In 1988, the Town of Kankaanpää organised an invited competition for the design of the government offices to be placed in the town centre of Kankaanpää. The competition brief consisted of a government office block adjacent to the existing centrally located town hall (designed by Heikki and Kaija Siren) which housed public functions. The adjacent building is based on the winning entry by Kouvo & Partanen Architects.

The idea was to create a coherent complex of public building out of the new government office centre and the existing town hall. The urban space was emphasised by delimiting the street space and placing a park-like series of open squares surrounded by building masses in the centre of the office block. A two-level entrance terrace that also serves as a meeting place for citizens was placed at the entrance to the office centre. There is a non-vehicular traffic connection through the central park area to the town hall. The round building mass or rotunda clearly visible in the townscape highlights the assembly hall and entrance foyer, creating a powerful positive symbol for the court and office building. Local character for the exterior architecture was sought with the traditional means of brick architecture; Kankaanpää has pursued its identity as a red-brick town. The clearly defined building masses, the rotunda, tower staircase and simple openings in the elevations produce a new kind of location-bound brick architecture.

Text: Finnish Architectural Review 2/1994