Piispantorni is the tallest building in the old brewery area in Karrina, the town located in the Southwest Finland. Its new owner has decided to renovate it and convert into office space.
As part of the renovation, the building received a completely new impressive façade on which a 25-meter-long blue whale swimming at a height of 60 meters called the Big Blue.
Designed by Turku-based visual artist Mauri Kosonen and architect Heimo Paukkunen, the Big Blue is impressive both day and night. The façade of the building fits into its surroundings with the adjacent renovated building with its corten fences and pine forests. The printed bluish glass façade softly reflects the cloud patterns of the sky and brings the work to life in accordance with weather phenomena. At dusk, the intact glass façade and the shining blue whale catch the eye from afar. The old brewing environment has been given a glamorous new look.
The main façade has been made of 500 m² of 8 mm Pilkington Optiwhite™ glass. The whale is digitally printed on Pilkington Optiwhite™ extra clear glass on surface 2. It is single digitally printed bolt fixed toughened glass made by Rakla Tampere Oy.
Dynamic LED lighting between the glass façade and the brick wall brings the picture to life.
500 m² of 6 mm Pilkington Arctic Blue™ is used in widows on another façade. Triple insulating glass units are made of 6 mm Pilkington Arctic Blue™, Pilkington Optitherm™ S3 T and Pilkington Optilam™ Therm S1N. Glass thicknesses varied depending on the unit size.
These triple glazed units were made by Lasiliiri Oy.
Big Blue has been chosen as the Glass Structure of the Year 2022 by Suomen Tasolasi ry. The prize is awarded by the Finnish Flat Glass Association and is awarded every two years.