The Törmäpääsky chain house

This chain-like row of terraced houses completes an area of small houses built in a park, in the late 1970s. All the deciduous trees outside the actual building site were retained and each house has its own garden marked out by planting. The site is dominated by a strong rock formation in the northeast corner, but the built area is flat.

There are five two-storey houses in the chain, linked by high, single-storey living rooms. The building is stepped so that the living rooms open towards the southeast and each house has a sheltered external terrace with views opening up towards the sunshine.

The heart of each house is a shared space opening in three directions, with a staircase which separates the living and dining rooms and the kitchen. North light enters the space from the stairwell, so the house receives light from all directions. The li ing area continues on to another space that can be used as a dressing room for the sauna.

The chain house is of timber construction and built of wood cut to specific lengths at the factory. The ground floor, which is founded on steel piles, the intermediate floors and roof are all loadbearing and constructed of laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The elevations are finished in fine-sawn horizontal boarding of two different widths.