Aalto projects

Seinäjoki Church and Parish Centre was built based on architect Alvar Aalto’s 1951 competition proposal “Cross of the Plains”. The Parish Centre, completed in 1966, frames the square in front of the church’s main façade, the churchyard used for outdoor events. The parish centre complex is part of the Seinäjoki Administrative and Cultural Centre, designed by Aalto, which also includes the City Hall, the library, the theatre, and the city’s office building.

The parish centre’s one and two-storey wing buildings are white plastered and their granite-coated roof terraces form the gallery level of the “outdoor church”. An open staircase leads from the church square to the Citizens’ Square, which also separates the centre’s functionally different wings. The north side building has been in office use, the southern one contains facilities related to parish activities.

The first stage of alteration and renovation focused on the northern church wing of the parish centre. The premises were renovated into modern office spaces with respect for the original architecture. The renovation was very thorough: the bottom floor structure, partitions and the brick cladding inside the outer walls were completely renovated, as was the terrace structure that serves as a water cover. The ventilation, water and sewerage systems were renewed. Ventilation depreciation routes were taken directly to the roof, where two new inlets were made. The windows, which date back to the 1980s, were renovated to match the originals. Indoors, the lobby and hallway spaces have been implemented as originally intended, while the office spaces have minor changes.

alteration and renovation 2021–
principal and architectural design Mustonen Architects Ltd.
developer City of Seinäjoki