Anna Katriina Tilli. Photo Juuso Noronkoski.
Skanno kicked off the new decade by launching a concept store, designed by Anna Katriina Tilli, in downtown Helsinki. At the same time, the company is heading into the international furniture market with their own collection.
”A store has to give the customers experiences and different spaces. It’s not just a place to get the product you want from,” says JOEL ROOS, head of development for interior design company Skanno.
Roos is thrilled about Skanno’s return to downtown Helsinki after their trip to Salmisaari. The 10,000 square foot flagship store, opened in May, bathes in light and whiteness.
The store runs through two buildings. One of them is from the late 19th century, the other from the 1960s. “It’s a beautiful space, but very challenging for a designer because of its low ceiling and the lack of windows,” says interior architect ANNA KATRIINA TILLI, who designed the store.
“The challenge of the space was a driving force in the design process. We used every trick in the book to make the space breathe: lots of white, different shades of white in gloss and matte, different lights of different tones, roof lights and mirrors.”
The tricks worked, and the store has already received international attention. For example, Wallpaper magazine listed the store as a good reason to visit Helsinki.
Anna Katriina Tilli. Photo Juuso Noronkoski.
Return of the collection
The higher-than-it-actually-is store still includes Skanno’s familiar international interior and design brands, e.g. Ligne Roset, Minotti, Missoni, Moroso and Moooi. Furthermore, the selection includes ever more products from the company’s own Skanno Collection.
In the early years after being founded in 1946, Skanno focused heavily on their own furniture collection, many products from which were awarded internationally. In the golden days of chrome and smoked glass in the 1980s, Skanno’s collection became one of the collections in the uprise of Italian and French design. Skanno became a design department store.
The Skanno Collection was re-launched in the fall of 2009. Divided into four categories, the collection consists of basic products, re-established classics of the 1950s to 1970s, custom-made furniture, and experimental showstopper products used to test new materials and shapes.
“Launching and developing our own collection will require a lot of persistent effort before its as strong as we want it to be,” says Joel Roos. “However, I believe that you can create also internationally interesting furniture right here in Finland.”
The call of new projects
Among the designers for Skanno Collection are Anna Katriina Tilli, who has designed both Skanno’s flagship store in Helsinki as well as their outlet in Espoo, and Singaporean JARROD LIM.
“Being Finnish isn’t a prerequisite,” Roos points out. “It’s more important that the designer is Skanno-ish.”
Tilli worked as Skanno’s artistic director for a year. At only 33 years old, she is one of the most promising interior and furniture designers of the new generation. In addition to Skanno’s concept store, her best-known works include the Anemone light and table designed together with MARI RELANDER, and the lifestyle store My o My (Erottajankatu 9 B, Helsinki) designed with MIKKO VESANEN. Vesanen also helped her bounce ideas while working on the Skanno flagship store.
In the summer of 2010, Tilli returned to her and interior architect Vesanen’s design agency MAK.
“The upside of having your own agency is that you get to do very different projects,” she points out. “After the store projects, it was time to move on to new challenges.”
New challenges are in order for Skanno as well. A new store, a new collection, and a new strategy. Perhaps we’ll see Skanno mentioned among one of the great international design houses in the future. †
Skanno, Mannerheimintie 6, Helsinki and Nihtisillankuja 6, Espoo. www.skanno.fi, www.annakatriinatilli.com
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Text Heini Lehtinen Photos Juuso Noronkoski
Light snow 
