Geohouse

Akademigatan 1
Year of construction: 1948-1951 

Chemicum was constructed by the Åbo Akademi University Foundation according to Erik Bryggman’s design. Initially, the building was used by the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Åbo Akademi University, but over the years, it has housed several other departments. After extensive renovations, the geology disciplines at Åbo Akademi University and the University of Turku moved into the building in 2016, and it was renamed Geohuset. 

 
Geohuset is built on a concrete foundation with a frame of brick and concrete. The wing along the street Tavastgatan (fi. Hämeenkatu) has five floors, while the wing along the street Akademigatan (fi. Akatemiankatu) has four. The exterior remains mostly unchanged, except for the original greyish color, that has been replaced with a smoother, yellow plaster. The original room layout has largely been preserved.
 

The new Chemicum is completed. A car is parked in front of the building. The photo was taken in the 1950s. Source: Åbo Akademi University Library.
Geohuset. Image: Helena Nylund, 2024.

Before Chemicum   

After the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, the remnants of a brick house built by merchant Nils Petter Cajander remained on the burnt plot. Between 1830 and 1831, Cajander had the stone house rebuilt and attached a one-story wooden house to it according Pehr Johan Gylich’s design.

The Åbo Akademi University Foundation purchased the plot in 1917 and renovated both the wooden and stone houses for the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Åbo Akademi in 1920.

Construction of Chemicum

Cajander’s stone house was demolished in 1948 to make space for Chemicum and the planning started the year before. The property, designed by Erik Bryggman, was completed and inaugurated in 1951. At the time, Chemicum was hypermodern, with facilities designed with the practical use and aesthetic design in mind, both in overall structure and detail. Parts of the building are now classified as protected heritage and environmental sites.
 

Workers on the roof of Chemicum. Source: Åbo Akademi University Library. 
Students conducting exercises in the new laboratory facilities at Chemicum. The photo was dated 1954. Source: Åbo Akademi University Library.

The Versatile Use of Chemicum    

Until 1969, when Gadolinia was ready, almost all departments of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering moved into Chemicum. Once spaces were available in Chemicum, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Åbo Akademi University’s Copy Central moved in. The geology disciplines became familiar with the building in the 1990s during the renovation of Geologicum. Over the years, several other departments, including the Department of Economic and Political Science, the Institute for Human Rights, and Environmental and Marine Biology, have also operated in the building. Most of Chemicum was vacated between 2007 and 2008 due to leakage and indoor air problems.

Transformation into Geohuset   

Between 2015 and 2016, the building underwent extensive renovations led by Sigge Architects. At the re-inauguration in November 2016, the building was named Geohuset and welcomed new tenants. Plans for a joint “geohouse” for the Åbo Akademi University and the University of Turku had existed since the evacuation in 2007. These plans were realized in 2016 when the Departments of Geology at both Åbo Akademi and the University of Turku, along with the Department of Archaeology at the University of Turku, moved in.

Geohuset from the street Tavastgatan (fi. Hämeenkatu). Image: Helena Nylund, 2024.
Geohuset. Image: Helena Nylund, 2024.

Source: Väggarna talar (2017) by Lars Berggren and Annette Landen.