Helsinki Central Library

CREDIT V2COM PHOTOGRAPHY TUOMAS UUSHEIMO; IWAN BAAN

Oodi, the new Helsinki Central Library that opened in December 2018, was recently awarded first prize at the 2019 International Urban Project Award, advanced by WA magazine from Bejing and Bauwelt magazine from Berlin. The award aims to initiate debate on the value of architecture in stimulating the evolution of architecture and urban environments within various models of urban context from around the world. Additionally, the building was selected as both the jury and people’s choice winner of its category in the 2019 AZ Awards, as well as shortlisted for this year’s WAF Awards, Architizer A+ Awards and EU Mies Award, and longlisted for Dezeen Awards. In Finland, it won the 2018 Steel Structure of the Year award.

The building is in the heart of Helsinki, only a couple of minutes’ walk from the central railway station, and consists almost entirely of public space, offering a wide selection of services, mostly free of charge. Its design divides the functions of the building into three distinct levels: an active ground floor, a peaceful upper floor, and an enclosed in-between volume containing the more specific functions.

Oodi opens directly to the surrounding cityscape, dissolving the border between indoor and outdoor areas. The Kansalaistori square seamlessly continues under the entrance canopy and into the building. The wooden front façade arches over the ground floor as a dramatic inhabited bridge-like structure. The resulting columnfree lobby space is suitable for all kinds of events. The massive entrance canopy forms a covered outdoor space and allows the building’s functions to expand to the square.

The middle floor consists of flexible rooms, nooks and corners inhabiting the spaces between the trusses of the bridge structure. These enclosed spaces are designed to accommodate group working areas, recording studios, editing rooms and the Urban Workshop with equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters, soldering irons and sewing machines for the visitors’ use. On the top floor, the best features of a traditional library meet the most recent technologies. The open space is topped with a cloud-like undulating ceiling. The serene atmosphere invites visitors to read, learn and relax. The top floor also offers unobstructed panorama views of the city centre through the floor-to-ceiling windows and from the large terrace on top of the canopy.

Oodi was built using local materials and with local climate conditions in mind. The wooden façades are made from prefabricated spruce modules. The complex curved geometry was designed and manufactured using algorithm-aided parametric 3D-design methods. Detailed analysis of façade performance informed the environmental solutions and helped minimise the need for mechanical environmental control systems. The glass façades allow for large amounts of daylight in the public areas. The energy consumption level of Oodi is that of a nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB).