Metla Haapastensyrjä Breeding Station Office and Laboratory Building

This narrow, rectangular building with its pitched roof looks rather like a traditional Finnish farmhouse. The three spaces arranged in a line, one after another, and the sloping ceiling, make the interior look like a modern interpretation of the traditional farmhouse.

The central space is a foyer which fulfils the functions of entrance hall, library and café, while part of it can be partitioned off to form a quiet lecture hall or conference room. The open-plan offices on each side of the foyer look out towards the south and a park-like copse. To the northern side of each of the open-plan office areas is a spruce-walled block of rooms housing laboratories downstairs and plant rooms upstairs. At the extreme end of each of the open-plan office areas there is a small block of offices clad in alder.

The new building is located at the edge of the breeding station on a slope which rises towards a larch forest. The building was constructed by breeding station staff using wood from the station’s own forests.

A dozen different species of timber were used in the building, mainly spruce, pine, birch and alder. Inside the building, the wooden surfaces are either waxed or left untreated, while externally the surfaces are treated with a translucent finish.