Bryggman won joint second prize in the 1936 architectural competition for the Sampo Insurance Company building, sharing the prize with architects Gunnar Taucher and Yngve Lagerblad. The building was realised according to Bryggman’s plans.

On the main street side, on Yliopistonkatu street, the building housed shops on the first two floors, which were followed by an office floor and three floors of rental apartments. The main entrance to the insurance company offices was through an entrance hall on the main street. The sales hall and accounting department were on the Puolalankatu street side, divided off by a glass wall and topped by four floors of office spaces. The company boardroom and director’s office as well as the staff canteen and a festive hall were in the set-back upper floors. A paternoster lift and main stairs were located deep in the building’s core.

The façades of the building were clad with sand-coloured, sand-blasted clinker tiles. The rhythm of fenestration layout was enlivened with vertical and horizontal divisions and small windows. The design and selection of fittings and furniture was included in Bryggman’s commission, for which he used several types of wood from elm, oak and beech to Makassar ebony.

On the ground floor there was a bakers’ shop and a café on the first floor. An impressive spiral staircase lead from the shop to the café.

The building has been heightened and extended several times and the windows and most interior materials have been replaced.

Text: Mikko Laaksonen