Three market halls are currently operating in Helsinki: Old Market Hall, Hakaniemi Market Hall, and Hietalahti Market Hall. Built by the city at the turn of the 20th century, market halls were a new type of building designed to promote food hygiene. The market hall in Hietalahti is the second oldest in Helsinki. When it was completed, the sale of everything except fish at the Hietalahti market square was prohibited.

Selim A. Lindqvist was a prestigious architect who designed many of the city’s construction projects. The handsome red-brick market hall represented the height of modern architecture in its time. The façades are characterised by repeating curved forms and window bays set between buttresses. Low circular rotundas sit at both ends of the elongated building. Entrances are located in pavilions projecting into the market square. The city installed a public timepiece on the façade, a ‘normal clock’, to serve busy citizens. The beautiful wooden stalls inside the market hall offered a broad range of goods for customers.

Source: Art Nouveau in Helsinki – Architectural guide (Helsinki City Museum)