Budget|The old tuberculosis hospital in the middle of the Paimio pine forest received 800,000 euros in development money in next year’s budget. With it, the sanatorium is transformed into a wellness hotel.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The Paimio sanatorium designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto wants to open as a wellness hotel in 2029.
The board proposes 800,000 euros for the design of the hotel for next year.
The main building will include, among other things, about 140 rooms, conference facilities and a spa department.
The total cost estimate of the project is 35–40 million euros.
Architect couple Alvar and Aino Aalton designed former tuberculosis hospital Paimio sanatorium, they want to open in 2029 as a wellness hotel.
Petteri Orpon (collective) government proposes 800,000 euros for the development of the Paimio sanatorium in its budget for next year. With the amount received, the focus will be on refining the plans for the wellness hotel so that the building permit application for the hotel can be submitted to the city of Paimio as early as next fall.
CEO of the Paimio sanatorium foundation Mirkku Kullberg says that currently the heating and maintenance costs of the main building alone and the 14 other buildings in the area take up more than a million euros per year.
Paimion the sanatorium operated as a hospital until 2015. After the hospital operations moved out, the hospital district of Varsinais-Suomen donated the sanatorium complex to the Paimio sanatorium foundation established in 2020. From the beginning, the foundation’s mission was to save an architecturally valuable property and find a new use for it that respects the sanatorium’s cultural heritage.
In 2020 and 2022, the state has invested a total of more than 5.3 million euros in the operating costs of the sanatorium in two different financing phases.
“They have been money intended for the maintenance and use of the building complex. Alongside that, the foundation has done project planning for this wellness hotel and tested the concept.”
The property of the Paimio Sanatorium is protected by the Building Protection Act. Finland also plans to submit a total of thirteen Aalto sites to the UNESCO World Heritage List next year. Paimio sanatorium is included in this.
“It looks good. Experts from the international organization Icomos have already visited here at the invitation of the National Museum Agency.”
The main building of the Paimio sanatorium has several eye-catching details designed by Aalto, such as this yellow staircase.
Now the planned wellness hotel initially includes approximately 140 rooms to be renovated in the main building. The premises are also renovated for conference and meeting events.
According to Kullberg, the clinic wing of the building will have a reduced spa department and various wellness services, from nutritional therapists to regular therapy and various physical treatments.
“The total cost estimate of the project is 35–40 million euros. This will certainly be the equation of several financiers, we are already in negotiations. I can’t tell you more about them yet.”
Kullberg has experience in hotel projects before. Located on the edge of the old church park in Helsinki, the luxury hotel St. George is his creation from start to finish.
Can you Will a wellness hotel located in the middle of a remote pine forest attract enough customers in the future? Kullberg firmly believes that it can.
“We have worked very intensively and studied the international interest of Turku and the entire region, as well as the mutual interest of Turku, Tampere and the capital region. Tourism here will continue to increase.”
Part of the reason for the increase in northern tourism is climate change and the growing interest in cultural and wellness tourism.
“This is also close to everything. From Paimio, it takes about 20 minutes to drive to Turku and about an hour to Helsinki.”
Kullberg reminds that the pine forest surrounding the hotel is also its trump card, just like it was during the tuberculosis hospital. At that time, the compounds secreted by the pines into the fresh air were the most important treatment for lung disease patients lying on the roof terrace.
Now the pine trees represent Nordic nature, which Kullberg says would be the selling point of the future hotel in addition to architecture, design and well-being.
#Budget #Alvar #Aaltos #gigantic #creation #middle #forest #life
