The Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design, together with the Real Estate Company ADM (owned by the City of Helsinki and the State of Finland), are launching a design competition with the goal to find a feasible proposal for a globally unique museum building that will house the AD Museum – the new national museum of architecture and design in Helsinki, Finland.

The competition for the AD Museum will be open, international, anonymous, and will be held in two stages from April 2024 to September 2025.

More information about the museum project is available on this site, and in the attached presentation.

The AD Museum as an organisation was born through a merger of the Museum of Finnish Architecture (founded in 1952) and the Design Museum (founded in 1873) at the beginning of 2024. The museum currently operates in two historic buildings that were never meant for museum purposes.

A plan to build a new museum building was initiated by the two museums, the City of Helsinki and the State of Finland jointly. The City of Helsinki has designated a site for the new museum building in the Makasiiniranta waterfront district in the South Harbour of Helsinki.

The competition brief is based on a thorough service design process studying the operational model, the concept, and the role of the new museum.

The design of the museum building will thoughtfully consider this important location on Helsinki’s rejuvenated waterfront. It will become a centrepiece of a new public realm that will weave through the city’s southern districts, inviting visitors and residents to come together.

The funding for the new museum building has been secured with significant contributions from the City of Helsinki, the State of Finland, and a number of private foundations.

The competition opens on 15 April, 2024, when the competition brief will be published on the competition website. The deadline for submissions for the competition entries in Stage 1 of the competition is in August, 2024. The jury will select 3–5 entries to Stage 2 of the competition, which takes place from February to May, 2025. Results of the competition are expected to be announced in September 2025.

The Real Estate Company ADM, owned by the City of Helsinki and the State of Finland and founded solely for the purpose to develop and build the AD Museum, has partnered with the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design to organise the competition. The competition is arranged in collaboration with the City of Helsinki and the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA).

The competition language is English. The competition brief and all main appendices will be available in English. However, after the competition phase, the winning team must include members that have good Finnish language skills.

Stage 1 of the competition is open to individuals and design teams with the following eligibility criteria:

The responsible designer must present the following qualifications:

- A completed university level master’s degree in architecture.

- Confirm that they have the right to practise as an architect in their country of residence.

- The person must be a resident of European Union countries or a resident of countries that are parties to the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA 2012).

If all other criteria are met:

- A design team may contain members from countries that do not fall under the scope of the European Union and its procurement legislation.

The competition is an architectural competition with a purpose to find a design solution for the AD Museum. To fulfil the demands of the assignment and meet the museum's ambitions, the competition organiser encourages participating design teams to employ their diverse and cross-disciplinary expertise from Stage 1 of the competition onwards.

In the competition, the responsible designer must have a completed university level master’s degree in architecture and right to practise as an architect in their country of residence.

No separate registration is needed. Anyone meeting the eligibility criteria can take part in the competition by submitting a competition entry by the given deadline. There is no fee for submitting an entry.

The competition organiser will award prizes up to €400,000 in total. Distribution of the awards will be described in the competition brief. The competition organiser will submit a tax exemption request to the Finnish Tax Authority for the prizes and purchases. According to its competition rules, the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) will collect 7 % of all prizes and purchases. The prizes will be paid through SAFA.

The competition area is a public space, and it can be accessed at any time. No guided visit will be arranged in Stage 1 of the competition. A competition seminar will be held online on 24 April, 2024. Please follow the competition website for details.

In Stage 1, the required documents will be submitted digitally in PDF format. The competition organisers may ask the authors of the upper category proposals to prepare a digital 3D model. Entry requirements will be detailed in the competition brief, to be published on 15 April, 2024.

In Stage 1 of the competition, the jury is looking for a conceptual building design that meets the criteria laid out in the project. For Stage 2 of the competition, the jury will select 3 to 5 entries that both meet the evaluation criteria and exhibit the greatest development potential. Design teams selected for Stage 2 will further develop their proposals based on feedback delivered as part of the jury’s evaluation process at the end of Stage 1. The teams selected for Stage 2 must also supplement their teams with required expertise.

The new museum is scheduled to open its doors in 2030, with construction starting in 2027. The project has been made possible by donations from the City of Helsinki, the State of Finland, and a number of private donors, including the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, and the Saastamoinen Foundation.

Before the competition begins, the competition organiser will not answer any further questions regarding the competition brief. When the competition begins and the competition brief has been published, there will be an opportunity to submit questions regarding the competition.

‍‍To read more about the background and planning of the museum, please see our FAQ.