Architect
Arvi Ilonen Pirkko Ilonen
Competition
1976
Completion
1980
Gross area
1570 m²
Category
Assembly buildings
Tags
brick church multipurpose sacred wood

The building, completed in 1980, was built on the basis of the winning entry in an invited architecture competition held in 1976. Vuosaari church is at the end of Satamasaarentie at a crossing of pedestrian routes, on a ridge growing handsome birch trees, surrounded by a valley and bordered by a steep pine-growing slope in the northeast.

The building housing the church hall, the parish halls and club rooms stand on a place which originally had no trees, so that the main spatial unit, the church hall mass, is closest to the street. The most handsome group of birches on the whole site forms a barrier between the everyday bustle of the street and the sacral facilities.

The section of the building housing the parish offices and two flats, and the church hall section are bordered by a semi-private street with entrances to all main facilities, including the vicarage. There is direct access to the parish offices from the street.

With the exception of the belfry and the main window of the church hall, the building does not stand out dimensionally from its surroundings.In spite of its home-like, almost everyday relationship with the environment, the church hall is a large interior space unit, a central, festive sacral hall with plenty of light. The other halls are smaller in scale and lightness so that the small parish hall is very home-like and the club room next to the hall like a dining room. A home-like atmosphere was also aimed at in the other separate club rooms designed for adults and children.

When both parish halls and part of the lobby are combined with the main church hall, a hall for 500 people is formed for special occasionThe supporting structures are concrete. The red brick has been built fairface both outside and inside. The walls of the corridors are also built in fair face red brick. Nearly all floors in the church section are polished red-brick. The floor are total 1570 m2, with the church section accounting for 1166 m2, the offices for 164 m2 and housing for 240 m2.

Source: Finnish Architectural Review 4/1983

Location

Satamasaarentie 7, Helsinki
60.2128235, 25.1399534

Images

Site plan, Vuosaari Church
Site plan, Vuosaari Church (© Pirkko and Arvi Ilonen)
North west façade, Vuosaari Church
North west façade, Vuosaari Church (© Arvi Ilonen / MFA)
North west façade, Vuosaari Church
North west façade, Vuosaari Church (© Arvi Ilonen / MFA)
Assembly hall, Vuosaari Church
Assembly hall, Vuosaari Church (© Simo Rista / MFA)
Assembly hall, Vuosaari Church
Assembly hall, Vuosaari Church (© Simo Rista / MFA)
Assembly hall, Vuosaari Church
Assembly hall, Vuosaari Church (© Simo Rista / MFA)
Assembly hall lobby, Vuosaari Church
Assembly hall lobby, Vuosaari Church (© Simo Rista / MFA)
Club room, Vuosaari Church
Club room, Vuosaari Church (© Simo Rista / MFA)
Perspective, Vuosaari Church
Perspective, Vuosaari Church (© PIrkko and Arvi Ilonen)
Floor plan, Vuosaari Church
Floor plan, Vuosaari Church (© PIrkko and Arvi Ilonen)

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