- architect Alvar Aalto
- real estate owner: Helsinki city
- buiding works were completed in 1971
- original facade cladding was made of Carrara Bianco marble
- original facade was in very bad condition due to deterioration of marble
- original marble was replaced by new Carrara Bianco marble
- facade renovation was carried out during 1997-1999
- building management: HKR-Rakennuttaja
- architect: Kaarlo Leppänen
- stone technology consulting: Stonecon Oy
- stone contractor: Työyhteenliittymä AW Liljeberg-NCC Puolimatka Oy
- preservation of Alvar Aalto cultural heritage was taken into account throughout the project
- due to its cenral location Finlandia Hall plays an important role in Helsinki city architecture
- process for choosing the material was long lasting and complicated
- choosing again marble as replacement for the original facade was based on legal protection clausule
- measures of stone panels were reduced with 20 % in both dimensions and thickness of stone panels was locally increased
- thermal insulation and fixings were completely redesigned
- special attention was given to quality control of marble during the project
- panels of the new facade started bowing soon after being installed and bowing continues to increase
- building was normally in use during the renovation project
- total area of restored stone cladding was 6800 m2
- EU research project, which was executed by Helsinki city during 1999-2001
- goal was to determine reasons for bowing of marble and develop a reliable method for testing suitability of marble for outdoor applications
- background for MARA was the lacking knowledge of marble durability properties, which was notified during Finlandia Hall facade renovation
- received funding from EU program Rafael, which is directed to preserving the valuable European cultural heritage
- research institutes and stone companies from Finland, Italy and Portugal participated as collaborators in the project
- extensive laboratory testing for different marble qualities from Italy and Portugal was carried out
- several earlier building objects, where marble had been used, were examined
- it could be proved that deterioration and bowing of marble is due to internal structural cracking of the material
- clear correlation was found between crystalline structure of marble and its sensitivity to deterioration
- it could be shown that different types of marble have substantial differences in durability properties
- influencing factors were clearly dtected, but reliable methods for testing durability properties of a specific marble could, however, not be developed
- large amount of knowledge about marble durability properties was produced based on both laboratory testing and empiric research of earlier references
- reserach manager of MARA -project was MD Pekka Mesimäki (M.Sc. Civil)/ Stonecon Oy