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Viikki Church Ground floor plan
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Viikki Church Section thru halls
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Viikki Church Exterior
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Viikki Church Southern evening facade
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Viikki Church Main entrance and bell fry at night
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Viikki Church Interior
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Viikki Church Church hall
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Viikki Church Detail of columns structure
Viikki Church
JKMM Architects. Helsinki, Finland
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Name of work in English
Viikki Church
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Name of work in original language
Viikin kirkko
Prize year
EUmies Awards 2007
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Work Location
Helsinki, Finland
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Studio
JKMM Architects
EUmies Awards 2007 Nominees
Collaborators
Interiors: P Meuronen, JKMM Architects (Interior architect); Collaborator (office): Janne J (Student of Architecture), Hella Hernberg, JKMM Architects, Teemu Toivio, JKMM Architects, Johanna Ojanlatva, JKMM Architects, Johanna Rope, JKMM Architects, Sini Kukkonen, JKMM Architects; Collaborator (external): Jyrki Sinkkil (External Architects Consultant); Structural engineering: Jukka Ukko, Ylim (Responsible); Consulting: Tero Aaltonen, Matti Ollila ltd (Prefab. wall-elements structural design); Civil, soil and survey: Kalle Rantala, City of Helsinki / GeoTechniques (Geodesign); Climatisation: Ky Kukkohovi, Aho Consulting ltd (Services design); Electrical: Sakari Vainio, Niemi & Co ltd (Lighting design); Consulting: Topi Koivisto, Nurmi ltd (Automation); Acoustical: Henrik M; Furniture: Kari Virtanen, Nikari ltd (Carpenter, woodwork advisor); Building advising: Matti Kairi, Helsinki University of technology / Wood Technology (Professor), Olli Cav, Antti Pihkala, Petri Heino, Wood Focus Finland; Art: Antti Tanttu (Artist, professor), Hanna Korvela, Hanna Korvela Design; Consulting: Juhani Piispa, Juhani Piispa ltd (Supervision, Building techniques), Taisto Rantala, TR-tekniikka ltd, Esa Ekman, Planek ltd; Construction company: Heimo Hantula, Peab Seicon ltd (Construction Manager); Project management: Markku Koskinen, Helsinki Parishes (Director of properties), Niko Parikka, Helsinki Parishes; Quantity surveyor: Heli Pennanen, Haahtela Rakennuttaminen ltd (Cost estimation); Construction: Janne Jurvelin, Finnforest ltd (Engineering, Timber construction, Sub-production), Julius Kotivuori, Vanhat Talot ltd, Matti Taskinen, Matti Taskinen Saw mill, Timo Peltola, Eino Rantala ltd; Construction company: Juhani Hietam (Building Master)
Program
Religion
Completion
2005
The church forms the core of an area plan that will be implemented gradually. It extends into the narrowing scene amidst building fronts, between a park and a market place. The relationship between the church and its surroundings will be defined in time on the basis of drafts by JKMM Architects according to the winning entry of an architectural competition. The lines of the eaves echo the forms of a stand of trees and the building becomes part of the trees surrounding it. The architectonic choices of the church were guided by prefabrication, as the church was built of factory-made components non-stop to completion. The building has been braced by attaching insulated outer wall elements to the pillars and the panels of the ceiling to the glulam beams. The paneling was already attached to the plate stiffener of the inner walls at the factory. The architecture of church hall was built in one go. The untreated and grey-aged facade has been clad in cleft aspen shingles and fine-sawn drop siding. The interior lining of spruce have been treated with a wash of lye, leaving them easy to clean and renew. The acoustic elements of the false ceiling are form pressed veneer elements.
Our idea of a space gouged in a forest is realized in the halls of the church. Architecture wishes to evoke impressions of the Finnish forest; of its sacredness and common nature. Dense wooden clustered columns and beams are architectcreated structures. The structural idea is essentially defining the whole. The detail of the outer wall reflects a design concept by itself. The aim has been the allwood atmosphere which is devout and uplifting.
The furniture, furnishings and lighting has been tailor-made design by architects to suit the church's activities. The hall's stackable chair creates the impression of a long church pew. The altar furnishings, highlight by cleft aspen surfaces, are outlined against the tripartite silver surface altarpiece, whose wine-colored tones transform in light. The church combines modern and ancient building methods, sophisticated and rough-hewn surfaces, location and purpose, temporality and eternity. The intention of the client has been to create a modern successor for the long tradition of Finnish wooden churches, which takes into account the ecological ideas and criteria of sustainability of the whole Viikki area.