Munkkiniemi manor is one of the surviving culturally significant manors punctuating the Helsinki landscape
The oldest part of the manor was built in 1815 according to the plans of Pehr Granstedt. The house was expanded with wings in the 1830s by A.F. Granstedt, and at the end of the 19th century, a portico and a glass porch were added. In the 1920s, the building was divided into several apartments and numerous changes were made to the facade of the house. Later, the house fell into disrepair and was under threat of being demolished. The manor came under the ownership of Kone Oyj in the 1960s and the building was renovated for office use to become the company’s headquarters. After the 1980s, the building has undergone some spatial changes and renovations of the outside envelope.
By the mid 2010’s spatial requirements and deteriorating fittings resulted in a plan for a new renovation. The main spaces were conserved with minor structural changes and a color scheme based on found examples was applied. New working spaces were cleared into the attic and basement of disused apartments. An elevator was added to accommodate accessibility between office floors. Innovative technical fittings planned by Granlund were applied with emphasis on previous routes to preserve original structures. Parts of ceramic stoves previously removed from the building were retrieved and the stoves were reconstructed and refitted into the building by mason Markku Rintala.
The glazed wooden porch had suffered extensive structural damage after the 1960’s renovation. However, with careful study, pieces of original interior finishes in wood were found and with research of measured and documented archival evidence, a reconstruction of the original state was decided with the Finnish Heritage Agency. A special effort by conservation specialist Arja Sorriresulted in an interior with
Special effort was placed to remediate the relationship of the building to the partly lost landscape garden. The imposing dark stone base exposed by later excavations was remedied with a researched planting scheme and the wings were fitted with a green roof for a spatial connection to green surroundings on the upper floors.
The building is protected by the Building Protection Act, concerning the building and the surrounding park.
Facts
| Location | Helsinki |
| Scope | 1 565 brm2 |
| Client | KONE Oyj |
| Year | 2015 |
