Architecture and Engineering

The architects of Sibelius Hall were inspired by the mystique of the Finnish forests

The impressive wooden concert and congress centre rose on the Vesijärvi waterfront in spring 2000. Its architects, Hannu Tikka and Kimmo Lintula, explained that the main source of inspiration in the design was the Finnish forests. The forest always provided our ancestors with nourishment and raw materials, but it also involves mythical memories and scents – it has a relaxing essence. Another natural starting point in the design came from the industrial history of the site, the uncomplicated aesthetics of the old brick buildings, and the vicinity of water.

The wooden building rose on the waterfront site that had been the base of a steam sawmill since 1869, when the merchant Carl J. Unonius from Loviisa and his Swedish financer Knut Hj. Cassel rented the lot from Captain August Fellman for their newly founded enterprise Lahden Höyrysaha Osakeyhtiö (Lahtis Ångsåg Aktiebolag). Thus the traditions of the sawmill industry, dating back 130 years at that time, provided a natural reason to choose wood as the material for the new concert and congress centre. Operators in the Finnish forest and wood sector supported the Sibeliustalo project, and it was selected as the main initiative for the Puun vuosi 1996 / Puun aika (‘The Year of Wood 1996 / Time of Wood’) campaign, which aimed at finding innovative wooden construction solutions. During its construction, the house was considered the flagship of wooden construction, which, when completed, would be the biggest public wooden building built in Finland for over a hundred years.

Sibelius Hall as the model of new technology and wooden construction

The Sibelius Hall complex, with an area of nearly 90,000 m3, is composed of four elements: the renovated Carpenter’s Factory, the Main Hall building, the Forest Hall (linking the previous elements together), and the Congress Wing (which is connected to the complex via a glass passage). Wood is the supporting material in all the new sections.

The ceiling is supported by glulam grilles produced by Vierumäen Teollisuus Oy. The façades of the new part consist of sand-filled wooden elements and glass. The inner walls are mainly made of laminated veneer, and the floors of parquet.

US-based Artec Consultants, Inc. was in charge of the acoustic design. The ‘shoebox’ shape of the hall and the oval shape of the auditorium and stage provide optimal acoustics. The acoustic characteristics are further improved through the careful selection of furniture and materials. The acoustics can be adjusted with a canopy and the acoustic doors and banners on the side walls of the hall.

Main Hall like a grand instrument

The Main Hall is an acoustic miracle, which creates unforgettable musical memories for concert goers. The auditorium seating and stage are situated in an oval-shaped ‘shoebox’ hall.
Flexibility in acoustics is achieved with a canopy, which can be raised and lowered above the stage, and via the echo chamber along the side walls, with 188 acoustic doors and woollen acoustic banners (2.7 km). The corrugated walls of the hall scatter reflecting sounds. A place was reserved for an organ behind the loft above the stage. The organ was finished and in place in 2007.
The sophisticated colouring of the Main Hall is a combination of graphite-grey, natural white, and the warm red of old string instruments. The floor is oil- and heat-treated smoke birch parquet. A glass façade covers the massive wall elements, with sandwich-structured laminated veneer lumber panels, filled with sand (18 cm thick insulation) and mineral wool. All of the Main Hall’s load bearing structures are made of glulam timber.

The echo chambers at the sides of the hall are part of the hall’s acoustic design.
The height of the room corresponds to that of an eight-storey building. The massive glulam structures that support the inclined outside wall are clearly visible. The acoustic external wall elements comprise 69- and 51-millimetre-thick LVL sheets that sandwich a 180 mm layer of dried sand, a layer of mineral wool, and Wisa Facade veneer. The structure both creates a massive appearance and improves insulation of high frequencies. The space between the glass façade and the wall element improves sound insulation.

The computer-assisted acoustic doors open to the echo chambers equipped with acoustic ‘curtains’ or banners that can be electrically raised and lowered. Entrance to seats in the stalls is via the echo chambers. Access to the balconies is directly via the balconies in the Forest Hall.

The canopy above the stage is a special feature of the hall. It is a technical-service canopy on which you can install lights, loudspeakers, and various reflecting surfaces. The canopy can be raised or lowered via an electrical control system. Consisting of three parts (the central circle and two crescent-shaped sides), the canopy covers half of the hall area. In combination with the technical equipment, the canopy weighs 25–30 tons. The lower surface of the canopy has wood lamination 6 cm thick. The canopy is used to adjust the tone of sound in the hall. For a rock concert, the canopy will be raised, and it is lowered when a chamber music concert will take place. A sprinkler system and a water hose have been connected to the canopy, controlled from behind the stage. The structures for the canopy were provided by Riskotec Oy, based in Helsinki.

The Forest Hall (1,000 m²) links the old factory to the halls and the congress wing of the new building. The map of the night sky twinkles, depicting the constellations as they were at the moment of Jean Sibelius’s birth. This lights the hall from the cherry stained ceiling. The hall is used both as a foyer and to host various large exhibitions, for feasts, and for banquets for over 1,000 guests. The supporting structure of the hall consists of nine pinewood pylons with criss-crossing branches of beams, which were turned on Finland's largest lathe, at Köyhänperä in Reisjärvi. The round-shaped Tuohi bar, with sides in 30 m² of oil-wax-treated birch bark, serves as a congress and catering service point.
The furniture in the Forest Hall has been designed specifically for the room. Carpenters Tuuli and Teemu Autio, from Tuulipuu, designed the so-called box benches on wheels. They are 2.2 metres long and made of 30-millimetre-thick birch veneer. The louvre structures on the corners of the benches feature their artful details. The cushions are made of specially treated lining materials of the highest quality.

