BackCase Study
Silestone gives a fresh new look to an iconic hotel in Finland
Schauman Architects
Location
Turku, Finland
Material
Silestone
Color
Eternal Marquina, Eternal Noir, Eternal Calacatta Gold
Quantity
276 cut-to-size slabs
Architecture / Design
Schauman Architects
Application
countertops, tables
End date
2021
Thickness
12 mm, 20 mm
The third life of a historic hotel in Turku
The most famous and iconic hotel in Turku, Finland, has been built from scratch after dismantling the old building from the 1970s. This large scale project, managed by YIT construction company and designed by Schauman Architects, has resulted in a new, more energy efficient building equipped with modern technologies. But not all is gone. The new Scandic Hamburger Börs hotel retains the essence of the original building in its design. The oldest part of the hotel, protected by Finnish heritage legislation, has been restored, and the new building, built over the extension carried out in the 1970s, maintains a historical dialogue with it.
The hotel’s origins date back to 1894, when the Hamburger Bierhalle restaurant opened its doors. Back then the site was occupied by a two storey stone building dating from the 1830s. Later at the turn of the century it was renovated in an Art Nouveau style that still remains today. Known for her charisma and leadership, hotel founder Wallina Valtin bought the restaurant in 1898, while the hotel began operating in 1904. Valtin sold the Hamburger Börs hotel to the Turku Cooperative Society, who were in charge of the extension project carried out in the 1970s and which gave the hotel a second life. Modernisation of the building began in the late 2010s. At that time, the owner was the insurance company LocalTapiola. However, now it has been acquired by the Scandic hotel chain, which is giving this architectural icon a third life.
A project with a soul
The new building has been designed by Schauman Architects and preserves elements from the early 20th century. Its Más restaurant, located on the ground floor, is accessed through a reception area, a lounge and a spacious foyer. The heated winter garden by the restaurant and the open air terrace next to the rooftop bar complete the common areas. The hotel has 272 rooms and suites in total.
According to Janne Halin of the architecture studio, the project involved a dialogue between several different styles and the main challenge was to adapt the new building to its surrounding architecture. Combining the old with the contemporary while paying homage to the past has been the great challenge of the project.
Quality materials
Among the materials used in the renovation project, the architecture studio chose Silestone for the countertops and tables in the restaurant and the rooms. Eternal Marquina was the colour chosen for the bar counter, a colour that evokes the Nero Marquina marble, bringing elegance and depth to the space and rounding off the Spanish inspired design of this common area of the hotel. The tables in Eternal Noir, another dramatic shade, complete the atmosphere. Silestone surfaces are highly resistant to stains, scratches and are easy to maintain, which makes them the ideal material for spaces like this.
Charming rooms
The hotel’s cosy rooms feature an elegant interior design. From the luxurious suite with beautiful arched windows to the standard rooms, they all offer an atmosphere in which the hotel’s history and contemporary comforts come together. “The interior design of the rooms features a neo-Scandinavian style that uses warmer colours to create a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, replacing traditional styles based on light and simple colours”, says interior architect Jaakko Puro.
