PORTFOLIO //
ELENA SITRAKOVA, MARINA SUVOROVA, MIRA LANKINEN
Hämeenlinna housing ‘B’ reconstruction
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SITE photofixation
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map ANALYSIS accessibility ANALYSIS
District dimentions
Transportation scheme
Bus-stop locations
Industrial and residential functions of the district
Retail function of the district
Workplaces of the district
FUNCTIONS ANALYSIS
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ANALYSIS Site analysis Housing B is located in the eastern part of Hämeenlinna suburbs on Katumantie 3. It is about five kilometres from the city centre near Katumajärvi Lake in Katuma residential area. Katumantie frames the beautiful beach landscape, and along it are concrete and panelled apartment buildings of the 80s. People of this area regularly go fishing in Lake Katumajärvi or gather together in the yard's barbecue area. They also notice that Katuma has changed considerably over the years, and the residential area has become quiet today. Nobody wants to move there.
Housing B is a panelled building with five floors and a red pitched roof. Moreover, it has a cafe inside with cheap homemade food where people can meet each other and even use a computer. It is a point that is worth considering further.
Population We conducted age research, area accessibility and functional analysis and figured out the following points:s X On that territory, several types of structures are depicted, but many of them are industrial buildings. As a result, the majority of jobs now are in manufacturing. s X There are not too many workplaces on our site, indicating primarily residential land. s X The region has a limited pedestrian connection but a fantastic central city link.s X According to the statistics, the population is diversified, but there are still many older adults, families with young children, and middle-aged individuals.
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Different age groups population
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SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths
Opportunities
relatively low costs for housing due to location
getting closer to earth and nature, deeper contact
close to water and wild nature;
providing view connection from apartments
biodiversity
creating comfortable access to water via piers
fresh air and natural activities have indisputable health benefits
creating hiking trails to provide natural activities
comfortable accessibility from the city center;
better experience for remote work and study (safe and comfortable
already has some infrastructure as kindergarten, shops, bus station stops ;
conditions) mental health benefits from nature closeness creating experience of unique qualities and aesthetics common areas will allow people to communicate with each other, to not feel loneliness, to get help, to find a new hobby, to use some common devices nature is one more way to create common spaces and activities new communities might be formed around tourist/eco activities/common spaces new recreational zones;
Weaknesses
Threats
apart from recreations and services, far from the city center;
locals unwilling to co-operate or support the district;
currently no quality infrastructure to interact with nature;
no chances to solve the problem of disadvantaged people
currently have some influence from disadvantaged people nearby
will face with the construction challenges while reconstructing;
(alcoholics/drug addicts and so on);
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Personas’ analysis According to our research, that district currently has a higher proportion of older individuals. As now it is inexpensive housing, it attracts young people who may have recently moved out of their parent's home or who are students. Additionally, the area has a kindergarten within a 1-minute walk from the B house, so we suppose families with children also live there. There are several factories nearby, thus it is possible that its workers live there.
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To summarize, we may observe a highly varied society right now. Still, since renovations of those buildings are likely to occur in the future, there may be gentrification, and new individuals will live there.
Our primary objective is to strike a balance for various personalities while attracting new people to live there.
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Concept General Description We realized that we need to find triggers to attract different people to this area, give existing inhabitants new opportunities, and rethink its territories, providing a deep contact with nature. Moreover, we wanted to focus on the fact that this building already has a social cafe where people always meet for cheap food, communication and computer services. And according to a google review, it is a pretty popular space.
So, we decided to demolish the middle part of the existing building and create a new structure with new functions and common use mode that will respond to a modern housing typology and fulfil human, social, and environmental needs in a sustainable way. Putting the common spaces in the middle is the main idea of our project, literally and figuratively. We are convinced that providing different spaces for working, studying, entertaining and communicating is a critical point in this situation.
The shared spaces are the heart of the building – easy to reach by everyone. Some areas encourage social activity, and others offer space for retreat and privacy.
