Owner: The City Of Helsinki
Renovation and restoration project: Arkkitehdit NRT
Supervision: the Finnish Heritage Agency, the Alvar Aalto Foundation
Interior design (Bistro, Café&Wine, Design Shoo): Fyra Design Agency
Furnishings and lighting: restored original pieces by Alvar Aalto; on design by the architects
Photos: Riikka Kantinkoski
Inserting and reinventing new spaces within a monument of international Modernist architecture such as Finlandia Hall, conceived as a Gesamtkunstwerk and built between 1967 and 1972 by Alvar Aalto, could not have been an easy task.
In the last three years, the Helsinki event and congress center, a building protected under the Land Use and Building Act, has undergone an extensive renovation and restoration – directed by Arkkitehdit NRT with the supervision of the Finnish Heritage Agency and the Alvar Aalto Foundation – that has made it more ‘performing’ without affecting the historical-architectural heritage.
Avoiding alterations to the original structure, the marble panels of the facades, the copper roof, the windows and doors, the internal surfaces and many of the existing furnishings and lighting fixtures have been restored. In January 2025, the complex reopened improved in accessibility, technical and technological equipment, located in a purpose-built underground space, LED lighting, energy performance and public services. In addition to the auditorium, the concert hall, and the various rooms for events and conferences, “House Finland” (Finlandiatalo) has for some months also offered its visitors exhibition spaces, two apartments for guests, a bistro, a café with a terrace and, to complete the Finland Experience, a design shop.
The Helsinki-based Fyra Design Agency took care of the Finlandia Shop and the areas dedicated to catering, bistro and café, reimagined trying to keep intact the vision of Alvar Aalto, in dialogue between past and present. In all spaces, existing surfaces and furnishings have been restored and reintegrated, with the addition of new custom-designed fixed and mobile elements, and classic and sustainable materials.
As in the Finlandia Bistro, with its soft and warm atmosphere, where the bar counter acts as a visual pivot and a long fixed wooden structure with a velvety and padded seat redefines the perimeter with undulating shapes. The intimate and darkened setting of the Bistro becomes bright and open to the outside in the Finlandia Cafe&Wine, furnished with greater simplicity and illuminated by the natural light of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the outdoor terrace and Töölönlahti Bay.
