Scandic Grand Central Helsinki Hotel
Architect: Futudesign ltd
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Type: Hotel
Year: 2021
Photographs: Marc Goodwin, Iikka Airas
The following description is courtesy of the architects. A landmark of Finnish architecture, Helsinki Central railway station opens as a design hotel – Scandic Grand Central is Eliel Saarinen’s masterpiece with an extension that respects the original.
The Helsinki Central Railway Station, and its administrative buildings, are amongst Eliel Saarinen’s most important achievements in Finland and a masterpiece of Finnish art nouveau. The building, completed in 1919, has been listed amongst the most beautiful railway stations in the world and one of the most visited architecture destinations in Finland.
Photo: Marc Goodwin 
Corridor. Photo: Marc Goodwin
Scandic Grand Central Helsinki is located in the old administrative buildings of the Helsinki Central railway station. With its 500 rooms together with meeting and banquet facilities, Scandic Grand Central is among the largest hotels in Finland and true to its its late Art Nouveau roots. The project consisted of the restoration and adaptive reuse of administrative buildings and the contemporary addition that completes the stations north.
”The vision of the new design is to create a contemporary hotel experience while taking care of one of the most highly valued pieces of architecture” says architect Aleksi Niemeläinen from Futudesign. ”By interpreting Eliel Saarinen’s architecture boldly from a totally new perspective, the idea was to create contemporary architecture that makes both the old and the new elements interesting.” The new plan honours the logic of the original station: for example, the layout of the new building follows Eliel Saarinen’s principle of an indented façade and leaves the ends of the original building in plain sight.
Futudesign’s concept stays true to the original architecture of the railway station and blurs the boundaries of historic and contemporary architecture to create a stylistic symbiosis. Many design details are inspired by Eliel Saarinen’s original plans and applied to contemporary features such as street level and top floor arch windows. The wall materials imitate the Railway Station’s facade with a mix of concrete and red granite to add to the building’s grand appearance.
One important architectural decision was to keep the height of the floors in the new building at 4.5 metres, the same as in the old administrative building. In addition to accessibility, the solution offers a higher room height than a standard hotel, giving the rooms a wonderful feeling of spaciousness. Space is further emphasised with floor to ceiling windows, which ensure an unparalleled view of the beautiful courtyard, and of Kaisaniemi park, which surrounds the hotel.
Keeping the high floors did not mean having to compromise on the number of rooms, as more rooms could be added on the quiet courtyard side by curving the facade.
The verdant garden courtyard with its restaurant and covered terrace will surely become Helsinki’s newest and most elegant hot spot.
Project Details
- Project name: Scandic Grand Central Hotel
- Architect: Futudesign ltd
- Website: www.futudesign.com
- Contact e-mail: hello@futudesign.com
- Lead Architects: Aleksi Niemeläinen, Teemu Seppänen, Auvo Lindroos, Veikka Entelä, Erno Honkonen, Iikka Airas, Patrick Perämäki, Fanni Suvila, Tiina Teräs
- Project location: Helsinki Central Railway Station – Vilhonkatu 13, 00100Helsinki, https://www.google.fi/maps/@60.1720053,24.9419221,17.25z?hl=en
- Project Year: 2021
- Gross Built Area (square meters or square foot): 4,200m2
- Photo credits: Marc Goodwin, Iikka Airas
- Photographer’s website: https://archmospheres.com/
- Collaborators: Soini & Horto Architects (renovation), Puroplan (interior design), Wise Group Finland Oy (Competition phase), A-Insinöörit Oy, Granlund, Pohjatekniikka, Rejlers, Akukon, GBP, Paloff, Paloässät
