AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Haltia – The Finnish Nature Centre is where a day in the outdoors and a day in a museum become the same thing. Set on the shore of Lake Pitkäjärvi in Espoo, just a 30-minute drive from Helsinki and right on the edge of Nuuksio National Park, this striking all-wood building gathers Finland's wilderness under one roof: panoramic nature exhibitions, a gateway to tens of kilometres of hiking trails, gear rental, a nature shop and a restaurant serving local, organic food.↗↗↗
Operated by the state agency Metsähallitus, which manages all 41 of Finland's national parks, Haltia is both an exhibition centre and a working visitor base for Nuuksio. You can come in from a forest walk to warm up and explore the displays, or come to the displays first and step straight out onto the trails. It is an easy, family-friendly and fully accessible outing that works in any season.↗↗
A building shaped by the forest
Before you even reach the exhibitions, the architecture is part of the experience. Haltia was designed by professor Rainer Mahlamäki, inspired by the Kalevala, Finland's national epic, and built almost entirely of wood so that the centre seems to grow out of the surrounding pine and birch landscape. The deliberately low-carbon, nature-conscious design earned Haltia the sustainable development award at the European Museum of the Year Awards in 2015.
