Töölönlahti Park is one of the largest parks in central Helsinki. The original park was established years ago but never lived up to the municipality’s expectations nor user’s needs. In collaboration with the City of Helsinki, MASU Planning has developed an idea and concept plan for the area.

Extensive user engagement

The concept plan is based on extensive engagement with the park’s many stakeholders, including residents, cultural institutions, and local businesses. A recurring wish has been to make the park lusher, which will be achieved by planting new trees and introducing more diverse, spatially defining, vegetation.

During the summer of 2024, a temporary first phase was implemented, testing different types of planting, functions, and spatial configurations in the Töölönlahti Summer Park. The response from citizens has been overwhelmingly positive, and feedback from these temporary experiments has been incorporated into the final park design.

The surroundings shape the park’s future

Töölönlahti Park is surrounded by some of Helsinki’s most prominent areas. To the west lies the city’s cultural axis, with iconic buildings such as Finlandia Hall and the Helsinki Music Centre. To the north, the shoreline of Töölönlahti Bay stretches out as a calm, nature-based element, while to the east the park borders the railway as well as residential and office areas. The southern part of the park adjoins the very heart of the city.

Töölönlahti area has roots dating back to the 19th century, and over the past decades many emotions and ideas have been invested in the park’s design. MASU Planning’s approach to the transformation is characterized by great humility. The ambition is to create a coherent green and blue network that both strengthens internal connections within the park and links it more closely to the surroundings and at the same time allows the context to be reflected in the new park design.

Together with the City of Helsinki, MASU Planning has created a varied landscape that offers citizens a wide range of recreational and nature experiences. The result is a landscape that can be used by everyone – regardless of age, gender, interests, or activity level. At the same time, the new park increases urban biodiversity in the area, and it is being developed using the principles of Animal-Aided Design.

Several smaller sub-areas and better integration of water

The concept plan also divides the large, monofunctional lawn into several smaller areas, defined by new planting. Water will play a more prominent role in the park’s design, and the popular shoreline route will be expanded and better integrated with the rest of the park. Work on Töölönlahti Summer Park began in the summer of 2023 and will keep developing during the following years.