen, Sirkka-Liisa Saarinen, Veikko Saarnio, Christian Sahlberg, Marko Salmela, Kai Salmi, Johanna Salo, Helena Sandman, Otto Schultz, Markus Seppänen, Tuomas Siitonen, Irena Siljama, Simo Sipari, Anne Sirviö, Anita Skog, Heidi Slotte, Pirjo Soininen, Pauli Sonninen, Hannes Stepic, SirkkaLiisa Sundvall, Vera Söderlund, Antti Taavitsainen, Hanna-Kaisa Taimisto, Jukka Takamaa, Sirpa Tammela-Laine, Katriina Teräsvuori, Tuulikki Tikkanen, Niina Toppila, Tiina Torna, Riikka Tuomisto, Minna Tyrisevä, Liisa Tång, Antti Uusiheimala, Soili Uutela, Elina Vaittinen, Suvi Vajavaara, Sini Valvisto, Virpi Vartio, Nina Vauhkonen, Irma Verhe, Titus Verhe, Sini Vehviläinen, Sanna Vesen, Maija Viitala, Martin Vulle, Juhani Väisänen, Marjo Vänskä-Nissilä, Yrjö Wegelius, Mira Willman, Jan Wolski, Jani Wuorimaa, Kati Yrjö-Koskinen, Zolt Zombori

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Catalogue of works (selected) 1971–1980 Luolaja Town Plan, Hämeenlinna Open competition, 1st prize, 1971, Pekka Helin's master’s thesis The town plan later prepared by the City of Hämeenlinna for this area was based on this competition entry.

Cemetery and Chapel, Seinäjoki Competition, 3rd prize, 1972 Design team: Pekka Helin, Matti Nurmela, Kari Raimoranta, Tuomo Siitonen, Jyrki Tasa ”Both the manner of construction and materials are suitable. The scale of the architecture is pleasant and fits in with the landscape.” (Jury report) Tornimäki Sports and Recreation Area, Mikkeli Planning and ideas competition, 3rd prize, 1972 Design team: Pekka Helin, Matti Nurmela, Kari Raimoranta, Tuomo Siitonen, Jyrki Tasa ”The buildings stand in a free but sufficiently central group around a courtyard which has attractive dimensions. One of the advantages of the plan is that it can easily be expanded later on.” (Jury report) Areal Centre for Southern Vantaa Open competition, 2nd prize, 1973 Design team: Pekka Helin, Matti Nurmela, Kari Raimoranta, Tuomo Siitonen, Jyrki Tasa The Expansion Area of the University of Turku Ideas competition, 1st prize, 1976 Design team: Pekka Helin, Matti Nurmela, Kari Raimoranta, Tuomo Siitonen, Jyrki Tasa Execution: Nurmela–Raimoranta–Tasa “An especially laudable feature is the varied and correctly oriented central passage, which connects the old and new campus areas, directs bicycle and pedestrian traffic smoothly away from students’ housing and thus forms the functional and visual core of the campus.” (Jury report) Sasmo House Open competition, 3rd prize, 1976 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen 206

Cultural Centre for the Itäkeskus District, Helsinki Open competition, 3rd prize, 1977 Pekka Helin “The model gives an extremely positive image of the proposal and is in accord with the jury’s idea of a cultural centre suitable for this place.” (Jury report)

the institute wound around a courtyard adapting to the terrain organically. The design of the main building then returned to the principles of the competition entry, but the meandering accommodation building connects it with the swimming pool following the topography of the site, following the revised sketch. Renovation of accommodation and auditorium spaces and partially facades, 1999 and 2006–/Helin & Co Architects, Tuomo Siitonen Architects

Sports Centre, Parainen Koulukatu – Sibeliuskatu, Parainen Invited competition, 1st prize, 1977 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen Client: Pargas Idrottshus Ab Gross area: 22,000 m2 The project remained unrealised.

Administrative and Leisure Centre, Nokia Open competition, 3rd prize, 1977 Pekka Helin “Land use and the arrangement of the various functions are well thought out.” (Jury report)

Office Buildings for Kallio, Helsinki Invited competition, 2nd prize, 1978 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen “While the previous proposal (Gullichsen–Kairamo–Vormala, 1st prize) was captivating in its self-assured and handsome character, this one shows a subtle understanding of the thematics of the cityscape. The basically symmetrical arrangement does justice to the monumental position of Kallio Church, and with the recessed top floors this proposal better than any other accentuates the dominance of the church in the axis of Unioninkatu street. The rounded corners of the office buildings gently refer to the forms of the existing circular Ympyrätalo building and the Arena building. The discovery of themes that tie together a disconnected milieu must be seen as a special merit (Markku Komonen, “Kaupunkikuva kauppatavarana” [The cityscape as merchandise], Arkkitehti, 2/1979). The proposal that was constructed received joint 3rd prize in the competition.

Metal workers’ Murikka Institute, Tampere Kuterintie 226, Terälahti Open competition, 1st prize, 1974 (Helin, Nurmela, Raimoranta, Siitonen, Tasa) Year of completion: 1977 Design team: Katras Architects/Pekka Helin and Tuomo Siitonen with Klaus Lindh, Juhani Maunula and Petri Sakkinen Client: Finnish Metal workers’ Union Gross area: 11,150 m2, volume: 45,100 m3 “The demonstration of the users’ professional skill has had an influence on the structural and material choices from exterior cladding to supporting structures and details.” (Arkkitehti, 8/1977) ”There is something particularly Scandinavian in the informality, direct contact with wild nature, and in the multiplicity of varied opportunities for social contact.” (Architectural Review, May 1982) The competition entry was based on an orthogonal system of coordinates, but during the design process Pekka Helin drafted a revised sketch in which 207

1981–1990 Swimming Centre, Tampere Joukahaisenkatu 7, Tampere Open competition, 1st and 3rd prizes, 1973 (Helin, Nurmela, Raimoranta, Siitonen, Tasa) Year of completion: 1979 Design team: Katras Architects/Pekka Helin and Tuomo Siitonen with Antti Laiho and Klaus Lindh Client: City of Tampere Gross area: 5,500 m2, volume: 52,300 m3 “The unobtrusive external architecture reflects striving for economy. The simple form follows the function around a rectangular pool. The interiors have been given a touch of a spa by means of a colonnade, wall tiling, a profusion of greenery and space for lounging, and by positioning a restaurant in the middle of the hall.” (Arkkitehti, 8/1980) The Swimming Centre was extended in 2007. The design commission was based on a competitive bidding.

