Voimatalo is designed by Mr. Aarne Ervi (1910-1977), one of the most significant post-war Finnish architects and a pioneer in using prefabricated components. As a young architect, prior to starting his own business in 1938, Mr. Ervi worked for Alvar Aalto. In the 40’s and 50’s Mr. Ervi designed hydro power plants and residential areas for Oulujoki Oy. Other significant works include the Porthania building, University of Helsinki, (1957), the University of Turku campus (1956-1959) and Töölö library in Helsinki (1970). Still Mr. Ervi is probably best known for designing the town center plan of Tapiola (1954).
Voimatalo was originally designed for Imatran Voima Oy. The construction work started in 1949 and the building was finnished in 1952. Voimatalo has now been renovated into modern office space by SARC Architects. The 7th and 8th floors have been renovated but not redesigned. We have been waiting for some details to be finnished and last Wednesday we finally got to photograph both floors.
Here’s a few shots for you to enjoy, we’ll be uploading more next week. The old restaurant on the 8th floor, with the wing shaped arch in the ceiling, is simply amazing!
I have uploaded a set of both exterior and interior images from Rantatie Business Park. The office building is located in Kalasatama on Hermannin Rantatie in Helsinki. It is designed by SARC Architects. Rantatie Business park is the featured gallery on photoshelter – so you can watch the complete image set as a slide show on the main page. From my point of view, the shape of the building made photographing it and waiting for the right light very interesting and enjoyable. Note the curved corner of the building and check out the slide show on photoshelter!
Added some new interior images to the Tapiola HQ -folder on photoshelter. We had to wait for some of the finalizing construction work to be completed to get certain views. While photographing the auditorium two ladies walked into the picture. It basically was a mistake – I usually dislike having people in my images – but I think this time it worked out pretty well. Lately I’ve been experimenting with having people in my images, I think it adds an element of functionality to the architecture and of course people provide a universal reference point for scale. Now I am looking forward to a weekend of fishing with some good friends, have a good one 
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Auditorium in Tapiola PK2 designed by SARC Architects
I just finished another project for SARC Architects shooting Ahjo, the night club, at hotel Klaus K in Helsinki. Klaus K opened in november 2005 profiled as a designer and boutique hotel. The design is inspired by Finland’s national epic, Kalevala. According to Kalevala, Ahjo was the furnace in the workshop where the Sampo was made. Sampo was a magical artifact that brought good fortune to its holder. I added a password protected gallery with 24 images in my webstore. If you are interested in having a look at the complete set, send me an email to get the password.
Just got back from shooting some exterior images of Fabianinkatu 27-29 for SARC Architects. Nearly froze my fingers off but I got a nice shot of the corner building… Since the sun sets so quickly this time of the year I’ll go back tomorrow for some more shots
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