ALA Architects specializes in demanding public and cultural buildings, terminal design and modernist renovation projects. The Helsinki–based firm was founded in 2005 by four young architects; Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston after having won 1st prize in the open international design competition for the new theater and concert hall, Kilden Performing Arts Centre, in Kristiansand, Norway.
Today, ALA is run by Grönholm, Nousjoki and Woolston, and in addition to them employs an international team of over 40 architects, interior architects, designers, students and other staff members. The firm is committed to seeking fresh angles, flowing forms and surprising solutions on all levels of architecture. The designers challenge themselves to provide alternatives, develop prototypes and look for innovations. They trust in beauty achieved by combining the intuitive with the analytic, the practical with the extravagant, and the rational with the irrational.
ALA’s projects completed in recent years include Event Centre Satama in Kotka, the new departures and arrivals building of Helsinki Airport, three metro stations and a bus terminal in Espoo, Central Library Oodi and the Saukonlaituri parking facility in Helsinki, Courtyard Tampere City hotel in Tampere, and the renovation of the Finnish embassy in New Delhi. The firm is currently working on such projects as Lumière University Lyon 2 learning center La Ruche in Bron, the extension of the Estonian Business School campus in Tallinn, the new facilities of the Espoo City Theatre, and a new R&D building for Nokia in Oulu.