Parliament annex building completed; dozens of MPs and aides will have new offices
Construction of the new annex building of the Finnish Parliament has been completed. The Parks Department of the City of Helsinki will soon start landscaping work in the park behind a row of poplar trees along Mannerheimintie.
The building is complemented by a number of other major architectural landmarks in the vicinity, including Helsinki’s main post office, Kiasma - the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sanoma House, as well as the main House of Parliament, which is connected to the annex by a underground walkway.
The first to move into the new building will be the office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The move will continue until the end of August, and the Parliament’s Grand Committee will begin work in its new round chamber at the beginning of the autumn session.
Some of Finland’s 200 Members of Parliament and their aides will get new offices. Each of the 295 office rooms have 12 square metres of floor space.
Areas open to the public are located on the Arkadiankatu side of the annex. The public areas include exhibition space, a small auditorium, and six computer terminals. Next to it are the offices of the Parliament’s European Union Secretariat. In addition to the part of the building that is visible from above ground, the Parliamentary annex has four floors below ground level.
A 30-metre-high atrium is the heart of the new building. The glass ceiling brings daylight to the 120-seat café below.
Speaker of Parliament Paavo Lipponen (SDP), who considers himself something of an architecture buff, praised the new building as a good example of Finnish architecture and construction skill. He was especially pleased that the floors and outside walls contained stone brought in from different parts of Finland.
"The granite comes from Korpilahti and Kuru, where the families of my mother and my father are from", Lipponen noted.
Although the main construction has been completed, some finishing touches are still being made.
Furniture still needs to be brought in. There are no works of art in the new building, and a competition is underway to find the right ones for the Parliamentary annex.
The construction project was a very controversial one. Objections ranged from the cost - more than EUR 42 million - to the loss of the Little Parliament park. Defenders of the project note that the building has left plenty of room for trees.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 16.6.2004 - TODAY |
 Parliament annex building completed; dozens of MPs and aides will have new offices |
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