As a result, the idea has a chance to become a symbol of equality and transparency.
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Concept What is else? One of our goals is to open the building to nature, so we plan to provide various terraces, green rooms, canopies and balconies to diversify the use of the outdoor space in different seasons. We design a green roof for the building and want to improve the yard and create pier and forest infrastructure. As the site has great nature opportunities as forest and lake, we need to connect it with the building as much as possible, providing more natural activities for occupants.
Access to nature should be considered systematically over various scales, from the building interior to the neighbourhood. Activities that can substitute for wild nature will be facilitated in or close to the building. For Who Our Concept We want to create spaces for people who value a community alongside individuality. Residents unite around a common interest of learning and growing from the people they surround themselves with. They also appreciate the positive environmental impact of sharing resources and costs to reduce waste.
Our place is perfect for professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, interns, students, family people, remote workers, lonely and elderly people, and many others who want to benefit themselves, their community and the planet.
Moreover, we can reach some of the sustainability goals with our concept.
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Sustainability goals HOW we implement sustainability principles Responsible Consumption and Production We demolished the middle part of the building B to provide a wide range of different functions and different types of apartments that suit modern requirements. Despite this fact, we reused some of the middle part constructions as the building is panelled. Also, the building has multifunctional spaces and is adaptable to different needs with adjustable walls. Reduced Inequalities We provided the building with an elevator and one-level floor entrance to create spaces with physical accessibility to all people (i.e. for a diversity of people, whether minority communities, different gender and age, able-bodied or not). Affordable and Clean Energy We planed the reduction of energy use through passive and climate-responsive design like natural light and ventilation and cooling, efficient energy systems, reuse of the building and its materials, and the specification of low embodied energy materials and products and the provision of renewable energy systems on-site.
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No Poverty We created an affordable, safe, healthy, equitable and accessible environment for all housing to reduce financial burdens on people and communities. This includes access to affordable housing and free access to public spaces for everyone. Clean Water and Sanitation We tried to include access to clean water, sewage disposal and handwashing facilities, and the collection of rainwater and reuse of water for safe and appropriate use in the built environment, e.g., bathing and washing water and for landscape irrigation. Good Health and Well-Being We also managed to create good health and well-being conditions via access to safe alternative transport options, opportunities for physical activities and contact with nature, getting together of the community. And also, it is significant for us to provide visual, thermal, auditory comfort and good ventilation, healthy materials and finishes. Zero Hunger We provided opportunities for gardening inside and outside the building (e.g., gardens, balconies, roofs and greenhouses). Moreover, we will create equitable access to food growing spaces. 08
references Vindmøllebakken / Stavanger, Norway / Housing / Helen & Hard (home) / 40 co-living units, 4 townhouses and 8 apartments
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references Snabba Hus Västberga / STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / Housing / Andreas Martin-Löf Arkitekter
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references Sæter Terrasse / NORDSTRAND, NORWAY / Housing / A-lab
References Summary Analysing references, we found out that residents of houses with common spaces might be modern families, a generation of elderly who are healthy and want to live at home longer, people who live alone and suffers from loneliness, or people who simply wish to live more sustainably. By sharing resources, whether it is time, space, or assets, the result is a more sustainable way of living: environmentally, but also socially, economically, and architecturally. And also, we analysed the residential housing of the same climate zone to find the best constructions, floor plan design and facades ideas.
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FIRST IDEAS
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DESIGN IDEAS COMMENTS: Initially, we had an idea to remove the middle part, save the left and right sides, and mix living functions with common recreational ones in this new section.
As a result, we figured out that it is not the most beneficial idea as it does not have a considerable change to the building, does not follow a lot to our concept idea and all these actions are pretty useless.
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DESIGN IDEAS
1 floor 1 variant
2 floor 2 variant
1 floor 2 variant
3 floor
2 floor 1 variant
4 floor
COMMENTS: We had public spaces only on the first and the last floors, and the apartments' structure was not changed much. That is why we decided to give it up and devote the entire middle section to public spaces, add new flats above the right and left sides, and make our central part a symbol of equality and transparency.