Carpenter’s Factory

In the old part of the building, the area called the Carpenter’s Factory houses a restaurant for 140 people, office space, and spaces for rehearsing and group meetings. There are two multipurpose halls, on two floors on the Ankkurikatu side, called the Carpenter’s Hall (second floor) and the Carpenter’s Workshop (first floor).
The building is one of the oldest industrial facilities still preserved in Lahti. Originally, the building served as a sulphate pulp factory; it was built by August Fellman in 1907–08 in connection with his sawmill. The building, which has been expanded several times, has also accommodated a glass factory, sawdust storage, a carpentry workshop, and a factory for wooden houses.

After the congress and concert centre was opened, a VIP sauna suite was built in the rooms with arched ceilings on the top floor on the central part of the carpentry factory. The sauna suite accommodates 25 people and has a meeting and socialising room with conference tables and couches, a kitchenette, and a smoking area. The dressing room in the separate sauna section is panelled in specially heat-treated Siberian hardwood, and the sauna is panelled with alder wood. The solid wood benches in the shower and dressing rooms, designed by Tuuli and Teemu Autio, are made of alder, aspen, spruce, and pine.

The Congress Wing - a view to lake Vesijärvi

The Congress Wing, a separate building connected to the Forest Hall via a glass passage, offers a magnificent view of the lake from all its rooms.
The supporting structures are made of glulam spruce, the walls of glazed pine veneer, the floors from birch, and the cabinets of rowan. The end wall in one of the rooms is heat-treated aspen. The original weather-boarding made of larch was later replaced with spruce.

The original terrace on the harbour-side end was transformed into a warm interior space in 2007. At the same time, washroom facilities, a small foyer, and furniture storage were built in the wing. The alteration increased meeting room capacity and improved the appearance of the rooms with new furniture, curtains, and textile art. At the same time, improvements were made to the technical facilities.
Five rooms were named after the movements of Jean Sibelius’s Op. 75, ‘The Trees’: Aspen (96 m², 4.5 m high, with a capacity of 80 people); Pine, Rowan, and Birch (42 m² each, with a height of 3.5 m and a capacity of 20 people); and Spruce (196 m², with a height of 4.5 m and a 150-person capacity).
The design for the alterations was done by architect Mika Saarikangas of Artto Palo Rossi Tikka Architects Oy. The main contractor was Rakennusliike V. Mättölä, and the builder was the Lahti City Facility Centre.

Expansion of Sibelius Hall in 2009

In a construction project lasting six months, a two-storey expansion was built next to the wing dating back to the early 1900s, covering a ground area of 220 m2. The new building imitated the style of the old factory building with red brick walls and arched roofs. The kitchen services, on the ground floor, were connected to the old parts, which were renovated at the same time. Half of the second floor was reserved for the HVAC engineering required by the kitchen, and the other part was connected with office and storage space of Sinfonia Lahti and Sibelius Hall. Alterations were also made to the service line of Lastu restaurant at the same time. Students of interior architecture at the Institute of Design of the Lahti University of Applied Sciences took part in its design work. The bar was replaced with additional tables on the floor level of the restaurant. Changes were made also to the location of the washroom facilities.

In this project too, the main contractor was Rakennusliike V. Mättölä and the builder was the Lahti City Facility Centre. The estimated cost of the project, with kitchen equipment and provision included, was 1,937,000 euros. The design for the alterations was completed by architects Heli Javanainen and Anitta Ojanen from Arkkitehtitoimisto Arkit Oy.

In the original construction stage of Sibelius Hall, Finnish wood was used as follows:

Glulam constructions: 920 m³ of spruce
LVL constructions: 700 m³ of spruce
Veneer: 18,000 m², comprising 290 m³ of birch and spruce
Sawn timber: 700 m³ of spruce and pine
Panelling: 1,200 m² of birch, common alder, and spruce
Parquet: 2,500 m² oil- and heat-treated birch
Birch bark: 30 m² of birch bark

Architectural design:
Artto Palo Rossi Tikka Architects Oy / Hannu Tikka and Kimmo Lintula

Acoustic design:
Artec Consultants, Inc., of New York

Interior design:
Artto Palo Rossi Tikka Architects Oy / Markku Liukkonen

Main contractor:
NCC Finland Oy

Building consultant:
Engel Construction Services Ltd

Building engineering:
ABB Installaatiot Oy

Structural design:
Turun Juva Oy

Ground surveys:
Viatek Oy Geosto

Structural design for the old section:
VSO-Plan Oy

Condition inspections:
Insinööritoimisto Mikko Vahanen Oy

Electrical wiring design:
YSP-Consulting Engineers

HVAC design
LVI-Insinööritoimisto Chydenius Oy

Fire-related technical design:
Fire engineering and fire safety design consultants Markku Kauriala Ltd

Sprinkler design:
Kaksoisputki Oy

For further information on the main contract and subcontractors, contact:
NCC Finland Oy