History of our new home

From church photos to a haven of art and design

Snellmaninkatu, known as Nikolainkatu until 1928, is one of the oldest streets in central Helsinki and leads to the Senate Square. The building at Snellmaninkatu 15 was originally drawn by Finnish architect Axel Hampus Dahlström in 1861. His better known works followed some years later, including Kappeli restaurant (1867) and Vanha ylioppilastalo (The Old Student House) in 1870.

At Snellmaninkatu 15, building master Richard Willman renewed and heightened the original two storey building in 1907. The resulting four to five storey building is the one you see today. Gallery GAo ShAn is located on the street level in the old part of the building that used to house a pharmacy in the 1860s.

Kruununhaka is an architecturally impressive part of downtown Helsinki. It is home to Empire-style buildings around the iconic Helsinki Cathedral as well as many important public buildings.

In 1937, the current owner’s grandfather bought the space and established a photography store that specialised in Finnish churches. At the store, the staff hand-coloured pictures of around 400 photographed Finnish churches. The framed pictures were sold around Finland to paying customers.

In the 1960s, an art gallery was set up in the space by well known Finnish art dealer Jaakko Viljakainen. Or Jaska, as he insisted on being called by his nickname. The walls of the space were adorned by works from well-known names of the golden age of Finnish art. They included Hugo Simberg, Helene Schjerfbeck and Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

We are proud to bring Finnish art and design into Snellmaninkatu 15 to be experienced by people from near and far. We are keen to welcome visitors to our historic space! We enliven our new nest with curated exhibitions and events that feature outstanding Finnish artists.