Tarja Karjalainen Apr 4, 2013:

Sorry, didn't realise you were looking for a negative connotation. I think this shows how differently we each view the words, and only you know the real context. To me, expansive sounded very good. I was thinking later that maybe "halli" in Finland and to Finns brings about a different connotation than "a hall" to an English speaker? And maybe these days the connotation is different from, say 30 years ago? Idle post-event pondering, but glad you found a term you were happy to use.

Punavuori (asker) Apr 4, 2013:

One more comment. Though saddened about not being able to use an appropriate simile, I went for 'overlarge'. But the suggestion of 'expansive' I think would be inappropriate; in my view it does not carry a negative connotation like 'hallimainen' or 'overlarge. The phrase ' the "entrance lobby is expansive" might even be taken as something positive.

Punavuori (asker) Mar 29, 2013:

Thank you all for your suggestions. The problem with the word 'hall' itself is that it is too general - it can even imply simply corridor - that is, in the English architecture literature it does not (or does no longer) intrinsically contain the notion of a large size, like hangar. What I had forgot to emphasize is that in the architectural schemes themselves the space is comparatively huge - a 4-5 storey height space, much like a hangar or warehouse. Hence "the main lobby is like a hall" seems inappropriate. With all these difficulties in mind, I will suggest using "the main lobby is overly large". This becomes particularly evident in the case of "Kirjasto on hallimainen", "the library is like a hall" would, I think, give a distorted impression. Perhaps not all similies are translatable.

Tarja Karjalainen Mar 28, 2013:

What if you express it "The main lobby is like a hall."? To me that would imply a smaller place than a hangar or even a warehouse and create an image more specific than just overtly large would.