Rental Housing in Tapanila, Helsinki Tasankotie – Jäkälätie, Helsinki Start of design: 1978 Year of completion: 1980 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Eeva Kilpiö Client: The Helsinki Housing Production Department (Att) Gross area: 12,100 m2, volume: 42,200 m3, 171 state-subsidised rental apartments.“The irregular arrangement of the buildings produces diverse views and allows more space for courtyards than an orthogonal arrangement would allow. The balcony-access block type was chosen because there is a possibility of a future split-level junction near the Tapanila railway station, which would cause a noise disturbance and might partly obstruct views.” (Arkkitehti, 7/1980) Renovation of facades and technical installations/Helin & Co, Anne Jylhä, 1998–99

Housing in Tuomarinkylä (Ylätuvanpolku Housing), Helsinki Kotitorpantie 3, Helsinki Start of design: 1980 Year of completion: 1981 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/houses ABCD by Pekka Helin, houses EFGH by Tuomo Siitonen; with Markus Aaltonen, Juha Andersson and Nuutti Kanerva. Kiinteistö Oy Tupa (communal facility) Marja-Riitta Norri and Markus Aaltonen Client: Rakennusyhtymä Mattinen & Niemelä Houses ABCD contain eight 99 m2 apartments with four rooms, kitchen and sauna See pages 68–73 Day Care Centre in Leppävaara, Espoo Ratapölkky 1, Espoo Start of design: 1981 Year of completion: 1983 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Nuutti Kanerva, Vesa Tiilikka Client: City of Espoo Total floor area 1,240 m2, volume 3,300 m3 “The world and the scale of small children set the principles for the architecture of the buildings. The different kinds of windows, colours and various galleries relate to the users’ experience of the environment and were employed to enliven the standard room programme.” (Arkkitehti 8/1984)

Sketch for the Pukinmäki Triangle Housing Estate, Helsinki Area plan proposal, invited competition, 1st prize, 1981 Pekka Helin Concert and Congress Hall, Tampere Open architectural competition, 2nd prize, 1983 Among the 13 top-category entries, the ratio of volume (77,000 m3) to floor area (16,350 m2) was the smallest in Pekka Helin’s entry.

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Block of Flats in Katajanokka, Helsinki Merisotilaankatu 1, Helsinki Start of design: 1980 Year of completion: 1984 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Juha Andersson Client: The Helsinki Housing Production Department (Att) Gross area 2,600 m², volume 10,500 m³

UKK Institute, Tampere Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, Tampere Open competition, 1st prize, 1981 Year of completion: 1984 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen, Antti Laiho Client: National Board of Public Building/Urho Kekkonen Fitness Institute Foundation Total floor area: 5,630 m², volume: 29,000 m³ “The main purpose of the UKK Institute is to provide facilities for the research and development of ways to promote the independent health care of the individual and the health of the population in general. The institute was a gift from the Finnish people to Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, President of the Republic from 1956 to 1982, on his 80th birthday.” (Arkkitehti, 5/1984)

Nordic Arts Centre, Helsinki Susisaari B 28, Suomenlinna, Helsinki Start of design: 1982 Year of completion: 1985 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Hannele Grönlund, Nuutti Kanerva and Antti Laiho Client: National Board of Public Building Total floor area: 2,600 m² See pages 150–157

Low-Rise Housing in Kuusisaari, Helsinki Kuusiniementie 14, Helsinki Start of design: 1983 Year of completion: 1985 Pekka Helin Client: Private Two semi-detached houses and a one-family house Gross area: 1,100 m², volume: 2,900 m³

Swimming Pool/Multi-purpose Building, Hollola Terveystie 6, Hollola Invited competition, 1st prize, 1983 Year of completion: 1986 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen, Petri Eerikäinen Client: The Municipality of Hollola Gross floor area: 4,500 m², volume: 20,400 m³ “The fundamental idea for the swimming pool area was to interpret the concept of a public bath, a place for physical and mental relaxation, in the language of modern architecture. This has been achieved through the use of light, pale-coloured surfaces and soft forms.” (Arkkitehti, 5/1986)

The Kamppi-Töölönlahti Area, Helsinki Ideas competition, purchased entry, 1986 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen

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Bank of Finland Branch Office, Turku Two-stage competition 1985–86 The first phase was an open ideas competition. Pekka Helin was one of the five competitors invited to the second phase. According to the jury report his project was “a lyrical proposal continuing the Classicist tradition, embedded in the park in a successful way in terms of the cityscape [...] The proposed building has been incorporated into the urban environment subtly but distinctly and achieves a character that is devout and, thanks to the courtyard, enclosed as is appropriate for a bank [...] Through its small scale the building interacts with the old structures by the river Aura. The facades express the spirit of a new bank palace as well as that of a riverside building.” In the second phase Helin modified the project considerably to meet the functional demands. The new design did not convince the jury.

Unic Corporation Headquarters, Espoo Kalkkipellontie 6, Espoo Invited competition, 1st prize, 1984 Year of completion: 1987 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen, Peter Verhe, Christopher Bearman Client: Kiinteistö Oy Kalkkipellontie 6, Osuuspankkien Kiinteistökeskus Gross floor area: 10,500 m², volume: 50,850 m³ “When the user’s name is Unic, the building certainly cannot have a standard outward appearance. As a counterpoint to the modern high technology routinely used by the company, the facades have consciously been given an archaic character by means of closed surfaces and natural stone, thus lending the building temporal depth. Nonetheless, the constructions largely employ prefabricated unit techniques.” (Arkkitehti, 4–5/1987) Extension design 2010–/Helin & Co

Kipparlahti Rescue Station, Helsinki Suolakivenkatu, Helsinki Start of design: 1984 Year of completion: 1987 Design team: Pekka Helin, Jarmo Pulkkinen Client: City of Helsinki Gross area: 2,200 m², volume: 11,500 m³ The rescue operations were moved to another place in 2006. In accordance with the new town plan, the low wing of the building was pulled down. The floor area of the part to be preserved is about 670 m². The town plan marks it as a public building, allowing it to be preserved and extended. It can contain services and apartments. It must have a function that requires as little maintenance traffic as possible.

Malmitalo Building, Helsinki Open competition, 2nd prize, 1987 Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen “The building volumes compose interesting spatial sequences that also have a connection with the amphitheatre of the park. Despite its richness of forms the ensemble is controlled and constitutes a memorable design that completes the urban structure in a positive way.” (Jury report) Blocks of Flats in Mellunmäki, Helsinki Naulakallionpolku – Nupikuja – Rukatunturintie, Helsinki Start of design: 1986 Year of completion: 1988 Design team: Pekka Helin, Vesa Tiilikka, Esko Valkama Client: The Helsinki Housing Production Department (Att) Total floor area: 7,755 m², volume: 26,200 m³, number of apartments: 110 “The brief was to design subsidised housing, including a number of homes – with standard facilities – for mentally disabled people. The planning principle was to divide the total volume into small units and adapt the building to the location while exploiting the properties of the terrain.” (Arkkitehti, 3/1988) Awards: The Building of the Year/National Board of Housing

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Airport Passenger Terminal Annexe, Renovation and Extension, Jyväskylä First phase: annexe and renovation Start of design: 1985 Year of completion: 1988 Design team: Pekka Helin, Peter Verhe, Kari Uusi-Heimala, Nuutti Kanerva, Cristopher Bearman Client: National Board of Public Building Gross floor area: 1,340 m², volume: 7,500 m³ Second phase: extension Start of design: 2001 Year of completion: 2004 Design team: Pekka Helin, Riitta Soininen, Mika Vesterinen with Harri Kemppainen and Taneli Koskela Client: Civil Aviation Group Finland Gross area: 1,680 m², volume: 9,160 m³ See pages 158–165 Public Office Building, Espoo Espoon keskus (Espoo Centre) Invited competition, 1987–88, 1st prize and follow-up commission Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen Client: National Board of Public Building Gross area: 9,000 m², volume: 36,900 m³ “Split into smallish units, the office building gives the coarse-grained urban centre the character of a smaller scale. Together with the opposite group of apartment blocks, it makes the Kiltaraitti street area a pleasantly staggered space [...] The proposal shows a praiseworthy development of a repeated mass unit.” (Jury report) The project remained unrealised.

