Designed by Jussi Paatela and completed in 1939, Metsätalo, owned by the University of Helsinki, was built for the use of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry (B and C wings) and the Forest Research Institute Metla (A wing). Metsätalo represents a stylistic transition at the interface of classicism and functionalism.

The building has been renovated in two stages. Between 2000 and 2002, the B and C wings were changed to house the teaching and research of languages at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Helsinki.In the second phase (2009 – 2010), the A-wing was converted to a similar use. Following the transfer of the central campus libraries to the Kaisa Library, the Metsätalo departmental library premises were converted into offices in 2015. The building is protected in the town plan by the designation sr.