The museum building is placed carefully in the masterplan as a linking bridge between the Forum Marinum and extended amphitheatre areas and the Linnanniemi Village. We have placed the building on a hollowed-out plinth of granite form a sort of plateau and piano Nobile elevated to distribute views to the Castle and mouth of the Aura river. The plinth accepts the elevated walkways and protects the building from flooding, as well as creates public routes through and under the museum at all times.
Built from an elevated plinth of granite the museum lightens and de-densifies as it ascends, much like the naked Scots Pine trees which line the buildings facades and forest clearings in the public areas. The building is wholly of timber construction, with references to the industrial heritage of the area with some lightweight steel panels cladding the distinctive roof trusses that form intimate public gardens on the roof tops. Stretched canvasses, like ships sails, sit within glazed lanterns on the rooftops to attract, scatter and emit light both into and from the main museum volumes, illuminating the objects within and the Finnish landscape.
The castle with its reinstalled jagged roofline will be the crown of the city:
- Arrival at the museum, an edge between water (which is extended, though stranded, from the river) leading to a personal choice in direction. Dense tree trunks give way to a cave like opening, with a ribbon walkway over.
- A cave with light at its heart, offers promising glimpses of the other side and silhouetted shapes, objects of interest, people moving on multiple levels and the glimpse of the castle beyond.
- Ascending from the cave, one is greeted by a forest clearing. The smell of the tree trunks and the forests is reminiscent of that evoked by Alvar Aalto’s Otahalli in Espoo. The castle is seen through a veil of trees.
- Weaving through museum halls and their treasures, the rooftop gardens awaits. It is here that framed and panoramic glimpses of the land come into view giving context to the exhibits within. Views to the city, archipelago and open water and of course views to the castle sitting splendid with its restored crown.