Office Building in Pasila, Helsinki Asemapäällikönkatu 14, Helsinki Start of design: 1985 Year of completion: 1989 Design team: Pekka Helin, Jarmo Pulkkinen Client: City of Helsinki, National Board of Public Building Gross area: 11,000 m², volume: 37,600 m³ The building has been occupied by the National Board of Housing (until 1993), the Housing Fund of Finland (until 2008) and the Environment and Natural Resources unit of the Uusimaa Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY, since 2008).

Finnish Pavilion for World Expo 1992, Seville, Spain Open competition, 3rd prize, 1989 Pekka Helin “A simple, beautiful proposal that functions well as an exhibition building.” (Jury report)

Low-Rise Housing in Nuottaniemi, Espoo Nuottaniemi, Espoo Start of design: 1987 Year of completion: 1989 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Anne Kauppinen (Jylhä), Ritva Mannersuo Client: Hartela Construction Group Gross area: 3,190 m², volume: 9,200 m³, 22 apartments Rotonda Kameeli B – City Block Renovation Programme, Helsinki Mikonkatu – Kaisaniemenkatu – Vuorikatu – Yliopistonkatu, Helsinki Invited competition, 1st prize, 1989 and follow-up commission Design team: Helin & Siitonen Architects 1989–99, Helin & Co Architects 1999–/Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen, Riitta Soininen, Alessandro Manaigo Client: Oy Realinvest Ab 211

1991–2000 Gross area: 25,000 m², volume: 65,000 m³; listed buildings An essential part of Helsinki city centre, this block is close to the main railway station, the Ateneum Art Museum, the university buildings and the ­Alek­santerinkatu shopping street. According to the renovation programme, the street-side facades will be conserved and new volumes will be built in the centre of the block. The scheme drafted on the basis of the original design – a shopping centre built around a conical inner courtyard, “rotonda”, with offices on upper floors – remained unbuilt. The design work continues on the basis of the fact that the block is planned for housing. The Vuorikatu 6 apartment building was built inside the Kameeli city block; start of design 1999, year of completion 2001; gross area 2,100 m², volume 6,550 m³, 31 flats. The new building is defined on three sides by the firewalls of the neighbouring sites, so the courtyard is the only direction for the apartments to open out to. Arranged in a fan-like layout, the apartments are accessed from balconies lit by light roofing that spans the whole length of the facade. The building is highly transformable, allowing its apartments to be knocked together and its function to be altered.

Recreational and Commercial Area, Hanko Nordic competition, 1st prize, 1991 Tehtaanniemi, Hanko Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen, Daniel Bruun, Kari Kuosma Client: Oy Hankocenter Ab The project remained unrealised.

Paloheimo Ltd Headquarters, Riihimäki 1992 Design team: Pekka Helin, Harri Koski Client: Paloheimo Group Preliminary plan, gross area: 5,000 m², volume: 20,000 m³ The project remained unrealised.

Student Housing in Pukinmäki, Helsinki Rälssintie, Helsinki The design is based on the winning entry of the invited competition that concerned the area (Pukinmäki Triangle Housing Estate, 1981). Start of design: 1988 Year of completion: 1990 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo, Anne Kauppinen (Jylhä) Client: Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region (HOAS) Gross area: 9,300 m², volume: 27,750 m³, 96 apartments The site is next to the railway station near the Malmi district centre, the outdoor recreation area of the river valley (Vantaanjokilaakso) just across the courtyard. Fragments of the old milieu are still existent in the immediate environment. Grouped around a triangular courtyard is an ensemble of buildings whose number of stories varies.

Salmi House, Helsinki Itäniityntie 16, Helsinki Start of design: 1990 Year of completion: 1992 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Sanna-Maria Takala Client: Private Gross area: 282 m², volume: 940 m³ The one-family house opens to the west through large windows. The massing utilises the topography of the site.

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Sibelius Block Experimental Housing, Borås, Sweden Hestra Garden City, Borås, Southern Sweden Invited Nordic competition, 1st prize, 1990 Year of completion: 1993 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Daniel Bruun, Tuomas Wichmann, Ritva Mannersuo Client: Borås town, Bygg-Fast Ab Gross area: 2,950 m², volume: 7,950 m³ See pages 68–73 Student Housing in Kivikko, Helsinki Linnoituksentie 10, Helsinki Start of design: 1990 Year of completion: 1993 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Anne Jylhä Client: Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region (HOAS) Gross floor area: 17,330 m², volume: 51,580 m³, 186 apartments “The volumes are arranged as a citadel tracing the foot of the hill, with two circular three-storey blocks enclosing a communal courtyard. In the entrance area, a square with pergolas and benches forms an extension to the axis of the street, providing a meeting place and centre of human contact. The main utilities and services (clubrooms, day-care centres, saunas, laundry, maintenance, facilities) are grouped around the entrance square.” (Arkkitehti, 1/1994)

Swimming Baths, Forssa Eteläinen Puistokatu 2, Forssa Start of design: 1988 Year of completion: 1993 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Kirsti Menna, Pertti Ojamies, Nuutti Kanerva Client: Forssan liikuntakiinteistöt Oy Gross area: 5,350 m², volume: 38,000 m³ See pages 144–149 Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia Kadriorg Park, Tallinn Open competition 1993–94, 3rd prize Pekka Helin

Information Centre for Wooden Structures Invited competition, 1994, joint 1st prize Design team: Pekka Helin, Tommi Sassi, Harri Koski The project remained unrealised.

Villa Mira, Kauniainen Dosentintie, Kauniainen Start of design: 1991 Year of completion: 1994 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/ Pekka Helin, Sanna-Maria Takala; Jukka Mäntyala, structural engineer Gross area: 459 m², volume: 1,380 m³ The basis for the design of this one-family house was the interaction of space and light. In view of multi-generational housing, the spaces are divided into two fairly independent units. Entrance is on the ground floor, which also houses the bedrooms. The upper floor contains the living rooms with a large roof terrace attached to them. In the basement, which is partly on ground level, are the sauna with swimming pool and garage.

