Sibeliustalo

Stalls from the gods

Back in July we visited the Sibelius Concert Hall (completed 2000, Architectural Design: Arkkitehtityöhuone Artto Palo Rossi Tikka Oy / Hannu Tikka ja Kimmo Lintulain) in Lahti, while on our way to Kesälahti mökki. For those who haven't heard of Jean Sibelius he occupies a position in Finnish music composition in much the same way as Alvar Aalto overshadows architecture.  The building is really a composition of four parts (see the plans and more here ) with the refurbished carpentry factory being linked by the aptly named 'forest hall' foyer to the main auditorium 'box' and separate conference wing. The auditorium is an Artec acoustic design (like Birmingham), seemingly a timber box in a glass box, with large reverberation voids wrapping the intmate, hall.  Interestingly you actually walk through the voids to get into the auditorium.  Having worked on a few theatre/performance projects ourselves, it was particularly interesting to get a tour around the building and see (and hear) the amazing quality achieved here, particularly 10 years after the original competition was held.

As well as the lake and boats, you can also see the new and attractive Piano cafe through the massive glazing of the 'forest hall' - which we of course also had to try out too. Along with the new housing going up, the Sibelius Hall and Piano cafe are making this previously quiet corner of Lahti increasingly attractive and lively - which was part of the original reason for the project. As with so many projects like this it all hinged on politics, with the project being approved by just one vote by the city council; but now Lahti has a world class concert hall to honor a world class composer.