The Greenest of the Green

The Greenest of the Green project is an apartment building block that is as green as possbile. The project is part of The Re-thinking Urban Housing programme. Since the project had to meet the cost requirements set by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA), ways were sought to achieve reasonable construction costs without compromising aesthetic and green objectives and the quality of housing. The project was designed in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team, which in addition to the architects included for example biologists, sociologist, horticulturists and landscape architects (Loci Landscape Architects).  

The Greenest of the Green block consists of two closely connected balcony-accessed blocks of flats, one of which has rental apartments for Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA) and the other is a right-of-occupancy block. Altogether the block has 121 apartments. The balcony-access solution is cost-efficient and makes possible apartments with windows on opposite walls. The property is made even more rational by including only a limited range of different types of apartments. In addition, all apartments come with the same, prefabricated bathroom module. The outer surface of the street-side façades is covered with wooden and steel lattices up to the level allowed by fire safety regulations, and the plants that decorate the façade grow in large steel boxes. The façade behind the plant lattices is made of colored concrete.  

The topmost roofs on the southern terraces are open, nearly maintenance-free meadow roofs (biodiversity roofs) with low growth. The more forest-like seventh-floor roofs are recreational areas located near the sauna facilities. The sixth-floor roofs of the two buildings form a shared roof terrace that is protected with a high glass wall and contains a garden. The club rooms of the buildings open onto the terrace, which also contains a large greenhouse. 

Awards:

The Rose for Building 2017