Block of Flats Restoration in Kaartinkaupunki, Helsinki Bernhardinkatu 5, Helsinki Start of design: 1991 Year of completion: 1994 Design team: Pekka Helin, Pasi Kaarto Client: Bernhardinkatu 5 Gross area: 2,100 m² Listed building, restoration of facades and the interior, new gate and roof terrace

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Laivapoika (Shipboy) Housing in Ruoholahti, Helsinki Laivapojankatu 3, Helsinki Start of design: 1992 Year of completion: 1995 Design team: Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo Client: The Helsinki Housing Production Department (Att) Gross area: 12,990 m², volume: 40,440 m³, 131 apartments Concrete Architecture Award 1995 See pages 74–79 Villa Saga, the Archipelago of Hiittinen Ersholmen Start of design: 1988 Year of completion: 1995 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomas Wichmann, Daniel Bruun Client: private Gross area: 170 m², volume: 515 m³ See pages 32–37 Smoke sauna and guest house completed 1996/Helin & Co, Sanna-Maria Takala Sanoma House, Helsinki Competition entry, 1995 Töölönlahdenkatu 2, Helsinki Pekka Helin Invited competition for the new head office of the Sanoma Group

Matti Ollila, structural engineer Client: Nokia Corporation Gross area: 38,300 m² and 24,500 m² and car park annexe: 14,000 m² Volume: 210,000 m³ and 111,200 m³ Awards: Steel Construction of the Year 1997, Facade of the Year 1997 See pages 176–185 Student Housing in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki Pitäjänmäentie, Helsinki Start of design: 1996 Year of completion: 1998 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Anne Jylhä Client: Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region (HOAS) Gross floor area: 3,690 m², volume: 12,970 m³, 50 apartments Blocks of flats in Viikki, Helsinki Maakaarenkuja 3, Helsinki Start of design: 1996 Year of completion: 1998 Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin, Anne Jylhä Client: The Helsinki Housing Production Department (Att) Gross area: 11,800 m², volume: 36,730 m³, 134 apartments The buildings are situated at the crossing of the new ecological area in Viikki and the Lahti motorway. There are wide views and natural surroundings on one side, heavy vehicle traffic on the other. The rental apartments are part of the social housing programme of the City of Helsinki. There was also an ecological aspect to be taken into account. The design was based on an idea to place all bedrooms and almost all balconies on the quiet side, closer to the natural surroundings. The living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens are on the motorway side, facing north-west.

Nokia Head Office and Extension, Espoo Keilalahdentie 4, Espoo Invited competition, 1st prize, 1983 (Pekka Helin, Tuomo Siitonen) and follow-up commission. The project was postponed due to appeals against the city plan and because of financial decisions. A new invited competition was held between Christmas and New Year's Eve 1994/95 with three competitors. Pekka Helin's team submitted eight concepts and was awarded 1st and 2nd prizes. Year of completion: first building phase 1997; extension 2001; car park annexe 2007 1st phase Design team: Helin & Siitonen/Pekka Helin with Erkki Karonen, Harri Koski and Mariitta Helineva; Matti Ollila, structural engineer 2nd phase Design team: Pekka Helin, Harri Koski, Seija Ekholm and Mariitta Helineva; 214

2001–2010 Fornebu Area, Bærum, Norway Competition, 1st prize and follow-up commission, 1998 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tom Cederqvist, Liv-Jaana Tirkkonen Client: Directorate of Public Construction and Property (Statsbygg), Oslo Municipality, Municipality of Bærum Site area: 3,342,000 m² See pages 102–105 Congress and Concert Centre, Lahti Architectural competition and design-construct competition, 2nd purchase, 1998 Pekka Helin “A controlled and original proposal of high architectural quality.” (Jury report)

Merikoralli Block of Flats in Lauttasaari, Helsinki Veneentekijänkuja 6, Helsinki Start of design: 1998 Year of completion: 2001 Design team: Pekka Helin, Sanna-Maria Takala Gross area: 4,880 m², volume: 15,880 m³, 39 apartments Client: NCC-Puolimatka International Oyj Eliel Saarinen defined in his Greater Helsinki plan of 1918 that Lauttasaari, one of the islands off the coast of Helsinki, should be an industrial dock area in times of industrial expansion. But after a bridge was built between Lauttasaari and the mainland, the island's population gradually increased. The site of this apartment block was previously occupied by warehouses. The apartments are unusually spacious, especially the balconies. Some of the topfloor apartments have roof terraces.

Ministry for Social Affairs and Health, Helsinki Meritullinkatu 8, Helsinki Invited competition, 1st prize, 1996 Year of completion: 1999 Design team: Pekka Helin, Peter Verhe, Harri Koski, Mariitta Helineva Client: Senate Properties Gross area: 12,100 m², volume: 40,200 m³ See pages 126–133 Office Building in Ruoholahti (Baltic Square), Helsinki Itämerentori 2, Helsinki Start of design: 1996 Year of completion: 2000 Design team: Pekka Helin, Peter Verhe, Mariitta Helineva, Harri Koski, Timo Patomo, Tarja Hildén Clients: Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company, YIT Corporation Gross area: 32,930 m², volume: 142,000 m³ Awards: European Steel Award 2001, Steel Construction of the Year 2000 See pages 186–191 Sandels Senior Citizens’ Housing in Töölö, Helsinki Välskärinkatu 4, Helsinki Start of design: 1994 Year of completion: 2000 Design team: Pekka Helin, Anne Jylhä Client: Pension fund of the cooperative banks OP-Eläkekassa Gross area: 7,840 m², volume: 24,850 m³, 88 apartments See pages 80–85

Five Tower Blocks in Lauttasaari, Helsinki Melkonkatu 11, Helsinki Start of design: Merisatu blocks 1999, Meriminttu blocks 2000, Merialpi block 2000 Year of completion: Merisatu blocks 2001, Meriminttu blocks 2002, Merialpi block 2004 Design team: Pekka Helin, Anne Jylhä Client: NCC Finland Oy Gross area/volume/number of apartments: Merisatu blocks 9,000 m²/ 28,120 m³/84, Meriminttu block 9,200 m²/29,100 m³/74, Merialpi block 4,900 m²/15,200 m³/44 An ensemble of five tower blocks of red brick.

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Nordea Bank Office Building, Helsinki Aleksis Kiven katu 9 and Satamaradankatu 5, Helsinki Start of design: 1999 (three phases) Years of completion: 2001, 2003 Design team (Aleksis Kiven katu 9): Pekka Helin, Peter Verhe Design team (Satamaradankatu 5): Peter Verhe, Pekka Helin, Mika Vesterinen Client: Merita Real Estate, Nordea Bank Finland Ltd Gross area: 14,300 m² and 24,800 m², volume: 50,600 m³ and 90,500 m³ The complex is located in an old industrial quarter of Helsinki. Nordea required the development of a sustainable working environment with an emphasis on indoor climate conditions and minimal energy consumption. The first phase of the complex is the award winner for the 2001 Environmental Construction Project of the Year in Finland. The office building is a part of the Healthy House programme, the main idea of which is to focus on the quality of the air and convenient temperature.

