New museum concept for Satakunta Museum

The proposal’s main objective is to renew the existing 1960s museum, dedicating the entire building to exhibitions, and to construct a separate extension focused on supporting the exhibitions. In addition, the extension acts as an exhibition laboratory, open to the public. The massing of the extension considers the scale and valuable nature of the existing building stock in the very centre of Pori. Both the massing and materiality reflect the same design ideas as the existing museum: accessible and open ground level contrasted with solid and enclosed upper levels.

Cityscape
The rational and minimal appearance of the existing museum building is preserved and enhanced through specific interventions. To enliven and create a more public street façade, large windows are introduced on the Hallituskatu and the riverside, and new public functions such as the library and temporary exhibitions are located on the ground floor. The existing staircase leading to the river is replaced with a wooden landscape stair that provides a resting place and attracts visitors from the riverside. 

The new quarter, comprising of the existing Satakunta Museum, the Museum’s new archive building, and Hotel Otava building, features an arrangement of urban spaces that improve connections within the area, from Nortamo Park to the riverside. The cycling and walking routes are developed further to strengthen connections between the centre, museum and the waterfront.

Makasiini- Archive Building
The museum consists of,  not only exhibition spaces, but also support functions, which are not visible to the public. The new archive building focuses on revealing the background processes of the museum in a variety of ways. The building consists of four storeys, in which each floor offers a different peek into the behind-the-scenes activities of the museum. The storage, conservation and maintenance facilities are centralised in the new extension.

Museo- Satakunta Museum Building
The existing Satakunta Museum building will be transformed into exhibition spaces and other public functions. The plan seeks to preserve and restore the architectural features of the existing museum building while improving the usability of the building. The aim is to retain the most important features of the existing building as well as upgrade it to meet the needs of a modern museum.

The spaces on the entrance floor are clarified and reorganized, restoring them in part, to its original appearance. On the entrance floor, changes will be made to the café, lobby and administrative areas, which will be transferred to Hotel Otava. The Museum library expands to replace the existing offices, and new glass walls help open it to the main street and create a visual connection to the Makasiini. The building will also house the main lecture hall and meeting rooms, which will be open to the public.

The most significant changes occur in the basement. With the relocation of the storage, conservation and maintenance facilities to Makasiini, the basement will be remodeled to accommodate mainly exhibition and public functions. The concentration of the museum’s service spaces in the extension simplifies the logistics of the museum complex. Service access and maintenance are concentrated in one area on Valtakatu.

Materials and structural system
Given its location in the Kivi-Pori (“Stone Pori”) area, long-lasting and low maintenance natural stone has been chosen as the façade material for both the Makasiini and the existing Satakunta Museum. Both buildings are clad with the same type of stone to visually connect the buildings. The existing 1960’s museum building is architecturally inward-looking, while the extension represents modern museum ideals, which include a permeable ground floor with openable glass walls, which connects to the surrounding urban space.

Makasiini’s cost-effective structural system enables flexible spaces and creates a unique architectural identity. The concrete structure and technical boxes on the first floor, together with the solid grid structure above allow for open and changeable spaces. The structure of the archive and storage rooms above consist of a wooden lattice perimeter supported by a grid structure, with integrated technical systems. The beam is stiffened by CLT slabs on which a concrete floor is cast. Together, these allow for load transfers over larger spans.