Insurer Ilmarinen tempts Helsinki’s new central library to Main Post Office building
Idea seen as ecologically more sound than a new block on Töölönlahti; Mayor Pajunen less convinced
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Insurance giant Ilmarinen has stepped up its lobbying in order that Helsinki’s planned new central library would be placed as a tenant in the city’s Main Post Office building, which Ilmarinen owns.
Moreover, Ilmarinen has commissioned from Helin & Co Architects an initial plan regarding the functionality of the central library in the Main Post Office.
According to a vision presented by the architects, about half or nearly 20,000 square metres of the entire building would be available for the library.
A total of nine floors would be reserved for the library, while most of its services would be found on six floors. The two lowest floors would be open premises, while the bookstacks would be placed in upper floors. The principle would be that the higher the floor the quieter the surroundings would be. For example the top floor would accommodate rooms for research and reading.
The building would continue to lease premises to the post office, a private clinic, and perhaps to some other services frequently used by Helsinki residents.
Helin & Co regards the Main Post Office as the best location for the planned new central library, as a large number of people go past the building every day and because the place is within easy reach by public transport.
Thanks to the high ceilings of the Main Post Office, it would also be easy to revamp the building for use as a library, the architects say.
Letting Manager Ville Laurila from Ilmarinen asserts that the Main Post Office would be a more economical and also a more ecological alternative than an entirely new building in the Töölönlahti Bay area.
He also promises that the converting of the Main Post Office into a new central library would be completed by the planned deadline, in other words by the centenary of Finnish independence in 2017.
Laurila adds that the aim of Ilmarinen is to secure that the building gets a reliable long-term tenant.
Possible locations for the new Central Library have been considered for years.
Originally, the alternatives included the Railway Square at the central railway station, the Töölönlahti Bay area, Helsinki’s Main Post Office, and the Lasipalatsi complex just across the main thoroughfare Mannerheimintie.
The chair of a working party appointed to look into the establishing of a new central library, Helsinki’s Deputy Mayor for Cultural and Personnel Affairs Tuula Haatainen, says that she is not ready to take a stand on the location of the new central library as yet.
The working party is expected to submit its proposal by the end of the current year.
Haatainen notes that the task of the working party was to look into the Töölönlahti Bay project, but in practice, there are still two alternatives: either a completely new building in the Töölönlahti Bay area or a potential makeover of the Main Post Office.
”The plan proposed by the architects is very interesting, but we should still get more information about the final costs. Moreover, a new building would enable us to plan an entirely new kind of library from a completely new perspective”, Haatainen feels.
”In the post office alternative we would be tenants, and the fixed-term contract alone is bound to weaken the feasibility of the Main Post Office”, she adds.
Haatainen notes further that the capital city is now looking for potential partners to cooperate in the venture. Finding other financiers has proved very difficult. The cities of Vantaa and Espoo have initially taken an indifferent attitude towards the project.
One of the potential sponsors could be the Ministry of Education, which is looking for a location for its audio-visual library.
Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen has studied Ilmarinen’s plans, but they did not manage to change his opinion.
He insists that the best solution for the planned new central library would be a new building in the Töölönlahti Bay area.
This is the part of Helsinki currently housing such buildings as Finlandia Hall and the National Opera, and where the new Music Centre is now going up.
Because Helsinki’s plot of land on the Bay area is not large enough for the planned library, the capital would have to persuade the state to hand over the state-owned plot across the street to be combined with the city’s land.
In Pajunen’s view, the new complex should combine the traditional library functions and the Finnish top competence in technology and education. Moreover, it could offer entrance premises to the newly created Aalto University combining technology, art and design, and business.
”Ilmarinen’s proposal does not include such a comprehensive package. However, if it is eventually decided that only a traditional library is to be built, the Main Post Office could well serve as a mere library”, Pajunen concluded.
Moreover, Ilmarinen has commissioned from Helin & Co Architects an initial plan regarding the functionality of the central library in the Main Post Office.
According to a vision presented by the architects, about half or nearly 20,000 square metres of the entire building would be available for the library.
A total of nine floors would be reserved for the library, while most of its services would be found on six floors. The two lowest floors would be open premises, while the bookstacks would be placed in upper floors. The principle would be that the higher the floor the quieter the surroundings would be. For example the top floor would accommodate rooms for research and reading.
The building would continue to lease premises to the post office, a private clinic, and perhaps to some other services frequently used by Helsinki residents.
Helin & Co regards the Main Post Office as the best location for the planned new central library, as a large number of people go past the building every day and because the place is within easy reach by public transport.
Thanks to the high ceilings of the Main Post Office, it would also be easy to revamp the building for use as a library, the architects say.
Letting Manager Ville Laurila from Ilmarinen asserts that the Main Post Office would be a more economical and also a more ecological alternative than an entirely new building in the Töölönlahti Bay area.
He also promises that the converting of the Main Post Office into a new central library would be completed by the planned deadline, in other words by the centenary of Finnish independence in 2017.
Laurila adds that the aim of Ilmarinen is to secure that the building gets a reliable long-term tenant.
Possible locations for the new Central Library have been considered for years.
Originally, the alternatives included the Railway Square at the central railway station, the Töölönlahti Bay area, Helsinki’s Main Post Office, and the Lasipalatsi complex just across the main thoroughfare Mannerheimintie.
The chair of a working party appointed to look into the establishing of a new central library, Helsinki’s Deputy Mayor for Cultural and Personnel Affairs Tuula Haatainen, says that she is not ready to take a stand on the location of the new central library as yet.
The working party is expected to submit its proposal by the end of the current year.
Haatainen notes that the task of the working party was to look into the Töölönlahti Bay project, but in practice, there are still two alternatives: either a completely new building in the Töölönlahti Bay area or a potential makeover of the Main Post Office.
”The plan proposed by the architects is very interesting, but we should still get more information about the final costs. Moreover, a new building would enable us to plan an entirely new kind of library from a completely new perspective”, Haatainen feels.
”In the post office alternative we would be tenants, and the fixed-term contract alone is bound to weaken the feasibility of the Main Post Office”, she adds.
Haatainen notes further that the capital city is now looking for potential partners to cooperate in the venture. Finding other financiers has proved very difficult. The cities of Vantaa and Espoo have initially taken an indifferent attitude towards the project.
One of the potential sponsors could be the Ministry of Education, which is looking for a location for its audio-visual library.
Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen has studied Ilmarinen’s plans, but they did not manage to change his opinion.
He insists that the best solution for the planned new central library would be a new building in the Töölönlahti Bay area.
This is the part of Helsinki currently housing such buildings as Finlandia Hall and the National Opera, and where the new Music Centre is now going up.
Because Helsinki’s plot of land on the Bay area is not large enough for the planned library, the capital would have to persuade the state to hand over the state-owned plot across the street to be combined with the city’s land.
In Pajunen’s view, the new complex should combine the traditional library functions and the Finnish top competence in technology and education. Moreover, it could offer entrance premises to the newly created Aalto University combining technology, art and design, and business.
”Ilmarinen’s proposal does not include such a comprehensive package. However, if it is eventually decided that only a traditional library is to be built, the Main Post Office could well serve as a mere library”, Pajunen concluded.
Helsingin Sanomat