Student Housing in Arabianranta, Helsinki Rörstrandinkatu 3, Helsinki Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2002 Design team: Pekka Helin, Anne Jylhä Client: Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region (HOAS) Gross area: 8,930 m², volume: 28,570 m³, 134 apartments “The street facade of the HOAS [...] appears like a blank wall when approached from the land side, but opens up towards the sea. Helin has managed to bring a refined solemnity to student housing.” (Antti Ahlava, ­Arkkitehti, 1/2007) The building contains works of art by Hannu Aaltonen (below) and Mirja Niemelä.

University Campus, Uppsala, Sweden Invited competition in two stages, 2001–2002 Design team: Pekka Helin, Johanna Nordman, Tommi Sassi, Tom Cederqvist Client: STUNS (Stiftelsen för samverkan mellan universiteten i Uppsala, näringsliv och samhälle) Gross area: 200,000–250,000 m² The first phase concerned drafting a town plan for the area, the second phase making it more specific. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Helsinki Porkkalankatu 1, Helsinki Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2002 Design team: Pekka Helin, Antti Laiho, Hanna Euro Client: SRV Group, owner: Property Company Ilmarinen Gross area: 56,900 m², volume: 256,650 m³ The building is located in Ruoholahti. The architectural challenge of the project was to adapt the large building volume to the built-up environment between a busy road junction and the more peaceful surroundings of the Hietaniemi cemetery and the Lapinlahti hospital. The facade materials include glass, enamelled steel cassettes in cobalt blue, corrugated steel sheet and baked aluminium slats.

Villa for the Kuru Holiday Home Fair, Ylöjärvi Start of design: 2001 Year of completion: 2003 Design team: Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Mari Kuukasjärvi Client: Finnforest Corporation Gross area: 290 m², volume: 1,240 m³ House built of prefabricated wooden panels.

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Concept for Housing Area, Stavanger, Norway Jåttåvågen, Stavanger, Norway Invited competition, joint 1st prize and follow-up commission, 2002–2003 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tom Cederqvist, Marja-Riitta Norri, Hanna Euro Client: Hinna Park Housing for a former dockyard, 60,000 m² Wärtsilä Headquarters Renovation and Extension, Helsinki John Stenbergin ranta 2, Helsinki Start of design: 2001 Years of completion: 2003, 2005 Design team: Antti Laiho, Pekka Helin, Pirkko Laitinen Client: Wärtsilä Corporation Gross area: 10,600 m² and 3,300 m², volume: 33,700 m³ and 15,100 m³ (renovation and extension) The former industrial building, listed by the National Board of Antiquities, dates back to 1938 and was originally designed by Yngve Lagerblad. It has been used by Wärtsilä since 1978. The extension is completely detached from the old building and connected to it by bridges. The new part does not exceed the height of the old one, whose facades remain intact and on the courtyard side are protected by a glass roof.

Sello Chamber Music Hall and Juvenalia School of Music, Espoo Soittoniekanaukio 1 A, Espoo Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2003 Design team: Pekka Helin, Timo Patomo, Jutta Haarti-Katajainen, Hanna Euro, Harri Koski; Akukon Consulting Engineering Ltd, acoustic consultant Client: Real estate limited Kiinteistö Oy Kauppakeskus Sello, City of Espoo Gross area: 5,460 m², volume: 33,500 m³ See pages 134–143 Leppävaara District Library, Espoo Leppävaarankatu 9, Espoo Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2003 Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomas Wichmann, Harri Koski, Hanna Euro; Tero Hirvonen and Taneli Koskela (interior design), Hannele Grönlund (Story Bubble) Client: Kiinteistö Oy Kauppakeskus Sello, City of Espoo Gross area: 10,240 m², volume: 63,500 m³, see pages 134–143

Sello Shopping Centre, First and Second-phase, Espoo Leppävaarankatu 3, Espoo Start of design: 2000 Years of completion: 2003, 2005 Design team: Pekka Helin, Jutta Haarti-Katajainen, Tuomas Wichmann, Harri Koski, Hanna Euro, Sampo Honkala Client: Kiinteistö Oy Kauppakeskus Sello, City of Espoo Gross area: 170,330 m², volume: 999,990 m³ There are several glass roofs in the shopping centre, of which the largest one is the 25 x 31 square metre roof covering the central lobby in the second phase building. The large glass roofs are built on steel lattices with tension and compression rods. The lighting is mostly based on indirect light fixtures. The gallery space is faced with European oak, Portuguese natural limestone, burgundy-red wall tiling, clear and patterned glass and stainless steel. Dark metallic-grey steel is used in glass structures. The facades are made of lightweight elements stiffened with steel studs, as well as glass brick, steel-glass and aluminium-glass structures.

Housing and Commercial Block, Leppävaara Leppävaarankatu 9, Espoo Start of design: 2001 Year of completion: 2004 Design team: Anne Jylhä, Pekka Helin, Riitta Huumo Clients: Sato Corporation (housing), Kiinteistö Oy Kauppakeskus Sello (commercial floors) Gross area: 8,600 m², volume: 32,200 m³, 73 apartments, children´s chapel Arkki (250 m² gross), shops etc. Sello Rex Entertainment Centre Leppävaarankatu 3–9, Espoo Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2008 Design team: Tuomas Wichmann, Jutta Haarti-Katajainen, Jorma Koskinen, Harri Ojala, Vesa Näsi Client: Real estate limited Kiinteistö Oy Kauppakeskus Sello, City of Espoo Gross area: 12,000 m², volume: 69,000 m³ Cinema theatre, bowling hall, restaurants, shops.

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Villa Wind's nest (Tuulentupa), Iitti village Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2003 Design team: Mariitta Helineva, Pekka Helin, Jenni Vuori Client: private Floor area: 183 m², volume: 637 m³, steel-structured summerhouse “The main view of the villa opens out over the lake. The exceptionally beautiful, smooth, rocky surfaces of the headland slope down to the water like the back of a giant whale. The rocks have a carpet of multi-coloured moss and there are stunted pine trees surrounded by great erratic boulders [...] The free-flowing space continues from the main space to the bedroom and out onto the free-form deck. The interiors open towards three different directions:” (Arkkitehti, 3/2005)

Villa Marga, Raasepori Snappertuna, south-western coastland Start of design: 2001 Year of completion: 2004 Design team: Sanna-Maria Takala, Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Jenni Vuori Client: private Gross area: 400 m² See pages 44–49 Sauna, Nastola Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2003 Design team: Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Tommi Sassi Client: private Gross area: 100 m² The sauna is located on the shore of a lake typical of South Finland and intertwines with the nature. The old Finnish sauna culture is combined with new elements: terraces, dining and living room. The building has a turf roof. Both internal and external walls are of old smoke-patinated timbers retrieved from an old drying barn. The supporting roof structures are of steel and the secondary balks are hatchet-cut timbers, strengthened by double dowel pins.

