Cafe Birgitta

Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo

CAFE BIRGITTA

Talli Architecture And Design

PHOTOGRAPHS
Tuomas Uusiheimo

CATAGORY
Coffee Shop

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Insinööritoimisto Matti Haapala Oy, Matti Haapala

AREA
158 m²

ARCHITECTS IN CHARGE
Minna Lukander, Jari Heikkinen

LOCATION
Helsinki, Finland

COLLABORATORS
Pia Ilonen, Karoliina Hoppu, Martti Lukander, Lassi Heikkinen

YEAR
2014

In 2011 Helsinki City property committee decided to look for a new concept and architectural look for the cafe that was to be built in Pyhä Birgitta Park.

The concept "Active Park " came out on top. Architecturally sculptural design was to be a forerunner for the spirit in which the area is to be built further.

Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo
Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo

STRUCTURES, MATERIALS, ARCHITECTURAL DECISIONS.

The building is at crossroads in an open landscape, where it needs to assert its role and be active in every direction: it has no front or back.

It is transparent and accessible to a point of a comfortable thoroughfare. The building shelters from wind and rain and, no less importantly, provide a magnificent frame for the memorable view from this particular site.

Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo
Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo

The building complex is made up of three log-framed structures of various heights, laid out in almost a propeller-shape.

Between the blocks is a covered space with glass partitions to two sides. One of the blocks houses the kitchen and sales counter, the second the facilities for the toilets and maintenance, and the third is a "lounge" with a fireplace - the heated area.

Building material is wood from Honkarakenne, which is not susceptible to changes in size due to its curing- and building technique. Wood-framed cantilevers cover the central space, hung together with steel wires and propped on one steel column.

Laminated timber beams support glass plates in the wood-framed cantilevers. Sliding glass elements, suspended from the ceilings, make it possible to close the central space and provide shelter from the wind. The fireplace stands in the middle.

Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo
Cafe Birgitta
© Tuomas Uusiheimo


The outside of the building is made of 50x50 mm laminated wood elements with a scorched surface. The insides are of untreated wood. The terrace is of larch.

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

Insulation and ventilation solutions are based on the fact that the building is only open for some of the year: it is small and only partly heated and does not need to meet full standard requirements.


Cafe Birgitta
Site Plan
Cafe Birgitta
Floor Plan


Cafe Birgitta
Section AA
Cafe Birgitta
Section DD


Cafe Birgitta
Diagram 1
Cafe Birgitta
Diagram 2
Cafe Birgitta
Diagram 3
Cafe Birgitta
North-east Elevation
Cafe Birgitta
Detail