The official opening ceremony of Kilden was held on the 6th of January in Kristiansand, Norway.

The full concert hall, along with the Crown Prince Haakon, witnessed a wide array of great performances ranging from opera to symphonic music, from musicals to puppet theatre.

We wish the users and the audience of Kilden good times and the best of success in the future! 

Kilden will be exhibited as one of the recent Finnish architectural achievements abroad in the Museum of Finnish Architecture exhibition Seven Connections, 11.1.-26.2.2012.

Opening ceremony on 10.1.2012 at 6 pm.

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Seven Connections
A window on contemporary Finnish architecture

Taking a fresh visual approach, the exhibition is built around a video installation showcasing Finnish contemporary architecture on three giant TV screens. The idea is to bring inanimate buildings to life without any complicated explanatory texts or floor plans.

Kilden has been awarded the Steel Structure of the Year prize by the Finnish Steel Structure Association. ALA design team was presented with the prestigious award at the 40th anniversary gala dinner of the association in Helsinki.

The jury praised the dramatic architectural expression of the building, which is based on innovative use of steel structures. The foyer cantilever displays the potential of steel in contemporary architecture, and the different halls are also advanced steel structures with long spans. The jury concludes: "Underneath the curving wooden wall there lies a heart of steel -delivered by the Finnish steel manufacturer Ruukki."

ALA and developer Harry Harkimo unveiled "Leijonatorni", their venture for a new 30-plus storey tower in Helsinki. The project is a combined apartment-, office-, and sports center -complex. ALA, joined by engineers from Arup, have been working through 2011 on the design for this 150M€ project that would be the tallest building in Helsinki yet.

The project is a 50.000 square meter development with a landmark tower and a lower podium part containing the sports center. The tower consists of office program in the lower floors, within a compact facade envelope. The amount of exterior wall surface increases towards the highest floors of the tower, resulting to maximum daylight and views for the housing program.

Named after the Finnish ice-hockey national team, Leijonatorni is an infill building with substancial ideas on how to improve sustainability of its site. The project location is Pasila, the planned high-rise center of Helsinki. The procedures for adjusting the city plan for the project are ongoing, with scheduled completion next year. The initial goal is to start construction in 2013 with completion due before the end of 2015.

Kilden was handed over to the user organisations on Monday the 10th of October with a first ever event with an audience in the concert hall. The event was attended by people involved in the process through the years, and contained many emotional moments. Spectacular sunset made it all even more special. The official opening will be held on the 6th of January 2012.

ALA and local partner SMS arkitekter are honoured to receive the 2011 Norwegian Concrete Element Award for Kilden (the theater and concert hall in Kristiansand). The prize is given by the Association of Norwegian Architects (NAL) together with the Association of Consultants (RIF) and the Concrete Association for beautiful and exciting concrete solutions.

The jury describes the dark tinted fiber concrete walls in the concert hall as: "...an acoustic instrument as well as a part of the hall's architectural signature. The precise and dramatic wall elements contribute to the room's varying function as a quiet intimate hall that can be turned into a dramatic huge volume.” And furthermore: “…elements are dark pigmented and interact with the building's overall architectural concept, where the faceting exterior cladding provides a clear reference to the internal concrete elements. The relationship between the building, the channel and the harbor is filled with suspense."

Kilden will be opened to public in January 2012.

(Photo from construction phase)

ALA wins an honorary mention in the Hyvinkää Community House ( korttelitalo ) competition.

More.

ALA wins the Tampere Glass Pavilion competition jointly organized by the City of Tampere, Finnpark, Glass Performance Days / Glaston and Tampere University of Technology.  The starting point for the competition was to examine the extensive applications of glass on the basis of the newest technological solutions.

We decided to study what could benefit the city whilst using the best qualities of glass.

What could one want to meet here in the winter, after ploughing through the Hämeenkatu shops, reaching the impenetrable darkness of Tammerkoski? What could create additional value to a perfect spring afternoon spent in Koskipuisto?

We propose to plant a Magnolia tree, protected by an intelligent glass dome using the best and most natural qualities of glass: amourphous forms, tranparency, reflection and refraction.

More.

Our Loft G project is continuing its tour with Finnish Architecture 0809 at Maison de l'architecture de Poitou-Charentes  between 1.9.–27.10.2011 and then at FUGA, the Budapest Centre of Architecture between 28.10.–15.11.2011.

The Kilden 2nd floor foyer art installation "Coronium" by Claire Obussier and Vong Phaophanit was completed today.

Juho will give a lecture on the structural challenges of Kilden from an architectural perspective at the Main Auditorium of AHO in Oslo on thursday 24th at 1pm. Janne will speak on friday 25th in Trieste at the Museo Revoltella at 5.30pm.

Cloud City -project is exhibited from 1.3. to 19.3.2011 in the Laituri gallery in Helsinki. Laituri will also host a discussion concerning the project on Wednesday March 9th at 6–8pm.

Upon it's publication last week, ALA's Could City -project gained a lot of attention and stirred public discussion about the future of downtown Helsinki. The exhibition gives the public a chance to get to know the proposal in more detail.

Laituri is the City Planning Department's meeting place on Narinkka Square at Kamppi (old Helsinki bus station).

Renewed ALA website, fresh projects, updated graphics & More can now be found at our new domain: www.ala.fi

Please update your bookmarks / contact info and keep coming back!

Thanks go to Kokoro&Moi and Grok IT for their help!

