At the competition stage, the sundeck wing had four floors and no roof terrace. The
pictured cantilever tapered towards the outer edge. It was supported by gigantic consoles.
The cantilevered section was four to five metres long. The rear wall was load-bearing and
it was supported by buttresses. In the competition stage, all wings had a load-bearing
column row in the exterior wall. Only the sundeck wing had a cantilevered structure.^706
Just before the structural engineer joined the project, the floor plan of the sundeck
wing showed the load-bearing column row inside the sundeck as square shaped and
paired with another column in the enclosed rear wall – the architect was developing a
ladder structure. The sundeck continued to be open and cantilevered.^707 A section of the
sundeck wing drawn by Aalto is related to this stage of the design process. In the draw-
ing, the wing reached its final height, six storeys and a roof deck. The columns in the
middle of the deck are of even width while the columns at the rear wall taper upwards.
The beams of the sundeck are cantilever structures of mainly even width, although
slightly tapered towards the outer edge. The foundation method for the sundeck wing
has not been specified. It is inferred from this solution that the sketch was drawn by the
architect without the input of a structural engineer. The upward-tapering structure of
the rear wall resembled the structure of a traditional brick wall.^708
The architect’s drawing from July 1930 shows a sundeck structure that is com-
prised of sophisticated cantilevered slabs tapering in two directions towards the outer
edges. Created by the person behind the initials “H.H.”, the drawing also clearly
showed how the load-bearing row of columns tapered upwards. At this stage, the
structure had also been designed on the basis of calculations, the structural engineer
having been engaged on the project in May 1930. This drawing created by the archi-
tect’s office showed that the designer had a good insight into the material and was
familiar with its behaviour. The functionality of the structure had been addressed and,
for example, the role of the rear wall as a counterbalance to the cantilever was optimal.
The solution was also aesthetically accomplished.^709 It would appear that the design
evolved considerably once the structural designer had joined the team.
Emil Henriksson’s calculations and structural drawings of the ground floor and first
floor ceiling of the sundeck wing were dated August 1930. They showed a floor plan
with a load-bearing row of five columns with a rectangular section, and a closed rear
wall with no windows. The concrete layer in the rear wall was enveloped by a protective
structure. The structural drawings also included a section and reinforcement drawings for
the slab of the two floors. The double-beam connecting the columns was resolved as a
box beam construction allowing for a lighter structure. The columns tapered between the
ground floor and first floor by 20 centimetres. They narrowed down further on the five
lower storeys to continue in even width on storeys six and seven.^710 The cantilevered part
706 Drawings Nos. 50-29 and 50-25. AAM.
707 Drawing No. 50-661. AAM.
708 Drawing No. 50-708. AAM.
709 Drawing No. 50-296. AAM.
710 Drawings Nos. 22 and 23 by Emil Henriksson. PSA.