July 29, 2014

HELSINKI CENTRE LIBRARY DESIGN BY ALA ARCHITECTS




HELSINKI CENTER LIBARY DESIGN BY ALA ARCHITECTS




HELSINKI CENTER LIBARY DESIGN BY ALA ARCHITECTS
News: Finnish studio ALA Architects has won the international competition to design a new public library in Helsinki with plans that involve a mass of twisted timber launched in January 2012, the competition asked applicants to come up with a timeless, flexible and energy-efficient building to sit opposite the Finnish Parliament building in the Töölönlahti area of the city.
ALA Architects' response is for a three-storey structure comprising a contorted timber volume. Public activities and group study areas will occupy an active ground floor beneath the curving wooden surfaces, while a traditionally quiet reading room will be located above and a contemporary media facility and public sauna will be housed in the middle.
Two main entrances will provide access to the building. A public plaza in front of the western facade is to lead into a main lobby, where a staircase will spiral up to the floors above, while a second entrance will face the railway station to the south and offer an escalator that penetrates the wooden volume overhead.
"The architecture of the proposal is of a very high quality, executed with relaxed, broad strokes, and memorable," commented the competition organisers.
They added: "The proposal provides excellent premises for the development of a completely new functional concept for the library. The building has a unique appeal and the prerequisites to become the new symbolic building which Helsinki residents, library users, as well as the staff will readily adopt as their own."
ALA Architects, who is also based in Helsinki, plans to use local materials such as Siberian larch to construct the Helsinki Central Library and it is scheduled to open in 2018.
The studio previously worked on another building with an undulating timber structure for the Kilden performing arts centre in Kristiansand, Norway.
INFORMATION FROM ALA ARCHITECTS:
ALA Architects have won the design competition for the new Helsinki Central Library with their entry Käännös. The open international two-stage competition attracted 544 entries from all over the world. The 16,000 square metre library building in the heart of Helsinki will consist almost entirely of public spaces and will offer a wide selection of services. It will serve as the new central point for the city's impressive public library network. 
The winning entry is based on the idea of dividing the functions of the library into three distinctive levels: an active ground floor, a calm upper floor, and an enclosed in-between volume containing the more specific functions. This concept has been developed into an arching form that invites people to utilise the spaces and services underneath, inside and on top of it. The resulting building will be an inspiring and highly functional addition to the urban life of Helsinki and the nationally significant Töölönlahti area.
ALA is one of the leading Nordic architecture firms. The office has previously completed the Kilden Performing Arts Centre in Kristiansand, Norway, and is currently working on a number of large public projects in Finland including two theaters, five subway stations, and a passenger ferry hub. Käännös has been designed by ALA partners Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston together with the ALA project team, assisted by the engineering experts at Arup.
Description of the winning entry Käännös
Käännös grows from the dynamic between the site and the goals of the library program. The interplay between the building's three individual floors is the key concept of the entry.
The public plaza in front of the building will continue inside, merging with a catalogue of meeting and experience features. The ground floor will be a robust, busy and frequently updated space suitable for quick visits and walkthroughs. The active, zero-threshold public spaces will be visible, attractive, understandable and welcoming to all visitors.
The traditional, serene library atmosphere can be found on the top floor. This will be a calm area for contemplation, floating above the busy central Helsinki. It will offer unobstructed, majestic views to the surrounding park and cityscape.These two contrasting spaces that perfectly complement each other are created by an arching wooden volume. The spaces inside the volume will be enclosed and more intimate. The wooden volume is stretched vertically to create connections to the open main floors below and above. Soft, curved shapes will be present all around the building.
The curved ceiling covering the ground floor, the intensive flowing spaces on the middle level, as well as the curving floor surface of the top floor are all defined in the timber-clad mass, which is as functional as it is expressive.
There will be three public entrance points in the building: one in the south for the main pedestrian flow from the direction of the Central Railway Station, one next to the public plaza to the west of the building shielded by an overhanging canopy, as well as a secondary one in the northeastern corner. The top floor can be reached from the southern entrance by an escalator that penetrates the wooden volume, or from the main lobby via a spiraling double-helix stair.
Each floor will be a destination in its own right and a new exciting civic space in the heart of Helsinki. While being a traditional library space, the top floor will also act as a modern, open, flexible platform for a multitude of functions. The middle floor will offer opportunities for learning-by-doing in an environment optimised for contemporary media and latest tools. It will contain workshop spaces for music and multimedia, as well as a public sauna. A multipurpose hall, a restaurant and a cinema will be located on ground floor. The library's facilities will offer services, as well as places to meet, to discuss, and to present ideas.
The library building will be extremely energy efficient. It will be constructed using local materials and with local climate conditions in mind. Some of the main load-bearing components will be made of timber. The wooden façade will be built from pre-assembled elements finished on-site. 30 millimetre thick Finnish first grade Siberian Larch wood, shaped with a parametric 3D design and manufacturing process in order to achieve a perfect execution of the desired geometry, will be used for the cladding. The appearance of the façade will develop over the years towards a deeper, richer version of its initial hue. The design of the façade is intrinsic to the passive design approach adopted by the project team. Detailed analysis of the façade performance informs the environmental solutions and has allowed the team to minimise any systems required, which in turn facilitates the highly flexible architectural solution.
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/14/ala-architects-wins-helsinki-library-competition/














































