Finnish practice Virkkunen & Co has completed a sculptural series of electricity infrastructure in Imatra, Finland, which has been shortlisted in the business building category of Dezeen Awards 2021.
Comprising five pylons in white steel and a perforated brick substation, the collection of structures is dotted across a protected national landscape close to a historical hydropower plant in the Imatra Rapids.
The project includes a substation and pylons
The site was the starting point of Finland's main electricity grid in the 1920s, a fact that drove the Helsinki-based studio to create a unique series of structures intended to demonstrate how infrastructure can complement a natural setting.
"The new transmission structures seek balance with the surrounding built and natural landscape," explained Virkkunen & Co. "Except for one tall tower, they are lower in height than the surrounding treetops, and the lower floor of the substation is set underground to make the building as low as the nearest section of the old power plant."
An interior view of the substation
The substation building was constructed using brick on a concrete frame in reference to these old power plant buildings but laid in a distinctive zig-zag pattern, with the upper section perforated to create a porous lattice that allows light and air to pass through.
Inside this outer grey brick wall is a second skin of in-situ concrete walls, providing further protection and environmental cont...