The Helsinki-based practice undertook a major restoration and extension project to establish a new kind of cultural complex in the Finnish city
Helsinki-based practice Architects Davidsson Tarkela (ADT) has completed a major renovation and extension of the Kuopio Museum in the Finnish city of Kuopio.
The extension functionally and programmatically connects the existing Kuopio Museum of Cultural History, the Museum of Natural History, and the city’s library. The design of the new structure is envisioned as a gate – an entrance to a new kind of museum and cultural complex.
The Kuopio Museum is a historically listed building completed in in 1907 by Finnish architect J V Strömberg. ADT’s project included the restoration of the old museum to its original state by dismantling extensions added in the 1960s.
The new extension makes a statement in the cityscape with its cantilevered white cuboid form inserted into a historically layered block. Inside, at ground level, the new glazed entrance hall removes the existing boundary between the museum and the adjacent library. Connected to this, ADT has designed a museum shop, educational spaces and a museum café.
A space for temporary exhibitions has been designed in the extension immediately above the entrance, as a windowless ‘black box’ equipped with the latest exhibition technology. The museum’s workspaces, photography, and exhibition design are located on the third floor of the extension.
The extension’s structural frame is made of cast-in-situ concrete, visible in the interiors, while the exterior is clad in bright white concertina-like perforated sheet metal.
Photography by Marko Huttunen
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