Mortgage House
- Helsinki
- 1908
Mariehamn Town Hall in Åland is one of the late works of architect Lars Sonck, who began his career in the height of Art Nouveau in the turn of the 20th century. The town hall completed in 1939 represents both Functionalism and Nordic Classicism, typical for Sonck’s later works.
The building is situated on a hill in the middle of a park in the centre of Mariehamn. Typical for Nordic Classicism the three-storey building has symmetrical elevations. Monumental stairs lead to the main entrance which is situated in the middle of the northern façade, a focal theme of many Sonck’s public buildings. The finish plaster is painted beige.
Some references to the Parliament House of Finland in Helsinki, designed by J.S. Sirén and completed in 1931, can be seen in the massing of the monumental building. The town hall was planned to be used as the ‘parliament house’ of Mariehamn, hence the reference. In the 1980s, a civic centre for the autonomous territory of Åland, designed by LPR Architects was built in the neighbouring plot.