Downtown Helsinki’s modern-looking Kamppi Chapel, also called the 'Chapel of Silence,' will be expanded by around 70 square metres, pending city approval.
If all goes according to plan, the chapel will feature two new soundproofed rooms and the exterior lighting and structure will also be updated and refurbished.
Helsinki councillors are scheduled to decide whether to approve plans on 25 March. Financing of the effort will be covered by the Helsinki Parish Union, which operates the facility. The union has said it hopes to begin construction by early May.
The chapel is ecumenical and welcomes all visitors regardless of religion, faith or origin. The facility hosts concerts, devotional events and meditation sessions, but workers at the facility have longed for more space ever since it first opened in 2012, according to the chapel's pastor, Nanna Helaakoski.
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She said the facility does not currently have adequate space that would allow visitors to enter without disturbing those gathered using the structure for one of its main intended purposes - quiet discussion.
"Most people come with big and heavy items. It’s not nice for those [quietly] talking about major life issues and maybe even cry a little, as tourists are coming in to see the attraction," Helaakoski said, explaining that the expansion would include two rooms which will be set aside for discussion as well as provide more space for staff.
Designed by K2S Architects in Helsinki, the chapel design received the Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award in 2010.