European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Urban planning and architectural design competition for new ECB premises, 2003–2004 Design team: Pekka Helin, Hanna Euro, Satu Jaatinen, Peter Verhe, Jari Huhtaniemi

Parliament House Annexe, Helsinki Arkadiankatu 3, Helsinki Open competition, 1st prize, 1999 Year of completion: 2004 Design team: Pekka Helin, Peter Verhe, Mariitta Helineva, Tarja Hildén, Seija Ekholm; Jukka Ala-Ojala, structural engineer Client: Parliament of Finland Gross area: 1,300 m², volume: 41,100 m³ Awards: Steel Construction of the Year 2004 See pages 116–125 Three Wooden Houses for the Holiday Home Fair, Hartola Start of design: 2002 Year of completion: 2004 Design team: Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Mika Vesterinen, Anna Kozlo Client: Finnforest Gross area: 132 m² (villa 1), 98 m² (villa 2), 132 m² (villa 3) The approach is based on life-cycle thinking and the use of modules. The frames of the villas are laminated timber and large gluelam elements. Attention has been paid to transformability – all partition walls can be moved to meet the needs of future users.

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Villa Vetro, Kirkkonummi Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2004 Design team: Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Jenni Vuori, Leena Petäjä, Satu Jaatinen Client: private Gross area: 154 m² + 54 m² + 43 m² + 65 m², volume: 1,336 m³ Experimental summer house of concrete cast on site, with separate guest and sauna buildings. See pages 38–43 Finnforest Modular Office, Espoo Tuulikuja 2, Espoo Invited Nordic competition, 1st prize, 2003 Year of completion: 2005 Design team: Pekka Helin, Peter Verhe, Harri Kemppainen, Jaana Hopeasaari, Lasu Aura; Jukka Ala-Ojala, structural engineer Client: FMO Tapiola Real Estate Company; investor and owner: Tapiola Group; client/main tenant: Finnforest Gross area: 13,050 m², volume: 50,420 m³ See pages 168–175 Kakolanmäki Area, Turku Competition, joint 2nd prize (no 1st prize was given) and follow-up commission, 2005– Design team: Pekka Helin, Jutta Haarti-Katajainen, Ilkka Andersin, Liv-Jaana Tirkkonen Client: Senate Properties, City of Turku Gross area: 40,300 m² (old buildings), 72,930 m² (new buildings), site area: 200,000 m² Preliminary master plan for the conversion of the listed buildings of the old prison area into a modern housing, business, research and service complex. See pages 106–109 Kamppi Centre, Offices and Part of the Shopping Centre, Helsinki Urho Kekkosen katu – Fredrikinkatu – Salomonkatu, Helsinki Architectural and tender competition, 1st prize, 2000 and follow-up commission (Kamppi Centre) Year of completion: 2006 Client: SRV Group, Helsinki City Real Estate Department, Helsinki Kamppi Center Ltd Offices Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomas Wichmann, Vesa Jäntti, Hanna Euro, Seija Ekholm, Sanna-Maria Takala with Harri Ojala and Ari Sahlman Gross area: 14,150 m², volume: 50,400 m³ Commercial floors Design team: Pekka Helin, Tuomas Wichmann, Vesa Jäntti, Taneli Koskela, Tommi Varis, Leena Brooke, Hanna Euro, Tommi Sassi with Harri Ojala, SannaMaria Takala, Anne Jylhä and Timo Patomo Gross area: 56,200 m², volume: 288,350 m³ Awards: European Steel Award 2007 (Kamppi Centre, above-ground parts); Steel Construction of the Year 2006 (Kamppi Centre, above-ground parts); Finnish Association of Civil Engineers’ Award 2006 (Kamppi Centre) See pages 92–101

Former Main Post Office Renovation, Helsinki Mannerheiminaukio 1 A, Helsinki Start of design: 2000 Year of completion: 2006 Design team: Tommi Varis, Pekka Helin, Jutta Haarti-Katajainen Client: Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Pension fund of Finland Post Corporation Gross area: 28,290 m² Listed building; renovation and new layout In 1934 two freshly graduated architects, Jorma Järvi and Erik Lindroos, won the competition for the new main post office and architect Kaarlo Borg joined the team later. Constructed between 1935 and 1938, the building consists of a ten-storey tower, five-storey wings and an inner courtyard. The Post Museum, the Main Post Office hall and office spaces are located in the tower. The renovation was carried out in collaboration with the National Board of Antiquities and comprised in addition the retail spaces and office areas. The inner courtyard was covered with a glass roof and converted into a restaurant.

UPM Headquarters, Renovation and Interior Completion, Helsinki Eteläesplanadi 2, Helsinki Start of design: 2003 Year of completion: 2006 Design team: Mariitta Helineva, Pekka Helin, Lasu Aura, Tarja Hilden Client: UPM Corporation Gross area: 2,500 m² The UPM Headquarters building was constructed in two stages: the first part, designed by Karl Lindahl, in 1912 and the extension, designed by Ole Gripenberg, in 1937. It has gone through several refurbishments. The main area for remodelling was the courtyard with a new glass roof at ninth floor level and the ground-floor restaurant opened up to the atrium space. Some of the company’s products are used in an innovative way in the interiors, as in the restaurant where a wooden relief covers a long side wall. In the entrance hall, “The Wood Nymph”, sculpted by Matti Haupt of white marble, has been welcoming visitors since the 1950s. In the renovation, the walls and ceilings got a white stucco finishing, and a new reception desk was located in front of a wall with new timber facing.

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Woodnotes House, Espoo Puuhkalakintie 12, Espoo Site development competition, 2004 Year of completion: 2006 Design team: Mariitta Helineva, Pekka Helin, Jenni Vuori Client: Woodnotes Oy, Hedra Oy Gross area: 260 m², volume: 850 m³ “The problem of the triangular site was solved by excavating the courtyard towards the south and thus exploiting the solar gain. The changing light conditions during the day culminate with the evening sun shining from the direction of the park and street.” (Arkkitehti, 4/2006)

Living Steel, Poland Open international competition for sustainable housing with steel constructions, 2006 Site: Poland Design team: Peter Verhe, Pekka Helin, Harri Kemppainen

Concept for Hernesaari, Helsinki Helsinki, 2007 Design team: Pekka Helin, Lauri Virkola, Jaakko Parkkonen; LOCI landscape architects Client: City of Helsinki Concept plan for a former dockyard, 220,000 m² See pages 110–113

Salmisaarenaukio 1 Office Building, Helsinki Start of design: 2005 Year of completion: 2007 Design team: Antti Laiho, Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Harri Ojala, Tommi Varis Client: Ahlström Capital Gross area: 21,700 m², volume: 89,500 m³ Headquarters of the companies Ahlström, Alko, Comptel, Fennovoima See pages 192–199 Blocks of Flats in Eira, Helsinki Eiranranta 3, 5 and 7, Helsinki Invited competition, 1st prize, 2005 Year of completion: 2008 Design team: Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo, Susanna Tolvanen, Matti Kärkkäinen, Ilkka Andersin Client: Ky Eiranrannan Argonautit Gross area: 10,300 m² (3,100 m² + 3,700 m² + 3,500 m²) Complex of three apartment buildings See pages 58–63 Finnish Pavilion for World Expo 2010 Shanghai, China Open competition, honourable prize, 2008 Design team: Pekka Helin, Lauri Virkola, Tommi Sassi “The pavilion is spacious and has a strong character. All the public spaces have been successfully placed in a single ground-floor storey. The exhibition space is clearly articulated, allowing a smooth tour, and the public entrance and exit routes are well thought out.” (Jury report)

