Mäntyniemi, the Residence of the President of Finland
When the former President of Finland Urho Kekkonen resigned in 1981 due to illness, his residence Tamminiemi was set aside for him. In 1983, the Finnish Government bought a 2.8-hectare land plot in Helsinki's Meilahti District. The plot was named Mäntyniemi, which is Finnish for "Pine Point."
The Government announced a competition for the design of the residence, which was won by the husband-and-wife architects, Raili and Reima Pietila. Construction works began in September 1989, and in 1993, the building was completed. Initially, 2.5 million euros were to be spent on the construction, but the real expenses amounted to 35.3 million.
The site includes three buildings: the residence, a gatehouse and an outbuilding. The residence comprises apartments (680 square metres), reception rooms (916 square metres), and offices (424 square metres).
The main building has 212 exterior corners, 300 windows of various shapes, 190 doors (180 of them different). Finnish granite, glass and copper plates were used to decorate the façade. Inside walls are made of granite and concrete and are covered with birch veneer. When designing the interior, authors tried to create a harmonious entity; all furniture, textiles, and tableware were designed exclusively for Mäntyniemi.
