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  • Puusauna - Photo Päivi Tuovinen
  • Puusauna - Photo Päivi Tuovinen
  • Puusauna - Photo Päivi Tuovinen
  • Puusauna - Photo Päivi Tuovinen
  • Puusauna - Photo Päivi Tuovinen
  • Puusauna - Photo Päivi Tuovinen

Puusauna

Photo credits: Päivi Tuovinen

Puusauna
(‘tree sauna’ or ‘wooden sauna’)
Location: Kaunissaari, Pyhtää, Finland
Completed: 2026
Size: 30 sqm
Main use: Sauna
Architect: Jaakko Torvinen
Structural engineer: Esa Aro-Heinilä
Wooden structures: Hirsityö Heikkilä Oy
Wooden roof structures design: Vivaret Oy
Roofing: Pläkkärit Oy
Electricity: Mika Sjögren
Local carpenter: Risto Tyni
Stove: Narvi (AK-110)
Chimneys: Jalotakka Oy and Härmä Air Oy
Furniture: .TEBIAN
Art: Toni R. Toivonen

Awards:
Wallpaper* Design Awards:
Life-Enhancer of the Year 2026

Media:
Dezeen 03/2026
Yle, Sunnuntaivieras 01/2026
Aalto.fi 01/2026
Finnish Design Info 01/2026
Wallpaper* 01/2026 (print and online)
Wallpaper* – Design Awards 2026 Shortlist

Puusauna is a loft sauna where bathing unfolds as a spatial ritual and a slow transition away from everyday life. Bathing takes place on an elevated bench platform, while washing happens below. At its core is a 110 cm diameter batch-fired stove, whose heating is an essential part of the experience and the ethos of slowness.

Alongside the sauna, the building includes a tea room that frames the beginning and end of the ritual, offering a space to slow down before and to settle afterward. Whole, charred tree trunks form the load-bearing structure and the colonnade of the terrace beneath a continuous canopy roof.

Scale shifts throughout the building, from a low and intimate entrance to an open, airy terrace and varied sauna spaces with views toward the birch forest and, from the upper level, the open sea. Puusauna is architecture where space, material, and use are inseparable.
As Wallpaper* puts it: “In Puusauna, functionality meets poetry in the most beguiling of ways.”

Puusauna on parvisauna, jossa saunakokemus rakentuu tilallisena rituaalina ja hitaana siirtymänä arjesta. Löylytellään ylhäällä laudetasanteella, lavolla, ja peseydytään sen alapuolella. Saunan sydän on 110 cm halkaisijainen kertalämmitteinen kiuas, jonka lämmittäminen on olennainen osa kokemusta ja “hidasta elämää” korostavaa käyttöä.

Rakennuksessa on saunan lisäksi teehuone, joka kehystää saunakokemuksen alun ja lopun – rauhoittumisen ennen saunaa ja hiljentymisen sen jälkeen. Kokonaiset, hiilletyt puunrungot muodostavat kantavan rakenteen ja terassin pilariston rakennusta kiertävän katoksen alla.

Mittakaava vaihtelee intiimistä avaraan koko rakennuksen läpi: matala sisääntulo, korkea ja ilmava terassi sekä saunan tilat, joissa näkymät avautuvat koivumetsään ja ylhäältä lavolta avoimelle merelle. Puusauna on arkkitehtuuria, jossa tila, materiaali ja käyttö kietoutuvat yhteen.
Tai kuten Wallpaper* kirjoittaa: “In Puusauna, functionality meets poetry in the most beguiling of ways.”

