 Aalto received the commission after a design contest in 1949, and the building was completed in December 1951.The town hall is considered one of the most important buildings Aalto designed in his career.In 1944 Aalto was commissioned to design and implement a town plan for Säynätsalo, a small factory town founded around Johan Parviaisen Tehtaat wood-processing mills, from 1946 operated by Enso-Gutzeit (now part of Stora Enso), whose headquarters in Helsinki he also designed.