Parliament Building

It was 2014. Jussi Sutela’s phone rang. A woman enquired: “I’ve been told that you know how to restore front doors. Could you?”

Jussi hesitated and said that the company focuses mainly on manufacturing new doors. The caller, however, was persistent: “Yes, I’ve been told that too, but could you do it anyway?”

“Well, how many doors are we talking about?” Jussi asked.

“Every single wooden door in the Finnish Parliament Building.”

It turned out that the door restoration project was part of the best-known and most prestigious renovation project in Finland: that of the Finnish Parliament Building. The work, worth nearly €300 million, was to be completed in the following autumn. The main contractor’s purchasing manager was looking for an artisan with the skills and know-how to restore 350 doors in the building and manufacture about 20 new doors to replace the broken ones. In addition, there were 40 particularly fine intarsia doors decorated with wooden inlays on the first floor, most of them two-leafed. They also needed to be restored. There was a total of 80 different door models in the building.

“When we were looking for a partner for the restoration work, we weren’t looking for any restorer. We were looking for the best restorer in Europe. We found Mr Yannick Chastang, a French conservator with a workshop in London, and the Louvre in Paris as reference. He came to Liminka, Finland, to teach and consult with us.”

As a part of the inspection, doors were X-rayed to confirm the condition of their core. To our surprise, the wood was intact and the seams undamaged.

“We proposed that instead of a cosmetic cleansing and fixing, the doors should be restored to their original glory by removing the synthetic lacquer finish from the 1980s and coating the doors again with shellac, a natural resin.” Our proposal was accepted, and now the Speaker of Parliament enters their office through restored light flame birch doors that reflect the prestige of their position.

The door handles and hinges are manufactured in the neighbouring village by Teollisuuden Monipalvelu TMP. SUTELAN’s collection includes a couple of models designed by us, but we can have door furniture made to meet customers’ wishes. We are a one-stop shop providing our customers with an all-inclusive service. Hinges to the doors of the Parliament Building were tailored to match the original models.