  • Site plan drawing of a property with a sauna, labeled as 30 square meters, located near a wooded area with trees and rocks, and a smaller circle labeled 'KAIVO' indicating a well.
  • Architectural floor plan of the first floor of a house, including a sauna, a fireplace, a tearoom, and a staircase, with surrounding outdoor landscape and trees.
  • Architectural floor plan of the second floor of a building with interior details, including a staircase, a bathroom, and a large room, with some exterior landscape features.
  • Architectural drawing of a lodge-style building with a sloped roof, large front porch supported by logs, and a dormer window on the roof. Details include metal roofing, timber slats, and a human figure on the porch for scale.
  • Architectural blueprint of a small wooden cabin, showing elevation and section views, with annotations of materials and measurements. Surrounding trees and landscape elements are depicted in the drawing.
  • Architectural section drawing of a house with trees in the background, showing interior levels, stairs, and a person sitting on a bench.
  • Architectural side section drawing of a modern house with trees on either side, showing interior details like furniture, stairs, and a chimney.
  • Modern building with an illuminated porch and snow-covered surroundings, clear evening sky.
  • Modern building with large glass windows and a flat roof, supported by wooden columns, in a snowy landscape during winter.
  • An abstract painting of a city sidewalk scene with leafless orange trees, street lamps, and a glass building on the left reflecting the trees and the sky, with a person walking along the sidewalk.
  • Modern building with large reflective glass windows, wooden deck, and decorative tree-like wooden support pole, surrounded by greenery.
  • Spacious indoor venue with large windows, wooden floor, numerous white and black chairs and tables, tree-like wooden support columns, modern lighting, with a person sitting by the window and snowy cityscape outside.
  • Public restroom with four stalls, each with a different color tile background: green, yellow, beige, and light brown, with black partitions.
  • A modern wooden building with a covered balcony or walkway, featuring vertical logs as support columns and large glass windows, overlooking water and trees.

Pikku-Finlandia

Photo credits: Mikael Linden, Kimmo Räisänen, Tuomas Uusheimo

Pikku-Finlandia
(‘Little Finlandia’)‍ ‍
Location: Helsinki
Use: Finlandia Hall’s temporary event venue
Completion: 2022
Floor area: 2 675 m2
Total area: 2 720 m2
Volume: 15 450 m3
Architects: Jaakko Torvinen, Havu Järvelä and Elli Wendelin in collaboration with Pekka Heikkinen and Architects NRT
Main contractor: FM-Haus Oy, contractors architect Arkitekturum Oy
Structural design | Insinööritoimisto Asko Keronen
Acoustic design | Akukon Oy / Olli Salmensaari
Fire safety design | L2 Paloturvallisuus Oy / Sini Kallio
HVAC design | Granlund Oy / Niina Erkkilä, Joel Virtanen
Electrical design | Granlund Oy / Topi Volama, Juhani Mikkonen
Wood component supplier | Wood component supplier | Pine pillars: Timberpoint Oy, CLT elements: Crosslam Oy

Awards:

EU Mies Awards 2024 –Nominee
Aalto University – Education Impact Award 2023
Aalto ARTS - Artistic Activity Award 2023
Architizer A+Awards 2023 – Finalist
Finnish Wood Architecture Awards 2023 - Honorable Mention
Finnish Wood Architecture Awards 2023 - Audience choise
RIL-awards 2023 – Finalist

Media:
RIBAJ 05/2025
AD Magazine 05/2023
ELLE Decor Japan, 05/2023
BBC 11/2022
Wallpaper* Magazine 10/2022
Dezeen 08/2022
Signature Japan, 06/2022
Puu / Finnish Wood Magazine 05/2022
Prointerior 05/2022
ARK / Finnish Architecture Magazine 03/2022
Helsingin Sanomat 03/2022
Projektiuutiset 03/2022
Yle 02/2022

Pikku-Finlandia (“Little Finlandia”) is a temporary wooden event building in central Helsinki, built to replace Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall during its 2022–2025 renovation. Its defining feature is a grid of 95 whole, unprocessed pine trunks used as load-bearing columns, creating a forest-like atmosphere. The 2720 m² modular building—housing flexible halls, a gallery, and café—is designed for disassembly and relocation.

The project began as a 2019 Aalto University design studio, where 18 students developed proposals; the winning concept, “Finlandia Forest,” by Jaakko Torvinen, was selected for realization. In the second phase, Havu Järvelä, Elli Wendelin, and Stine Skott-Pedersen joined the team. Torvinen, Järvelä, and Wendelin continued as architects in collaboration with Pekka Heikkinen and Architects NRT. Parallel research in the Aalto Wood Program—including the “Katve” pavilion—supported the upscaling of whole-tree construction.

The structure combines whole pine columns with prefabricated timber modules using CLT, LVL roof elements, and glulam beams. Trees were individually selected from Southern Finnish forests, retaining natural geometry and branches to minimize processing. Designed for circular use, the building can be disassembled, relocated, and repurposed (e.g., as a school or daycare), while functioning as a long-term carbon store.

