Private house CUSTOM HOME II

The building is located close to the sea in Helsinki. Views towards the Gulf of Finland open up from the rocky site over a band of pine forest. In recent years, the area has been densely built up with low-rise residential buildings.

The aim of the design was to construct a modern log building adapted to the ur­ban milieu, from which there are views of the natural surroundings. The building is located along the street on the northern­most edge of the site. The the direction the rooms face and the cross section of the building are planned in such a way that the residents have all the privacy they need de­spite the large areas of glass.

All everyday spaces, bedrooms, kitchen, living room, utility room, terraces, swim­ming pool, two fireplaces and entrance hall, are located on the principal floor. Upstairs are gymnasium, office/lounge, spa and sau­na together with a terrace and jacuzzi. In the basement is a home cinema, guest room, hall, store, plant room and double garage.

The architecture is modern and unde­monstrative. Wood and glass together form an unbroken entity, both inside and out.

Apart from the basement, the walls are of solid Honkatalot logs with no additional insulation. The wood species used for the logs is spuce and their size is 270×290 mm. The ’citycorner’ joints and the ’sharpline’ design of the grooves are both planned to suit the urban milieu.

The building is in the A energy class and geothermal heating is used. Energy con­sumption during use is reduced in vari­ous ways including the use of LED lights of which there are more than 200. Finn­ish manufacturers and suppliers have been used wherever possible.