The Finnish National Theatre, the oldest Finnish-speaking professional theatre in Finland and an integral part of the cultural life of Helsinki centre, will undergo an extensive upgrade of the theatre’s backstage areas to accommodate future operations. The 1930s addition originally designed as a temporary storage building will be converted into modern production facilities.

The theatre’s second phase refurbishment includes the renewal of the backstage technical installations and building services as well as the restoration of the 1954 DOCOMOMO listed Small Stage building. In the process the theatre will get a new tile façade, new backstage and working facilities, costume studios, and a new theatre hall called “Taivassali” (The Sky Stage). At the northern end of the theatre block a new café called “Willensauna” opens up the ground floor towards Kaisaniemi Park.

The functional objectives of the design enable different halls to operate simultaneously and improve the internal logistics by facilitating differences in floor levels between the existing stages.

The aim of the renovation is to take into account the future needs of the theater while respecting the current cityscape.