Eteläesplanadi 14, Extension and Renovation, Helsinki Start of design: 2006 Year of completion: 2009 Design team: Pekka Helin, Antti Laiho, Timo Patomo, Mariitta Helineva Client: Ahlström Capital Oy Total gross area: 14,870 m², gross area of the extension: 3,260 m³ Listed building (Savoy Theatre and vestibule); renovation and extension into an office, restaurant and business complex This listed building, designed by Bertel and Walter Jung in 1937, houses the Savoy Theatre and the Savoy Restaurant designed by Alvar Aalto. The new ­office spaces have been built as one-storey-high vierendeel rings on three levels mainly above the theatre, utilising the void within the block. Inside 220

the wall structures of the old building, the loads of the new structure have been directed five stories down to the foundations of the lower basement. The inner courtyard has been covered by a glass roof and converted into a restaurant. Finnish Embassy, Tokyo, Japan Invited competition, 2008–2009 Design team: Pekka Helin, Sanna-Maria Takala, Tommi Sassi “This embassy design is one of the strongest in the competition with its richly sculpted building mass and bold motifs.” (Jury report)

Skanssi District Centre, Turku Skanssinkatu 10, Turku Design and construction competition, 2003 Year of completion: 2009 Design team: Hanna Euro, Harri Koski, Pekka Helin, Jaana Saarelainen, Riikka Ahokas Client: Hartela Gross area: 130,000 m², volume: 510,000 m³ Commercial centre with car park The urban structure consists of intertwining housing blocks with volumes split to a small scale and the district centre anchored at the foot of a hill on the northern side of the area. A net of green zones with sports grounds, water motifs and parks connects the blocks to each other and to a projected central park. The concept was developed in collaboration with experts of various fields in view of the future. The commercial centre has a frame of steel. The vertical frame mainly consists of concrete-filled cylindrical steel columns and the horizontal supporting structure of steel trusses with a 16-metre span. The six glass roofs are all different in size and form. Common to them is the structure based on triangular panes. The centre has a total of 2,050 m² of glass-covered interior space. The design of housing and office buildings continues.

Qingpu District Teenage Activity Centre, Shanghai, China Invited competition, 1st prize, 2009 Design team: Mariitta Helineva, Pekka Helin, Nikolai Rautio, Tarja Hildén Client: Qingpu City Planning Office Gross area: 6,500 m² The design was entirely based on sustainable building practice. Blåsenhus, Uppsala, Sweden Invited competition in two stages, 2009 Design team: Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo, Susanna Tolvanen, Antti Korkkula Client: Akademiska Hus A new central building for the University of Uppsala containing spaces for administration, research and teaching. Villa Krona, Kimitoön Gullkrona Archipelago, Dragsfjärd Start of design: 2008 Year of completion: 2010 Design team: Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo, Susanna Tolvanen Client: private Gross area: 150 m² See pages 50–55 Pan-Gyo Housing, Seoul, South Korea Competition, 1st prize, 2006 Year of completion: 2010 (estimated) Design team: Pekka Helin, Antti Korkkula, Satu Jaatinen, Virve Vuolasvirta; LOCI landscape architects Client: Korean National Housing Corporation Gross area: 28,590 m², volume: 85,782 m³ Complex of eight blocks of apartments See pages 64–67 Puotila House, Espoo Hiiralankaari 24, Espoo Start of design: 2008 Year of completion: 2011 (estimated) Design team: Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo, Susanna Tolvanen Client: private Gross area: 590 m², volume: 1,970 m³ One-family house

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Works in progress Renovation of the Parliament Building, Helsinki Start of design: 2007– Design team: Peter Verhe, Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Mika Vesterinen, Lasu Aura, Harri Kemppainen, Simo Freese Client: Parliament of Finland Gross area: 49,000 m² Renovation of listed building Lakeuden Ankkuri Shopping Centre, Seinäjoki Suupohjantie, Seinäjoki Start of design: 2008– Design team: Sanna-Maria Takala, Harri Koski, Pekka Helin, Antti Korkkula, Jaana Saarelainen Client: YIT Group Gross area: 56,000 m², volume: 250,000 m³ (1st phase) Hypermarket and small shops (1st phase), small and large shops (2nd phase). UPM Group Head Office, Helsinki Töölönlahti, Helsinki Invited competition, 1st prize and follow-up commission, 2009– Design team: Pekka Helin, Mariitta Helineva, Tommi Sassi, Tarja Hildén Client: UPM Group Gross area: 15,000 m², volume: 52,000 m³ See pages 200–203 Keilaranta Tower, Espoo Keilaranta 9, Espoo Start of design: (2005) 2010– Design team: Pekka Helin, Sanna-Maria Takala, Harri Koski, Satu Jaatinen Client: Ilmarinen Gross area: 68,100 m², volume: 271,500 m³

Icon Apartments, Chengdu, China Start of design: 2009– Design team: Mariitta Helineva, Pekka Helin, Susanna Tolvanen, Antti Korkkula Client: Chengdu High-Tech Investment Group Gross area: 24,000 m², 105 apartments Office Building in Tapiola, Espoo Revontulentie 6, Espoo Start of design: 2009– Design team: Mariitta Helineva, Pekka Helin, Antti Laiho, Tarja Hildén Client: Haahtela Gross area: 26,270 m², volume: 101,600 m³ Concept for Rautatientori Square, Helsinki Start of design: 2009– Design team: Pekka Helin, Ritva Mannersuo, Susanna Tolvanen Client: Lemminkäinen Gross area: 80,700 m² The Rautatientori square is a large open space in the heart of Helsinki next to the central railway station. The plan proposes the underground construction of a bus terminal, commercial spaces such as a grocery shop, space for public art, pedestrian areas, storage and service areas. The underground area is a pedestrian junction with connections to the surrounding buildings: the Ateneum Art Museum, railway station and National Theatre. Above ground, the square is intended to be liberated from the present bus platforms and provide space for different events. West Metro, Lauttasaari and Koivusaari Stations, Helsinki Start of design: 2009– Design team: Jutta Haarti-Katajainen, Pekka Helin, Aaro Hälikkä, Satu Jaatinen Client: Länsimetro Oy

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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

