Located in the diplomatic area of Chanakyapuri, the design for the Embassy of Finland breaks away from the box-typology pattern of the surrounding sites and comes into view as a range of snow-clad mountains nestled amidst the green cover of the city. The prestigious project has been designed in association with architects Raimi and Reila Pietila from Finland. The project consists of chancery, the ambassador’s residence, and housing for the Finnish and Indian staff. The concept for the design – ‘snow speaks on the mountains’, won a lot of acclaim as it tied the two nations through their most symbolic natural national reserves. The roof is an abstract design of a combination of the Lake Kitkajärvi in Northern Finland and the Himalayas in India. Irregular and contorted yet sculpturally pleasing, this innovative roof design established a common architectural ground. Through the heights achieved in the roof, skylights neatly tucked in the folding clefts emerge through. The walls are streamlined with diamond-cut shaped stone cladding, subtly supporting the design of the roof structure. The roof has also been extruded beyond the walls forming large spans of overhangs or chhajjas which deflect the sun rays, controlling the entry of light from the exteriors. The Architects had the unique opportunity to associate again with this project three decades later when the Government of Finland decided to undertake a major renovation of the entire complex. The design challenge this time was to deal with this project extremely sensitively, since it had been accorded heritage status, considering the importance of the original design approach of this project.