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DESIGN part Description of Construction and Architectural Decisions We came up with removing the middle part of the existing building and putting a new structure with CLT blocks inside to provide new functions with common use. We put there cafe with lobby hall, multifunctional rooms and halls to respond to different needs and requirements, greenhouses to bright grey Finnish periods, co-working with shared kitchen, library and elderly people meeting centre, gym and sauna complex. This middle block is equipped with its stairs and elevator and will be connected to other sections with bridges. As a result, it will help us to differentiate private and public sections.
The housing has four entrances on ground level, and all of them go through a spacious lobby hall with an info desk and cafe area. The lobby hall marks the start of an open stairwell and galleries leading to the apartments and further up to multifunctional spaces, coworking, library and greenhouse on the rooftop. The sequence of rooms is designed to create visual connections between spaces and people and provide freedom to how much and when to engage in communal life.
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DESIGN part
Master Plan
Users’ flows on the site
Sunlight changing
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DESIGN part
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DESIGN part — plans
First floor
Master Plan
Ground floor
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Second floor
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DESIGN part — plans
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Third floor
Fifth floor
Fourth floor
Sixth floor
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DESIGN part — APartments Newly designed apartments: Studio apartment 27,6 m2
2-room apartment 52,5 m2 30,8 m2 + 21,7 m2
1st floor
2-room apartment 56,2 m2 (33,8 m2 + 22,4 m2)
2nd floor
EXISTING apartments: 2-room apartment + KITCHEN
3-room apartment
59,7 m2
84,3 m2
1st floor
6-room apartment 154,8 m2 118,7 m2 + 36,1 m2
2nd floor
1st floor
2nd floor
COMMENTS:
We designed four types of apartments feom studio to 6-room duplex apartments for different kind of families with different needs. Andf we also saved two types of apartments that exist in the left and right parts.
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DESIGN part Description of Construction and Architectural Decisions We tried to devote each floor to its specific function and different noise level. That is why we put teen's level close to the ground floor with cafe and lobby areas, separate library and elderly meeting rooms with the levels with co-working, shared kitchen and multifunctional halls.
Moreover, we will add two extra residential floors on the left and right sides for duplex apartments. It is a way to create different kinds of apartments for different people and different needs. With the glassed facades and different new apartments' orientation, we tend to open the building to different viewpoints, provide more daylight, and improve the building quality and inhabitants' mental stability.
Talking about the construction part, we mainly used CLT blocks and wooden materials in the middle part's interior to create a warm and calm atmosphere. And our facades system of the central part is fully glassed, protecting with "double" skin to avoid high temperatures in the building during summer periods.
01. We use the windows from the middle demolished section to build a greenhouse for the neighborhood.
02. We use demolished contruction blocks to make canopies and workshop places for people.
03. We can use the demolished parts for the paving and use them for the whole territory.
04. We can use the demolished concrete parts to create the hills and to make the vertical planning.
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FACADES NORTH-SIDE FACADE
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east-FRONT FACADE
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SECTIONS transverse section
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longitudinal section
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3d — SECTION longitudinal section
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3d — SECTION transverse section
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visualizations — INTERIOR
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Greenhouse
Lobby - cafe area
Multifunctional room
Gym
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visualizations — INTERIOR
Duplex apartment - 1
Duplex apartment - 3
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Duplex apartment - 2
Duplex apartment - 4
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visualizations — EXTERIOR
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visualizations — EXTERIOR
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visualizations — EXTERIOR
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visualizations — EXTERIOR
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Conclusion With our project, we tried to change everything in the selected area to create a building that can respond to modern requirements, sustainable goals and inhabitants' needs and become a symbol of transparency and equality.
Moreover, as the national Co-housing Research Network in the US suggests:. 96 per cent of people interviewed who lived in co-housing reported improved quality of life 75 per cent felt their physical health was better than others their age.
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