The Lehtovuori area

This area’s blocks consist of three village-like units that have their own structure with its low-speed residential roads, lanes, yards and open spaces. The blocks are built from detached and semi-detached houses as well as back-to-back semi-detached houses, whose variation, in addition to the views that peek out from between the buildings, creates a special scale for the environment.

Each of the housing associations has its own courtyard that is separated from traffic; fur­thermore, each residence has its own yard. The branches and vines that extend into the alleys and common areas from over the fences that surround the yards will become an essential part of the area in time. The curves and the changes in direction of the town plan are the basis for the space composition. The objective is an individual, rich space fabric and a unique identity for the area.

The surface area of the different houses ranges from 87.5 to 141 sq.m. Each type of house has its own character, representing different lifestyles. The privacy of the outdoor spaces, views and fire-safety issues of the variations of the basic types of houses presented a challenge during the planning stage.

The external cladding is fine-sawn 25 mm vertical panelling, which complement the horizontal panelling fields. The buildings have proper open eaves and the roof is clad in grey concrete roof tiles. Variety and individuality were the desired goals for this colouring. The load-bearing walls of the bottom floor are made of reinforced concrete and the intermediate floors are made of hollow core slabs. The other wall structures and the roof trusses are made of wood. The blocks have been divided up into fire areas by building a wall between the houses as a fire-rated wall, where necessary. Due to the area’s density, the fire safety requirements were also visible in the eaves, the walls and the windows.

The City of Helsinki held a design competition in autumn 2001 for the Lehtovuori residential block in Konala. The gross floor area is 10,917 sq.m., there are 88 residences and the block density is 0.5. The first block of the area’s three blocks is complete and the last block will be ready in summer 2005.