Shimmering, multi-tonal copper clads the entire exterior of this chapel in Finland, designed by architecture firm OOPEAA.
Located in Espoo, a city just west of Helsinki, the Suvela Chapel was designed by OOPEAA principal Anssi Lassila to provide a hub for the neighbourhood, as a venue for both religious and community events.

Copper panels clad all of the exterior walls, as well as a large roof that angles up to match the height of surrounding buildings.
Lassila felt that using a single material for the entire exterior would help to unite the building's various functions, while also offering a sense of warmth. He chose copper, in part because of its sustainable credentials.

"It is both durable and recyclable, easy to maintain and therefore sustainable," he explained. "It also ages well and acquires a beautiful patina over time allowing the age of the building to show." "In that way, signs of time and age are visible in the face of the building and thus contribute to a sense of the building being 'alive'. It is not mute or sterile, on the contrary, it has character and there is a sense of warmth to the building," he added.

By contrast, wood dominates inside the building, paying tribute to Finland's timber-building heritage. Walls and the underside of the roof are covered in spruce panels, which are textured with ridges to improve acoustics.
Lassila described the result as a "warm and peaceful atmosphere".

The layout of...