PES-Architects

Helsinki-based PES-Architects’ Shanghai studio was established in 2010, although the architects have been working in China since 2003. During this period, the practice has won 1st prizes in nine Chinese architectural competitions and worked in just under twenty different cities in the country. The Wuxi Grand Theatre was completed in 2012 and the Icon Yunduan Tower in Chengdu in 2017.

The practice was originally founded in Finland in 1968 by Pekka Salminen, with 2018 marking its 50th anniversary. Today, the Helsinki office employs over 70 staff and continues to work towards an architecture that embraces a cross-disciplinary approach. The practice is well-known in Finland for its often complex and wide-ranging building types. Important projects include: Helsinki Airport terminals; West Terminal 2 ferry terminal in Helsinki; Ring Rail Train Stations in Vantaa, Finland; and the Marienkirche Concert Hall in Germany.

Pekka Salminen (b. 1937), President, Founding Partner of PES-Architects.

Architect SAFA (MSc, Helsinki University of Technology 1966), Professor (honorary title granted by the President of Finland in 1998).

Pekka Salminen started his career at the offices of Aarne Ervi and Timo Penttilä in the 1960s. He established a private practice in 1968, today PES-Architects Ltd.

Salminen has served as President of the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA and the Association of Finnish Architects’ Offices. He is a member of the Finnish Academy of Technical Sciences, an honorary member of China Building Centre, and has been a member of architects’ associations in Finland, Croatia and Germany. He is the founder of Unije Workshop International UWI, Centre for Architecture and Urban Planning in Croatia (1987-2016).

Salminen has received numerous competition prizes and personal recognitions for his work in Finland and abroad. He received the Finnish State Prize for the Arts in 2002 and was conferred with the Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 2012.

Salminen’s main works are the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre and the Wuxi Grand Theatre in China; Lahti City Theatre and Helsinki Airport Terminal 2 in Finland; and the Marienkirche Concert Hall in Germany.