Opus Architecture & Simon Mahringer have just been awarded first prize in an open competition for the new museum and science center in Oulu, Finland. The competition was held in 2022, and the winners were announced on January 12th, 2023, chosen from a total of 95 proposals. The building is situated in the coastal city of Oulu, right at the center of the Myllytulli area, where the current science center Tietomaa is located. The new proposal will house the current science center and the facilities of the Oulu Art Museum.
The new building will be an extension of the existing historic power station, joined to form a new museum and a science center. The building is situated in the coastal city of Oulu, right at the center of the Myllytulli area. The building will host exhibition spaces, event spaces, a restaurant, a workshop, and office spaces for all employees and the public. The newly introduced program will occupy both the existing power station as well as the newly built extension.
Centered around the historic building, the design ensures it blends in with the surrounding urban fabric rather than standing out as a monument. The new building takes into account the existing housing blocks around the site and the current entry points to the site. The past is integrated into the future through the program, use, circulation, and architectural gestures. The project is a representation of embracing the past in real-time, reconnecting it as part of a new whole, and adding to the layering of everyday life.
The two-building extension is joined to the power station through a loggia or outdoor gallery. This architectural feature is made to synchronize the two buildings in totality. A new tower will be built to anchor the two buildings and ease the shift between the new and the old. This gives the viewer freedom to circulate between the historic building and the two new enclosures. These extensions are brick volumes that contain the main exhibition spaces that can change according to the program's needs.
As a community center in the heart of the city, the design aims to pull the past into the present. The existing power station is not only admired but becomes an integral part of a new whole that is in use daily. The building aims to learn, grow, and extend through a reverence of the past. The building is set to be completed in the summer of 2026, making Oulu the cultural capital of the country.
There is an impactful effort in Finland, backed by the Finish Association of Architects, towards preserving the unique architectural heritage of the country. The most recent re-use example is Alvar Aalto’s silos, meant to be transformed into a research center encouraging architectural conservation. Similarly, the famous Rock Church of Helsinki is a modernist church built into solid stone and embedded right into the landscape. These are just some examples of the many efforts to preserve and re-activate the very fabric and heritage of the country.
