Virtual Field Courses - Finland

This is the start of a series of posts on buildings we have visited on our field courses, the virtual field courses. The first is from our field course to Finland.

Laajasalo Church, Finland 
Architects: Kari Järvinen and Merja Nieminen

The Architects description (translation): 'The height and character of the interior spaces vary, highlighting each functional space; from the low, smooth ceiling in the foyer, we move on to the taller pergola hall that lies between the interior and exterior spaces, beyond which we find the bright church hall. The height and character of the interior spaces. The halls and the foyer can be combined into one big church space. The light towers on the yard side shine like lighthouses at night; during the day, they let in sunlight for the interior spaces. The wall structures are made of glulam in the form of pillars and stiffening boards. The ceiling structures of the church hall are made of glulam beam trusses connected by steel joints and the beams that support them laterally. The stiffening concrete walls and the steel parts of the wood joints highlight the warmth of the contrasting material, wood. The cladding is mainly made of wood, while the large surfaces of the halls' façade are protected by green-patinated copper sheets. The interior surfaces are made of pine and birch plywood, boarding and acoustic wood louvres. The impression left by the plane's blade on the board cladding is faintly visible. The surfaces have been varnished so that they are a natural colour or they have been left untreated so that time can colour them. The floors of the halls are made of oil-treated pine planks, giving rise to the impression that it is a music box or a wooden container. The spruce planks on the façades have been oil painted in the traditional Finnish red ochre. The wood structures enable the structures to be expressive and easily understood. The pillars, beams, grilles and trusses as well as their joints, the alternation between load-bearing and the needing to be borne and the visible layering of the structures lets the hierarchy and atmosphere of the various, diverse spaces be articulated. Laajasalo wooden church was realised on the basis of the winning proposal from an invited competition held in 2000. The church was consecrated during Advent in 2003.' Kari Järvinen and Merja Nieminen (Architects SAFA)

Visit the practice web site here:
Kari Järvinen and Merja Nieminen (Architects SAFA)
The photographs shown are from our visit. Plans and further information is available here.