Image processing Otso Helenius, Tommi Sassi Mandi Tuominen, Heta Rautiainen, Tau Hartikainen, Tuuli Kassi Photographs Hannu Aaltonen Catalogue of works: Student Housing in Arabianranta (right) p. 216 Markku Alatalo Nikula: p. 13/ 3 Asuntomessujen kuvapankki/Antero Tenhunen Catalogue of works: Villa for the Kuru Holiday Home Fair p. 216 Reto Halme Davey: p. 10/16 Pekka Helin Davey: p. 10/14; Living with Nature: p. 31; Villa Krona: p. 50–55/1–9, 12; Urban Living: p. 57; Hestra Sibelius Block Experimental Housing: p. 68–70/1, 2; p. 72/4 Marko Huttunen Catalogue of works: Nordea Bank Office Building (right) p. 216 Antti Laiho Davey: p. 9/12, 13; Nikula: p. 28/24; Ylätuvanpolku Housing: p. 86/1; p. 87/4; p. 89/10; Ahlström Salmisaari Office Building: p. 193/2; p. 196/5, 7; p. 197/8; Catalogue of works: Day Care Centre in Leppävaara p.208; Three Wooden Houses p. 218 Lehtikuva Oy Nikula: p. 24/19, 20, p. 25/21, 22 Titta Lumio Davey: p. 9/11; Nikula: p. 20/13 & 15; Sandels Senior Citizens’ Housing: p. 80–85/1–4, 8; Sello Library and Music Hall: p. 138/8; Forssa Swimming Baths Vesihelmi: p. 149/12; Nokia Head Office: p. 182/8; Baltic Square Office Block: p. 187/2; p. 188/6; p. 189/7; p. 190–191/11, 13, 16; Catalogue of works: Public Office Building and Low-Rise Housing in Nuottaniemi p. 211; Rotonda Kameeli B (right), Recreational and Commercial Area, Paloheimo Ltd Headquarters and Salmi House p. 212; p. 213–215 (all images); Student Housing in Arabianranta (left) p. 216 Jukka Male Catalogue of works: Rotonda Kameeli B (left) p. 212 Voitto Niemelä Davey: p. 6/3, p. 7/4, p. 8/8; Nikula: p. 13/2, p. 15/6, p. 27/23; Kamppi Centre: p. 100/16; Parliamentary Annexe: p. 119/4; p. 125/14; Sello Library and Music Hall: p. 135/2; p. 136/3; p. 138/7; p. 140/10; p. 141/11; p. 143/15; Civilising the Workplace: p. 166; Finnforest Modular Office: p. 170/3; p. 175/13; Nokia Head Office: p. 182/10; Baltic Square Office Block: p. 188/4, 5; p. 189/8; Catalogue of works: Nordea Bank Office Building (left) and Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company p. 216; Villa Wind’s nest p. 218; p. 219 (all images); Woodnotes House p. 220 Riitta Nikula Nikula: p. 18/8, 9, 10, p. 23/ 17

Pertti Nisonen Nikula: p. 20/14; Villa Vetro: p. 38/1; p. 40/3; p. 41/5, 6; Jyväskylä Airport Passenger Terminal: p. 158–161/1–3, 5, 6 Tuukka Norri Nikula: p. 19/11; Laivapoika Housing: p. 77/3, 4; Ylätuvanpolku Housing: p. 89/11; The workshop p. 204 Kari Palsila Davey: p. 7/6; Ahlström Salmisaari Office Building: p. 194/3; p. 196/6; Catalogue of works: Sello Rex Entertainment Centre p. 217; Skanssi District Centre p. 221 Michael Perlmutter Davey: p. 7/5, 7, p. 9/10, p. 11/17; Villa Vetro: p. 39/2; p. 40/4; p. 42/7; Eiranranta Housing: p. 58–63/1–4, 7; Kamppi Centre: p. 92–98/1, 3, 4, 7–9, 12; p. 100/15; p. 101/17; Parliamentary Annexe: p. 116–118/1, 3; p. 120–123/5– 7, 10, 11; Sello Library and Music Hall: p. 134/1; p. 137/5; p. 138/6; p. 139/9; p. 141/12; Finnforest Modular Office: p. 168–169/1, 2; p. 171/4; p. 172/6; p. 173/7; Ahlström Salmisaari Office Building: p. 192/1; p. 195/4; p. 199/10, 12; Catalogue of works: Wärtsilä Headquarters Renovation and Extension and Sello Shopping Centre (both images) p. 217; Sauna p. 218 Max Plunger Nikula: p. 14/5; Hestra Sibelius Block Experimental Housing: p. 71/3; Civic Identity: p. 115; Nordic Arts Centre: p. 150–151/2; p. 153/6; p. 154/8; p. 155/9, 10; Jyväskylä Airport Passenger Terminal: p. 162–163/7–11; Catalogue of works: UKK Institute, Low-Rise Housing in Kuusisaari and Swimming Pool/ Multi-Purpose Building p. 209; Unic Corporation Headquarters and Kipparlahti Rescue Station p. 210; Office Building in Pasila p. 211; Student Housing in Pukinmäki p. 212 Simo Rista Nikula: p. 12/1, p. 14/4; Ylätuvanpolku Housing: p. 86/ 2,3; p. 88/7, 8; p. 89/12; Nordic Arts Centre: p. 152/4, 5; p. 154/7; p. 157/13; Catalogue of works: Metal workers’ Murikka Institute p. 207; Tampere Swimming Centre, and Rental Housing in Tapanila p. 208; Block of Flats in Katajanokka p. 209 Suomen Ilmakuva Oy Nikula: p. 23/16, p. 24/18 Jussi Tiainen Davey: p. 6/1,2, p. 8/9; Nikula: p. 16/7; Laivapoika Housing: p. 78/6; Ministry for Social Affairs and Health: p. 126–133/1, 3–8, 11; Nokia Head Office: p. 176–180/ 2–6; p. 182/9; p. 183/11; Baltic Square Office Block: p. 187/3; Catalogue of works: Block of Flats in Mellunmäki p. 210; Finnish Pavilion for World Expo p. 211 Rauno Träskelin Davey: p. 10/15; Nikula: p. 19/12; Villa Saga: p. 32–37/1–3, 6–8, 10, 11; Laivapoika Housing: p. 74–76/1, 2; p. 79/7; Forssa Swimming Baths Vesihelmi: p.144–148/1–5, 7; p. 149/11 Lars Tunbjörk Nokia Head Office: p. 181/7 Tuomas Uusheimo Villa Marga: p. 44–49/1–7, 9; Baltic Square Office Block: p. 186/1 Peter Verhe Finnforest Modular Office: p. 172/5; p. 175/11 223

Peter Davey is an architect who has mostly worked in publishing. He was editor of The Architectural Review for many years, and has always had a deep interest in Finnish architecture.

Photo Jaanis Kerkis

Riitta Nikula is Professor emerita of Art History at the University of Helsinki. Previous engagements: head of research at the Museum of Finnish Architecture and different positions at the University, the Academy of Finland and the Museum. Published continuously both scholarly and popular texts on architecture and town planning. Author, co-author and editor of various books. Latest publications: Wood, stone and steel.  Contours of Finnish architecture (Otava, 2005) and Focus on Finnish 20th century architecture and town planning. Collected papers by Riitta Nikula (Helsinki University Press, 2007).

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