Helsinki 23: Alvar Aalto’s National Pensions Institute

During our 2023 trip to Helsinki, we were lucky enough to get a guided tour of the fantastic Alvar Aalto designed National Pensions Institute. Guided tours happen every Monday at 2pm. These are free, but you do have to book in advance. Our friends had planned ahead and booked us on the tour during our visit, which I was very pleased about.

For those that don’t know, Alvar Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer, who with his first wife, Aino Mandelin were pioneers of Scandinavian design and a huge influence on many Mid-century modern architects and designers.

Aalto’s fingerprints can be found on many buildings in Helsinki, from the Aalto House, Alvar and Aino’s home, to offices, residential buildings, events venues, shops and restaurants.

One of the original cubicles, there was floors full of these — One of the original cubicles, there used to be floors full of these

The main building of Finland’s National Pensions Institute (Kela) is a renowned architectural monument, which is recognised as one of Aalto’s finest works. The building still in use by Kela, with over 400 employees based there.

Indeed, our tour was led by one of those Kela employees, who does them in addition to her day job and was really informative and engaging. It was fascinating hearing about the history of the building and its architect, its construction and how it’s changed over the years.

Wonderful original light, and unusual heating panels on the ceiling that are still in use

Touring the building, there’s so many fantastic things to see, showing how much thought went into every detail, no matter how little, both inside and out. It still has many original features, like the wonderful leather door handles and handrails, light fixtures and furniture, the lovely undulating tiles in different colours, the unusual heating panels on the canteen ceiling and the paternoster lift, which wasn’t running, unfortunately.

It was great to see how much of the building has been preserved and lovingly restored, with our guide telling us about how the spaces are used day to day. Sadly though, the number of people in the building has dropped since COVID, largely due to remote working.

Very peaceful courtyard space, in between the main building, canteen and library

We really enjoyed the tour, well most of us, I’m not sure the kids were massively impressed! It’s something I’d definitely recommend, if you’re in Helsinki and it’s a Monday.