The Pitkäsilta Bridge (Long Bridge) in Helsinki has separated the working-class area from the wealthy townspeople for decades. Times have changed, but no original or trendy hotels have emerged north of the bridge. This is why the Paasitorni Hotel is a welcome innovation. The renovation of the historic administrative building in the spirit of Northern Art Nouveau (1908, architect Karl Lindahl) was done very elegantly, and the facade of this old granite "fortress" did not undergo any changes at all. The new part of the hotel and the convention center located below ground level overlook the courtyard.
This courtyard, previously used for household purposes, has now been expanded to become the core of the hotel complex. There are windows in the ceilings of the underground tier, designed as "light reservoirs".
The new body, reminiscent of a "snow lantern" - a candle placed inside a "lampshade" molded from snowballs - looks most effective at dusk. Its façade is covered with an openwork screen made of ivory brick specially created for this project. In each individual brick, two oval holes are made from the ends for fastening the steel frame that supports this wall, and its front surface is lined with profiles. The organic form of the new building blends well with the clear volumes of the old parts of the Paasitorni complex (Art Nouveau buildings and buildings from the middle of the last century).
The spaces of the new part of the conference center are expertly designed and do not spoil the underground location. It has three halls, the largest of which is designed for 300 spectators.
Hotel guests can choose from three types of rooms (the K2S bureau did not deal with them, this is the work of interior designers from Sweden Stylt Trampoli Ab): small, cozy rooms overlooking the park (1950s building and the corresponding design theme), spacious family apartments with “circus "theme of decoration in the oldest building (1920s), or" actual "numbers for business travelers in the modern part (21st century).