Pikku-Finlandia on Helsingin keskustassa sijaitseva väliaikainen puurakenteinen tapahtumakeskus, joka toteutettiin korvaamaan Finlandia-talo peruskorjauksen ajaksi 2022–2025. Rakennuksen keskeinen tunnuspiirre on 95 kokonaisesta, käsittelemättömästä männynrungosta muodostuva kantavien pilarien ruudukko, joka luo tilaan metsämäisen tunnelman. Pikku-Finlandia on 2720 m² muuntojoustava rakennus sisältäen saleja, gallerian ja kahvilan, ja se on suunniteltu purettavaksi ja siirrettäväksi.

Hanke sai alkunsa Aalto-yliopiston arkkitehtuurin laitoksen suunnittelustudiosta vuonna 2019, jossa 18 opiskelijaa laati ehdotuksia rakennuksesta. Toteutukseen valittiin Jaakko Torvisen ehdotus “Finlandia Forest”. Kilpailun toisen vaiheen tiimi oli Torvisen lisäksi Havu Järvelä, Elli Wendelin ja Stine Skott-Pedersen. Torvinen, Järvelä ja Wendelin jatkoivat hankkeessa arkkitehteina yhteistyössä Pekka Heikkisen ja Arkkitehdit NRT:n kanssa. Samanaikaisesti toteutettiin tutkimusprojekti Aalto Wood Programissa: “Katve”-paviljonki, millä tutkittiin kokopuiden käyttöä rakentamisessa.

Rakenteessa yhdistyvät kokonaiset mäntypilarit ja esivalmistetut puurakenteiset moduulit, joissa hyödynnetään CLT-levyjä, LVL-kattoelementtejä ja liimapalkkeja. Puut valittiin yksittäin Etelä-Suomen metsistä siten, että niiden luonnollinen muoto ja oksisto säilyivät, mikä minimoi jatkojalostuksen tarpeen. Rakennus on suunniteltu kiertotalouden periaatteiden mukaisesti: se voidaan purkaa, siirtää ja ottaa uudelleen käyttöön esimerkiksi kouluna tai päiväkotina, samalla toimien pitkäaikaisena hiilivarastona.

  • Architectural site plan of a building complex with labeled structures, roads, pathways, and landscaped areas, including Finlandia-Talo, Pikku-Finlandia, a museum, and surrounding park areas.
  • Architectural floor plan drawing of a single-story Pikku-Finlandia with surrounding landscaping, pathways, and outdoor features.
  • Architectural facade drawing of a Pikku-Finlandia with detailed notes and labels on materials and design features.
  • Architectural longitudinal section drawing of a Pikku-Finlandia with a sloped roof, showing interior layout with trees, people, and fixtures.
  • Architectural elevation drawing of a Pikku-Finlandia with a wooden exterior, glass facade, steel glass doors, and an exterior spiral staircase, with labeled materials and features.
  • Architectural cross section drawing of a Pikku-Finlandia with human figures for scale, trees, and structural details, labeled as a Finnish studio design.
  • Architectural drawing of a building section with detailed structural elements, walls, floors, and a tree illustration inside the Pikku-Finlandia.
  • Perspective illustration of Pikku-Finlandia exploded cross section.
  • Map of a Helsinki to show Pikku-Finlandia location marked with red.
  • A large, natural wooden sculpture standing indoors next to a table and curtains.

    Bundled Pillar

    Bundled Pillar is a research project in which curved beach logs were turned into a pillar by shaping them using digital machining methods and a 6-axis robot.

    Research team: Jaakko Torvinen, Jakob Sieder-Semlitsch, Niels Martin Larsen, Anders Aagaard & Matti Kuittinen

    Aalto University & Aarhus School of Architecture

  • Wooden outdoor structure with a lattice roof, supported by tree-trunk-like wooden columns, situated on concrete and wood platform, next to a sign indicating Aalto University.

    Katve

    Katve is a canopy with two pine tree columns. The trees were 3D-scanned and the joints were designed to be fabricated on an NC workstation.

    2019
    Wood Program
    Design and build project

    Designers: J. Torvinen, T. Bendjoia, A. Fung, E.Wendelin, G. Kuriwaki, C. Leiman, A. Minami, S. Pedersen, M. Schineis, I. Siponmaa and P. Åström

    Instructors: P. Heikkinen, P. Tidwell and L. Zubillaga.

  • Art installation made of carved and assembled tree branches and trunks, set against a black curtain background.

