The Finnish Government Palace, originally the Senate House, has for 200 years served as the seat of the central administration of the Grand Duchy and the Republic, and holds the status of a symbol building of state administration. The realisation of the block-sized building complex began during the founding construction phase of the capital, with the Engel-designed main wing facing Senate Square and the west wing facing Aleksanterinkatu. After the beginning, the block continued to be built up with additions until the first decades of the 20th century and subsequently, especially from the 1970s onward, with alteration and repair projects. Whereas the Senate House at the outset accommodated virtually the entire state central administration – the Senate, its departments and central agencies, as well as certain institutions (the State Archives and the Bank of Finland) – the present users comprise the Prime Minister's Office, the Office of the Chancellor of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. The main hall of the Finnish Government Palace is the throne room, designed by Engel in the main wing, currently the president's presentation hall. The main wing's facade is an impressive neoclassicist creation and a component of Senate Square's architectural composition, expressing the building's status as a palace of central-power administration.
Official description (Museovirasto) — machine-translated from Finnish
The Government Palace is the executive office building of the Government of Finland. It overlooks the Senate Square in central Helsinki, Finland. The Government Palace houses the Prime Minister's Office, the Office of the Chancellor of Justice and most departments of the Ministry of Finance. Its former name is the Senate House (Senaatintalo). The building is usually not open to the public but on occasions there are open days.