Cafe Birgitta

Background
In 2011 Helsinki City property committee decided to look for a new concept and architectural look for the cafe that was to be built in Pyhä Birgitta Park. The concept "Active Park" came out on top. Architecturally sculptural design was to be a forerunner for the spirit in which the area is to be built further.

Structures, materials, architectural decisions
The building is at crossroads in an open landscape, where it needs to assert its role and be active in every direction: it has no front or back. It is transparent and accessible to a point of a comfortable thoroughfare.

The building shelters from wind and rain and, no less importantly, provide a magnificent frame for the memorable view from this particular site.

The building complex is made up of three log-framed structures of various heights, laid out in almost a propeller-shape. Between the blocks is a covered space with glass partitions to two sides. One of the blocks houses the kitchen and sales counter, the second the facilities for the toilets and maintenance, and the third is a "lounge" with a fireplace - the heated area.

Building material is wood from Honkarakenne, which is not susceptible to changes in size due to its curing- and building technique. Wood-framed cantilevers cover the central space, hung together with steel wires and propped on one steel column. Laminated timber beams support glass plates in the wood-framed cantilevers. Sliding glass elements, suspended from the ceilings, make it possible to close the central space and provide shelter from the wind. The fireplace stands in the middle.

The outside of the building is made of 50x50 mm laminated wood elements with a scorched surface. The insides are of untreated wood. The terrace is of larch.

Technical solutions
Insulation and ventilation solutions are based on the fact that the building is only open for some of the year: it is small and only partly heated and does not need to meet full standard requirements.

Tommi Leppälä, Pia Loukiainen

Talli Architecture and Design Ltd.
Principal designer: Minna Lukander, architect
Project architect: Jari Heikkinen
Assisting designers: Pia Ilonen, architect, Karoliina Hoppu, architect, Martti Lukander, interior designer, Lassi Heikkinen, interior designer