    Misfit Oak

    Misfit Oak is a research project in which a single oak tree was split into four sections using a 6-axis robot with a chainsaw, forming a self-supporting structure that was turned inside out.

    Research team: Jaakko Torvinen, Jakob Sieder-Semlitsch, Jens Pedersen, Anders Aagaard, Niels Martin Larsen & Matti Kuittinen

    Aalto University & Aarhus School of Architecture

  • Three black wooden sculptures resembling tree trunks in a gallery space with white walls and a ceiling with a light fixture.

    HIILENÄ

    Hiilenä Installation by Jaakko Torvinen 04/12/25 – 10/01/26

    Nomen Nescio Galleria

  • Art exhibit featuring three large trimmed logs laid out on the floor in a museum or gallery setting, with various small tables and photographs displayed on the wall in the background.

    The Wood: the Bad and the Ugly

    Misfit wood installation by Jaakko Torvinen 5/05/25 – 12/05/25

    AeRaTe

  • A wooden sculpture displayed in a museum exhibit with informational signage on the left and a small stand with an informational plaque on the right.

    Misfit Oak

    As invited artist, Jaakko Torvinen’s Misfit Oak installation is part of permanent Finlandia exhibition at Finlandia Hall

Photo by Kimmo Räisänen

Hei, olen Jaakko Torvinen, puurakentamiseen erikoistunut arkkitehti. Asun Helsingissä, mutta olen alun perin kotoisin lapista. Valmistuin Aalto-yliopistosta huippuarvosanoin, missä olen sittemmin opettanut puuarkkitehtuurin eri kursseilla ja tällä hetkellä teen väitöskirjaa. Diplomityöni oli Pikku-Finlandia, Finlandia-talon yhteyteen suunniteltu väliaikainen puinen kongressirakennus, jonka toteutin yhdessä opiskelutovereideni kanssa. Yksi rakennuksen keskeisistä piirteistä on kokonaisina käytettyjen mäntyjen hyödyntäminen kantavina pilareina. Kahlatessani lumisessa metsässä valitsemassa sinne puita tiesin valinneeni oikean ammatin.

Ennen arkkitehtiopintojani työskentelin useilla eri aloilla, muun muassa kiinteistöalalla ja levy-yhtiön myyntipäällikkönä. Monipuolinen ammatillinen taustani on antanut minulle laaja-alaisen näkökulman suunnitteluun. Valitsin arkkitehdin ammatin, koska halusin luovan työn, jonka kautta voin vaikuttaa maailmaan myönteisellä tavalla.

Työni on saanut kansainvälistä tunnustusta. Minut nimettiin Wallpaper* Next Generation -arkkitehdiksi vuonna 2022, olin EU Mies Awards Young Talent -finalisti vuonna 2023 ja voitin Wallpaper* Design Awards: Life-Enhancer 2026 -palkinnon suunnittelemallani Puusaunalla.

Hi, I’m Jaakko Torvinen, an architect specializing in wood construction. I live in Helsinki, though I’m originally from Lapland. I graduated from Aalto University with top grades, where I have after graduation taught on various wood architecture courses and am currently working on my PhD. My master’s thesis was Pikku-Finlandia, a temporary wooden conference building for Finlandia Hall, designed together with my fellow students. One of its defining features is the use of whole pine trees as load-bearing columns. Wading through the snowy forest to select those trees, I knew I had chosen the right profession.

Before studying architecture, I worked in a variety of fields, including real estate, record label sales management, and computer installation. This diverse professional background has given me a broad perspective on design. I chose to become an architect because I wanted a creative profession through which I could make a positive impact on the world.

My work has been recognized internationally. I was named a Wallpaper* Next Generation architect in 2022, was a finalist for the EU Mies Awards Young Talent in 2023, and won the Wallpaper* Design Awards: Life-Enhancer 2026for my Puusauna design.

Work & Fees

I specialize in contemporary wooden architecture, with a focus on minimally processed timber, structural expression, and circular design strategies.
For project inquiries or collaborations, feel free to get in touch.

Indicative Fees

  • Architectural design for a timber-framed sauna building
    → starting from €7,000

  • Architectural design for a wooden single-family house
    → starting from €10,000

  • Consulting on special wood structures
    → €95 / hour

  • Consulting on design for disassembly
    → €95 / hour

  • Lectures and talks
    → starting from €300