Un'onda plastica by Mario Pisani

www.arcadata.com

Kilden

ALA itakes part in the Lisbon Architecture triennale 2010: "Let's Talk About Houses". The exhibition "Between North and South" is curated by sir Peter Cook of England and it features 8 architectural practises from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The exhibition is open in Museu Colecção Berardo in Lisbon until 16.1.2011.

www.trienaldelisboa.com

Some of our Helsinki projects are on display in the Helsinki Horizon 2030 exhibition initiated by the Helsinki City Planning Department.

The exhibition will be on display at Laituri in Helsinki until September, as well as in the London Festival of Architecture, International Showcase.

ALA's entry wins honorary mention in the architecture competition for a new cultural center "Bok- og Blueshus" in Notodden, Norway.

www.arkitektur.no

Blueshouse Notodden

The Loft G project is featured in the biennial of best Finnish architecture. The exhibition is open until 26.9.2010 in the Museum of Finnish Architecture.

www.mfa.fi

Loft Apartment

Helsinki City Planning Board has approved the plan for the Hanasaari area.

The plans consist of approx. 1200 housing units in the instant vicinity of the center of Helsinki. Before construction can start the space problems of the Helsinki energy company (now occupying the site) need to be solved.

Hanasaari Residental Area

Topping-out of Kilden took place on site with performances by future users of the building. Facade installations started on the same day. Installation of wooden curved wall will begin during summer.

www.kilden.com

Kilden

Our designs in the pedestrian centre of Kokkola, Finland are gradually being implemented. The performance stage and canopy were opened recently. Surface material upgrade and lighting fixtures are still awaited.

Kokkola Pedestrian Centre

The Newly Drawn exhibition opens in Madrid's Matadero Centre (Paseo de la Chopera 14).
Open until January 10th 2010!

www.newlydrawn.fi

Newly Drawn is an exhibition project aiming to present contemporary Finnish architecture to a wider international audience. After premiering in Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki in September the show will start its tours abroad.

www.newlydrawn.fi

HRH Crown Princess of Norway, Mette Marit, laid the foundation stone for the Performing Arts Center Kilden in a solemn ceremony held on site. See photos at

www.kilden.com

Kilden

Loft G apartment in Helsinki completed and featured in the Finnish Architectural review.

www.ark.fi

Three of our projects are exhibited in "FINN_topo - Topological Architecture Insipred by Finnish Nature and New Technology". The exhibition is on display in Artek Esplanadi Store in Helsinki from March 17 - April 2.

www.artek.fi

See ALA's Loft G in Helsinki published in the Project Baltia -magazine.

ALA is appointed to design stations for a new extension of the Helsinki metro towards west and the city of Espoo. The stations in Keilaniemi and Otaniemi are to be collaborations by ALA and Esa Piironen architects.

Subway Stations in Keilaniemi and Otaniemi

Five offices alongside ALA are invited to compete for the new building for Finnish embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo Embassy

ALA's entry is awarded an honourable mention in international competition for a new theatre in Sundsvall, SWE.

Sundsvall Theatre

ALA's design is chosen as basis for development in project competition for Suurpelto III area in Espoo, Finland. The project will be a housing area of about 40.000m² with various house typologies, ecological aspects and a progressive traffical solution. Design is being taken further in collaboration with Skanska.

Suurpelto III

ALA is one of the 20 international firms prequalified for the architecture competition for a new "Munch -museum and Stenersen -museum" -building complex in Oslo.
The future project will be occupy a central spot in the Norwegian capital on the Oslo fjord -waterfront. Neighbouring the renowned New Opera the building will be inhabited by the prominent collections of two museums: the Munch Museum and the Stenersen Museum.

www.haveiendom.no

www.munch.museum.no

www.stenersen.museum.no

Start Helsinki, the official sports team of ALA, won bronze medals at the first ever Leet -tournament Helsinki Cup on the 6th and 7th of September. Please visit www.playleet.com for details.

The main tenders for "Kilden" - The Performing Arts Center in Kristiansand have been accepted during the summer and the project is proceeding to working drawing phase. The construction of the main building will begin in 2009. Grand opening is now scheduled for 2011.
On site the infrastructure and foundation works, as well as the body of the parking facility are nearly completed.

www.kilden.com

Sitecam in Kilden webpage

Kilden

ALA and the design for the Sami Parliament in Kiruna/Sweden are in a book by Spanish publishers LaTinta.

www.latinta.net

The New Building for the Sami Parliament

Ark - the Fnnish Architecture Review presents the South Harbour plans in their issue 2/2008.

www.ark.fi

South Harbour Masterplan

ALA is selected to invited competition for the new headquarters of UPM Kymmene, a Finnish forest product giant. Five architecture practises compete for the building, which will be the first in a future row of office blocks in the central area of Töölönlahti in Helsinki.

Multinational Corporate Headquarters

ALA is one of the eight international architecture offices shortlisted to second stage in the architecture competition for a new performance hall in Granada, Spain. The design will be a collaboration between ALA, Arup (acoustics and engineeering) and TPC (stage engineering).

Granada Grand Hall

The project for the Helsinki South Harbor Masterplan is revealed.
Commissioned by the City of Helsinki, ALA was responsible for the masterplan of the most prestigious waterfront in Helsinki.
Main attractions of the plan include an Aquarium design by ALA and hotel designs by the Swiss Herzog&deMeuron and Sanaksenaho Architects.

South Harbour Masterplan

The Hanasaari -project is in the new Forum AID -magazine.

www.forumaid.com

Hanasaari Residental Area