[2] The Lundqvist building was constructed between 1898 and 1900 to designs of the prominent Helsinki architect Selim A. Lindqvist with the builder Elia Heikel, and replaced a two-story wooden structure.

Lindqvist and Heikel's structural solution used an iron point-support system of pillars on the interior to maximize the openness and flexibility of the space, a key feature for department stores, which often need to change the configuration of floor displays.

Meanwhile, the façades, which are nonetheless unusually still load-bearing and also provide support for the interior stairwells, use a concrete structure, overlaid with the brick and stucco veneer on the exterior.

[3] This strategy permits the façade to be opened up with relatively large windows as was the norm for department stores at the end of the nineteenth century to maximize the amount of natural illumination of the products shown inside, which would also then catch the eye of pedestrians on the street.

In classical mythology, they arguably represent Athena, the goddess of handicraft, practical skills, the arts, wisdom and livelihood; and Artemis, a huntress and the protector of forests.