The entrance is at the seam between the new and old portions of the building.
The warehouse parallels the canal between Iso Mustasaari and Susisaari, while the addition is oriented according to the path which leads to the bridge over the canal. The two wings thus form a dihedral angle.
The seam is a zone where the two units interpenetrate rather than a hard edge. Although the material palate is broad, there is a logic behind each of the material choices.
A beautiful spiral stair in the seam leads up to a glass-block bridge.
An intermediate handrail forms a shell around the newel and makes the winders relatively wide even toward the center of the stair. In this sense the stair is helical rather than spiral.
Looking up at the stairs from below. The wood treads are slotted at their front and back edges so that they can be supported by knife plates welded to the steel risers.
Haarapääsky outside the visitors' center. Like Marcel Proust, I would want to be a swallow if I were a bird!
Re-entering the Helsinki harbor, the ferry arrives at Kauppatori square. My apartment is a five-minute walk from here.
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