A two-part architectural competition on the design was held in 1999 and 2000 for a site at Töölönlahti, opposite the Parliament House.

YLE invited all party leaders to the still half-finished Music Centre for a live broadcast as the nation waited for the results to come in.

Before The Helsinki Music Centre opened its doors it was already used as a movie set for two major film productions: American thriller, Rage - Midsummer's Eve, directed by American-Finnish female director, Ms. Tii Ricks and based completely in Finland, used the interiors of the newly established Music Centre as a setting for a University where the main characters are studying.

The acoustics of the main concert hall have received uniform praise in initial estimations by the conductors and musicians of the two symphony orchestras.

A large part of the Music Centre's considerable volume is placed underground in order to keep the roof of the building in line with its neighbors.

A wide, sloping, landscaped terrace covers the underground structure and forms a part of an open park in front of the Parliament House.

Chief architect Marko Kivistö has stated that the forms of the outside are deliberately simple, leaving the building to reveal a more varied and dramatic interior.

The building aims to provide a frame for, and a new view at, the more expressive curved shape of the museum of contemporary art, Kiasma, which stands across the park from the Centre.