A CALLING CARD FOR FINNISH ARCHITECTURE
The library building in the heart of Helsinki will consist almost entirely of public space and will offer a wide selection of services. It will become the new central point for the city’s impressive public library network. The design divides the functions of the library into three distinctive levels: an active ground floor, a peaceful upper floor, and an enclosed in-between volume containing more specific functions.
This concept has been developed into an arching form that invites people to utilize the spaces and services underneath, inside and on top of it. The resulting building will be an inspiring and highly functional addition to the urban life of Helsinki and the Töölönlahti area.
Apart from the top floor, Oodi’s facade is made entirely from wood, which softens the general appearance of the architecture around Töölö Bay. The wood used for the exterior wall is spruce. The energy-efficient library is an impressive and alluring calling card for Finnish architecture.
THREE FLOORS, THREE ATMOSPHERES
Oodi will have three floors, each with its own atmosphere. This will make it easier for users to find the services they need.
Oodi’s ground floor will be a fast-paced, ever-changing space with its multiple entrances. The spacious lobby, public facilities and event venues, library services and café will create a cosy atmosphere.
The second floor will be dedicated to work, activities, learning, interaction and spending time with friends and family, and it will have rooms available to meet the needs of active citizens. The facilities on this floor will include studios, game rooms, work and meeting space, an urban workshop, and facilities for courses and interaction.
The third floor will be home to the Book Heaven: a place to relax and unwind with its books, reading oases and cafés. Helsinki’s urban landscape can be admired from the library’s Citizens’ Balcony.
https://www.oodihelsinki.fi/en/what-is-oodi/architecture/


















ALA WORKING METHODS
ALA uses contemporary design tools such as building information modeling, 3D printing, and parametric design software combined with the more traditional model building and materials research. The ALA partners are directly involved with all aspects of the office’s design work, and take a very hands-on approach at the critical stages of each project. All team members are also expected to contribute to the creative process. The office also relies on its network of highly competent international collaborators and specialists to stimulate the exchange of up-to-date knowledge.
Every project starts with an analysis aspiring to get to the heart of the given task, to understand the framework based on the environmental constraints and the point of view of the client. After this begins the design phase that aims to, in a creative and open-minded manner, produce the best solution to the question at hand.






ALA ARCHITECTS
ALA Architects specializes in demanding public and cultural buildings, unique renovation projects, station design and master planning. The Helsinki–based firm was founded in 2005 by four partners: Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston after winning the 1st prize in the open international competition for the new theater and concert hall in Kristiansand, Norway. Kilden Performing Arts Centre opened in 2012.
Today, ALA is today run by three of the four partners: Grönholm, Nousjoki and Woolston, and in addition to them employs 35 architects, interior designers, students and staff members, representing seven nationalities.
ALA’s most recent completed projects are the expansion and renovation of the Kuopio City Theatre and the new Lappeenranta City Theatre, both in eastern Finland. Our current projects include the Helsinki Central Library, five new subway stations along the western extension of Helsinki Metro, the renovation of the Finnish Embassy in New Delhi, and the renovation of the Dipoli student union building in Espoo, Finland and its repurposing to function as the main building of Aalto University.
In addition to having designed major public buildings in Finland and abroad, the partners have taught architecture in Finland and at Columbia University and Washington University in St. Louis. In 2012 they received the prestigious Finnish State Prize for Architecture.
ALA seeks fresh angles, flowing forms and surprising solutions. We trust in beauty achieved by combining the intuitive and the analytical, the practical and the extravagant, the rational and the irrational.






ARUP
In 1946, philosopher and engineer Ove Arup set up his consulting engineering business in London. In the more than 60 years that have followed, the business has grown into an international consulting firm of unparalleled scope, owned in trust for its employees and using the business principles that Ove Arup first set out – and which he articulated for posterity in 1970 in his forward-looking ‘key speech
Right from the start, Arup was known for its close and exceptionally productive collaborations with leading and avant-garde architects. In its first two decades, the firm expanded rapidly, and earned a formidable reputation for devising advanced and economical solutions for buildings – a reputation it still enjoys today. 
By 1976, Arup’s reputation had become truly global with the completion of the Sydney Opera House. By this time, the firm had opened offices in Northern Europe, Southern Africa, South East Asia and Australia. Its breadth of expertise was already considerable: this ranged from offshore engineering, acoustics, facades, and specialist skills such as impact, blast, risk and seismic engineering, to relatively-niche areas such as designing transportation containers for nuclear waste.
The firm’s portfolio today is broad and wide-ranging. Many of the world’s most iconic sports stadia are Arup projects – such as Beijing’s Water Cube, the Singapore Sport's Hub and London Aquatics Centre.
Arup’s work goes beyond buildings and infrastructure, however. We collaborated with car manufacturers on the design of the SuperLight car, which uses considerably less energy than the petrol equivalent. Through our Operational Readiness, Activation and Transition (ORAT) service we help clients and other stakeholders plan for the seamless opening and operation of major facilities like airports and hospitals or for major events. Arup has also developed a range of proprietary computer modelling tools which it sells around the world, as well as innovations such as our SoundLab, an aural-realisation tool with which clients can hear subjectively how different design options perform acoustically – before they are actually built.
Arup now has over 92 offices across Europe, North America, Africa, Australasia and South East Asia. We employ more than 12,000 people globally.
http://www.arup.com/About_us/A_better_way/History.aspx