Round House

This morning, we had to go to the Round House in order to get some travel vaccinations before our upcoming trip.

According to a rather good leaflet of urban walks available on the Visit Helsinki website (pdf): "The “round house” (Ympyrätalo) on the northern edge of the market square was completed in 1968 and once housed KOP Bank (later Nordea). The building became the most famous work of architects Heikki and Kaija Sirén. The diameter of the building is 76 metres. The building was fully renovated in 2004 according to the design of Jukka Sirén, son of Heikki and Kaija. The glass-enclosed ground floor in the courtyard adds space and light. Outside the entrance to the Round House facing Hakaniemi Market is a statue entitled “The Symbol” that was sculpted by Hannu Sirén, the second son of Heikki and Kaija, and unveiled in 1985. The diameter of the completely spherical steel ball is three metres."

Someone else blipped the sphere. And these features for letting light into the ground floor reminded me of the Porthania dalek heads.

Afterwards, we popped into the market hall at Hakaniemi to pick up some supplies, before going our separate ways. I had an interesting lunch with a local colleague who is exceptionally knowledgeable about all manner of things, including the architecture of Senate Square.

It's been a rather productive day.