Our Office
Pauli Siponen and Niilo Ikonen founded Avarrus in 2008, based on a competition workgroup, while they were still studying in Otaniemi. Since the early 2010s, Avarrus has increasingly focused on renovation projects and larger architectural design projects. In 2018, Avarrus gained a third partner, interior architect Laura Karhunen, which brought a wealth of diverse experience in interior design across various projects.
Today, our office, located in Punavuori, Helsinki, is home to a team of fifteen architects, interior architects, and designers. Our projects range from new constructions to renovations, and their scale varies from interiors to urban planning. We have designed private homes, hotels, residential apartment buildings, conversions of use, offices, school interiors, and much more.
Our Values
In addition to the diversity of our work, key values for Avarrus include collaboration, quality, and sustainability.
Collaboration in our office is reflected in openness, equality, and shared responsibility, alongside teamwork and a good atmosphere. In projects, we strive to communicate openly and respectfully among all parties involved, as we believe that the best results come from strong team spirit and jointly agreed goals.
For us, quality starts with ambitious goals, expertise, and the courage to innovate and evolve. We stay curious about the development of our field and continuously educate ourselves to maintain our expertise and stay at the forefront of progress. Quality is important to us both in the design process and in the final outcome.
Sustainability for us means not only ecological sustainability but also social and aesthetic sustainability. We actively work with developers and other parties to enhance the sustainability of our projects so that our buildings can stand the test of time and usage. We always use materials and details proven to be as reliable and durable as possible. We design many renovation projects and conversions, and we believe that demolishing an existing building should always be the last option in a development project.
We actively seek to move the construction industry in a more sustainable direction through our collaborative projects and our own development work.
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Learn more about our Sustainable Apartment Building development.
Our Collaborotaros
Avarrus is part of the innovative urban visioning group Nordic Works- Collective, a member of the Finnish Green Building Council for ecological construction, and a member of the Association of Finnish Architects' Offices (ATL).
Avarrus' clients include a diverse range of actors in the construction industry, from the smallest to the largest.
