Fyyri – Kirkkonummi Library

Firm
  • area / size 50,590 sqft
  • Completed 2020
  • Location Kirkkonummi, Finland,
  • Type Library,
  • JKMM was tasked to bring modernity and a refreshed aesthetic to an existing concrete structure for Fyyri, a library located in Kirkkonummi, Finland.

    Fyyri is an adaptive reuse project built using the existing concrete structure of the original 1980s library.

    JKMMhas remodelled the 80s building, doubling its volume, and introducing a large variety of accommodation for community uses such as rooms for toddler group activities, youth clubs as well as exhibition areas and spaces for events and performances. The ground level café has a generous 198 m2 reading lounge dedicated to newspapers and periodicals.

    The reading rooms at Fyyri respect the Finnish Modernist tradition of libraries that ennoble the idea of books and learning through their highly crafted design and carefully detailed interiors.

    At Fyyri, the interiors include bespoke lighting with brass fittings that create warmth and also a sense of dignity that is in keeping with this building typology. Brass is also used by JKMM in the library’s new entrances and hand railings in a way that is inviting and intuitively leads visitors through the public areas. Today brass is, of course, all the more appreciated as a material for its inherently anti-bacterial properties but when designing the building JKMM wanted a finish that would contrast with the concrete surfaces that dominate the architecture.

    The main reading hall’s design is made up of rhythmic fairfaced concrete posts and beams. Indirect natural light filters through this column-like framework creating patterns that are similar to daylight rippling through a forest of trees. Overall, the building is inspired by its surrounding coastal landscape particularly in the tonality of its interiors.

    Fyyri represents a new generation of Finnish libraries which JKMM were active in shaping when they designed the studio’s first project, the competition winning Turku City Library, that opened in 2007. JKMM have since completed two major extensions to landmark libraries in Finland that were designed by Alvar Aalto.

    JKMM see this community function and non-commercial quality of Fyyri as integral to creating a civic foundation that is about solidarity and well-being for Kirkkonummi as it grows to accommodate more inhabitants including a new wave of Helsinki commuters. The fact that the interior design of Fyyri was considered an important part of the commission by the City of Kirkkonummi shows that the municipality understood that their residents will experience this remodelled library as a concrete expression of Finnish values.

    Architect: JKMM
    Photography: Marc Goodwin, Pauliina Salonen, Tuomas Uusheimo