Wood In Architecture Issue 1, 2022

BIG PICTURE
A resting point
PROJECT: Helsinki
Biennial Pavilion
LOCATION: Lyypekinlaituri,
Helsinki, Finland
SCALE: 187m 2
CLIENT: City of Helsinki,
Urban Environmental Division
ARCHITECTURE AND
DESIGN FIRM: Verstas Architects
TEXT: Verstas Architects
This pavilion is the entry to the Helsinki
Biennial, an art festival that takes place on
the island of Vallisaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Ferries from the pavilion will take visitors
from the harbour in the old town of Helsinki
to the archipelago. The wooden swirl of
the pavilion stands out in contrast to the
19th-century maritime city. The Market
Square and the façade of neoclassical and
neo-Renaissance buildings, such as the City
Hall, the Old Market Hall and the Cathedral
surround the pavilion. Instead, the form of
the temporary pavilion, reminiscent of a
giant’s kettle, echoes the coastal cliffs of
Vallisaari that the ice age has rounded. Its
deck connotes wooden ships that still visit
the harbour during a herring market. Verstas
Architects designed the temporary pavilion to
prepare the visitor for the journey to the art
festival on the Vallisaari island.
A TERMINAL FOR THE ART
BIENNIAL
The Helsinki Biennial is expected to attract
300,000 visitors. It is part of Helsinki’s
strategy to make the archipelago more
accessible, attractive and better serviced for
the public. The Vallisaari island, previously a
military area, has recently been opened to the
public. The Biennial Pavilion will house tourist
information as well as ancillary spaces in a
simple rectangular volume next to the pavilion
proper. The pavilion is a place to wait for the
ferry in all weathers. In sun, one can rest on
the sloping deck that provides a vantage point
to the Market Square and the Baltic Sea. In
case of rain, there are benches to wait under
the tent-like roof, which triangular timber
frames support.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Verstas Architects studied the form of the
pavilion with the help of modelling clay models
and then designed it digitally. The digital 3D
building model guided the construction in the
wood workshop directly, without conventional
construction drawings. The workshop, too,
was in a port town, hence the pieces were
brought to Helsinki in a barge. The pavilion
is assembled of prefabricated elements
connected with bolts. Open elements consist
of glue-laminated timber frames and steel
ties, clad with laminated veneer lumber and
topped with fine-sawn pine battens. Lighting is
hidden in slots between the frames. The deck
is made of oiled pine planks, while the round
yard is paved with greyed crosscut logs and
white quartz sand.
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24 WOOD IN ARCHITECTURE • ISSUE 1 – 2022