Hakapaavo additional storey

The Hakapaavo project was a full renovation of an apartment block and construction of an additional wooden storey. The full renovation included replacement of the facades, HVAC, bathrooms and surfaces. The space was also re-divided, with about one-half of the floor area now made up of small one and two-room flats.

The building is located in the Paavola district of Hyvinkää. The building is a concrete element apartment block typical of its era (1972). Since many years had passed since its construction, extensive repair measures were needed. The site is a block of rental flats, and small flats were in demand. The renovation also aimed to increase the property’s value and improve the neighbourhood’s status. Re-zoning of the property was requested to allow the addition of one more storey to the building as part of the renovation. The goal of improving energy efficiency to class B was also achieved.

Excluding the load-bearing structures, “everything that could be detached” was demolished. The space was re-divided to enable the construction of more flats off the centre stairwell of the building. HVAC and lifts were replaced. With the exception of the lowest storey additional plasterboard insulation was applied to the entire building, which made it possible to use several colours on the facades and to modify the exterior architecture to make it more interesting. The top storey was accentuated with a reddish-brown colour. A grey accent colour was used mostly on the rear facades, where it groups together the windows vertically and breaks up the monotony of the grid of windows.

It was decided to construct the top storey from wood. As planning progressed, a large element solution was chosen for the implementation. Current fire regulations, however, prohibited extension of the stairways using wood. The majority of walls between flats on the additional storey were aligned with the load-bearing walls, and exterior walls were aligned with the walls below to which more insulation had been added. It was even possible to keep stairwells congruent with the lower storeys by placing sewer pipes between the old concrete roof and the raised floor installed above. Fourteen small flats were located on the top storey, as the customer had requested.

The renovation created a dynamic building at the intersection that is visible from many directions and stands out colourfully in its environment. Only the shape of the building hints at its original construction date, although the colouring and balcony towers added to the end walls minimise the 1970s look. All new and nearly all renovated flats meet accessibility requirements. A bonus in top-storey flats is the spectacular view overlooking green spaces and the rooftops of Paavola.