K2S Architects Wins Competition to Replace Fire-Razed Church in Ylivieska, Finland

Written by Patrick Lynch
Published on November 13, 2017

In March 2016, the central church of Ylivieska, Finland, was destroyed in a fiery blaze, an act of arson that leveled the 18th-century wooden structure into a pile of ash.

Now, the community is set to start fresh with a brand new church designed by K2S Architects, after the Finnish firm was selected as the winners of a competition for the new Ylivieska Church.

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Selected from a pool of 214 proposals, K2S’ design, “Trinitas,” was named the winner ahead of finalist entries from AOR Architects; OOPEAA; Benjamin Aspelin, Stian Vestly Holte and Simon Schumacher; Pauli Terho; APRT Architects; and Benjamin Schulman.

The competition asked architects to design a structure that could serve the function of the former church building while creating a contemporary structure that responded to its context in a new way.

“In its basic form, the proposals were roughly divided into five types: cross-churches inspired by the old church; triangular floor plans resembling Ylivieska's coat-of-arms; square or stretched rectangular footprints; various symbols; and inspired/free-form,” the jury noted in their citation.

“The most successful were the proposals for a new building that made a clear, coherent figure that was tall enough in relation to its environment to be able to create a new urban focal point.”

K2S’ design was selected unanimously by the jury. The architects will now continue working with the Ylivieska Parish to plan for future realization.