The National Board of Antiquities believes that the more than 100-year-old printing press in the courtyard of the Council of State’s castle can be demolished. A new building costing around €90 million is planned to replace it.
The Prime Minister’s Office is launching a major renovation and new building project, which will include both the Government Palace and the.
The contractor is Senate Properties, which manages the state’s real estate, and the project is estimated to cost around EUR 300 million.
What makes the project exceptional is that the Council of State Castle is to be extended with a new building that would stand in the courtyard of the Council of State block.
The Prime Minister’s Office justifies the new building by making operations more efficient. In the future, the state plans to place almost all ministries in the State Council castle and the administration block next to it.
Ministries are currently scattered throughout the city. The new building is intended to include, among other things, the joint meeting rooms of the ministries.
– The changed security situation puts pressure on us to solve security-related questions better than at present, says Heiskanen.
“Any building can become an outlaw”
The worldwide expert organization for building protection does not swallow the Government Office’s plans. ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) made the demolition and expansion project of the State Government Castle an international cultural heritage alert last May.
He criticizes the dismantling of the comprehensive protection of the State Council castle, which he says was done \”as if quietly\”.
The government offices, the Senate properties, the Finnish Museum Agency, the Uusimaa ELY Center and the City of Helsinki are the subject of the assessment.
In the fall of 2021, the Museum Agency prepared a conservation proposal for the State Council castle, from which the Printing House was dropped. The Uusimaa ELY center accepted the Museum Agency’s proposal in the summer of 2022, and the city of Helsinki started the preparation of a site plan supporting the demolition of the same road.
What is special about the policy is that Senate Square and the blocks surrounding it were already protected in the 1950s, and the Government Council block with its courtyard buildings in 1980. The Government Castle block was consistently protected by all possible means, until the wind changed a couple of years ago in the preparation of the Government Council’s new building project.
Lehtimäki believes that with the demolition of Painotalo, any building can be demolished in Finland.
– If the Printing House is demolished, it means that, in practice, the Finnish Museum Agency, the Uusimaa ELY Center, the City of Helsinki and the Senate properties are demolishing the foundations of the entire Finnish building protection apparatus. After this, any building can become illegal, Lehtimäki states.
He wonders about the Museum Agency’s view of Painotalo.
– The Museum Agency’s exclusive task is the protection of cultural heritage. It has made a statement to Senaatti-kinteistö in which it has announced that the building is very significant and its cultural-historical values \u200b\u200bare indisputable, but it can be demolished, Lehtimäki states.
National Board of Antiquities: the printing house can be demolished
The concern of the international building conservation expert organization ICOMOS about the state of Finnish building conservation has also been monitored by the Museum Agency. It published a related blog post in June.
– I don’t think the effect can be this big. Our work continues with building protection and I think it’s great that non-governmental organizations are awake and sparking discussion, says Salmela.
According to Salmela, when the Finnish Museum Agency drew up a conservation proposal for the State Council’s castle two years ago, the proposal took into account the changing needs of the State Council’s office.
– They are related to the safety of the people working in the State Council castle, the efficiency of operations and, for example, logistics, Salmela enumerates.
At the same time, the Museum Agency examined the whole of the Government Quarter: the 200-year history of the Finnish central government, its continuity and the related architectural heritage.
– In the coordination of these, from the point of view of building protection, the 2021 protection decision concluded that although the protection of other parts will in fact become more detailed and strengthened, the Printing House is not mentioned in it. If necessary, it is possible to dismantle the printing house, Salmela states.
The printing house has references to the Eiffel Tower
According to Marianne Lehtimäki, chairwoman of ICOMOS’ Finnish branch, Painotalo is a \”very adaptable\” building.
– It has load-bearing exterior walls, interesting space solutions and references to the Eiffel Tower. Painotalo is clearly a very adaptable building from its interior.
Lehtimäki reminds us that Painotalo has been involved in historical and significant events in Finland. According to him, all the decree collections of the Senate of Imperial Finland from the 19th and 20th centuries have been printed there, among other things.
– Painotalo spatially represents a building that follows and submits to this whole of empire-Helsinki, says Lehtimäki.
He wonders why the plans for the expansion of the Prime Minister’s Office do not include any options where the Printing House could be part of the new building.
Building consultant: “The printing house is not part of Engel’s overall plan”
Painotalo has been a part of Helsinki’s empire center until 2022 from the point of view of building protection. Despite that, Pasi Heiskanen, construction consultant of the Government Office, questions the significance of the entire building as part of empire-Helsinki. Heiskanen is an architect himself.
– Here it is important to note that Painotalo is not included in this overall composition designed by Engel. The printing house was built afterwards to serve the important functions of the state administration, Heiskanen states.
He says that the Government Office also investigated the possibility of changing the Printing House to serve the office’s needs in the near future.
– The printing house was built according to the printing technology of the time, with warehouses and barns. Because of that, it is extremely difficult to use the building as a modern office or meeting space, says Heiskanen.
According to him, the Government Office has also investigated the additional construction and expansion of the Printing Press.
– Unfortunately, the Printing House takes up so much space in the courtyard of the State Council Castle that it is not possible to create a sufficiently functional space next to it. It also doesn’t solve our problems considering the safety aspects, Heiskanen continues.
New building in the shape of a cross
The new building planned for the courtyard of the Government Castle is approximately three times larger than the Printing House. The new building will cost around 90 million euros. Heiskanen believes that construction will start as early as next summer.
– We believe that we will receive a legally valid building permit by the summer of 2024.
The new building was designed by Helsinki-based Architect SARC. It is known as the designer of the New Children’s Hospital in Helsinki.
– We have studied many different options, the shape of a square and a strait and so on, but now we have ended up with this kind of cross-shaped building, Heiskanen states.
Critics of the project fear that the new building, which represents \”hard architecture\ will be visible to the city from the courtyard of the Government Palace.
According to him, the new building is no more visible from the Cathedral, Senatintorki or Aleksanterinkadatu, despite the fact that the new building is higher than the Aleksanterinkadatu wing of the State Council Castle.
According to Siikala, only a \”small slice\” of the tin roof of the new building can be seen from the southern end of Helenankatu. Helenankatu, which starts from Pohjoisespa, ends at the State Council castle.
– No matter what the design office is, a new building cannot be made to succeed. It unhelpfully breaks the spatial hierarchy that exists in the State Council block, Lehtimäki states.
The plan change that enables the demolition of the Painotalo building of the Government Castle and the new building will proceed next to the Helsinki City Environment Board. It will discuss the issue at its meeting on Tuesday, October 24.
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