Ympyrätalo

Ympyrätalo
An aerial view of Ympyrätalo. The white Kallio administrative building in the background is by the same architects.
General information
Type	Office and commercial building
Address	Siltasaarenkatu 18–20
Town or city	Helsinki
Country	Finland
Coordinates	60°10′49″N 24°56′55″E / 60.18028°N 24.94861°E / 60.18028; 24.94861
Construction started	1960
Completed	1968
Renovated	2002–2004
Design and construction
Architect	Heikki and Kaija Siren

Ympyrätalo (Swedish: Cirkelhuset; lit. "Circle House") is a circle-shaped office building located in the Hakaniemi district of Helsinki, Finland. The building is a local landmark.

Before Ympyrätalo was built, the block outlined by Siltasaarenkatu, Eläintarhantie and Porthaninrinne contained several wooden houses and a couple of stone buildings, such as the Wendt House which was designed by Gustaf Estlander and completed in 1903. All these buildings were demolished to make room for Ympyrätalo.

Ympyrätalo was designed by architects Heikki and Kaija Siren and work lasted eight years. It opened in 1968. It originally served as offices for Kansallis-Osake-Pankki. Outside the building are three booths that functioned as a drive-through bank until its closure in the 1970s due to low demand.

The building's architecture has been seen as a high point in 1960s Finnish office building architecture as other buildings of the decade, such as the Säästökulma building by Antero Pernaja, the Scandinavian Bank building and the Helsinki Telephone headquarters, were considered to be mediocre by comparison. At the same time Ympyrätalo, as well as the neighboring Kallio administrative building (1965) by the same architects, has been polarizing with its monumentality. Before completing these buildings the Siren architects had created a small stage for the Finnish National Theatre (1954) as well as being entrusted with the plans for the renovation of Helsinki Cathedral (1961–1963). The local architects went on to design important buildings in Paris, Japan, Austria and Iraq.

Ympyrätalo was renovated in the early 2000s to comply with modern technical and functional standards. The renovation project was completed in 2004. One of the architects responsible for the renovation was Jukka Siren, son of the Sirens who designed the building. The building's exterior, entrances, inner courtyard and stairways are protected by a zoning ordinance.

The building is currently owned by the insurance company Ilmarinen and tenants include an S-Market grocery store, an Alko liquor store, a Mehiläinen private clinic, the restaurant Rosso and a pharmacy.