The Wooden Urban Village of Myllypuro:
Competition entry housing in Helsinki, Finnland, 2003
The subject of the architectural competition “The wooden urban village of Myllypuro” in Helsinki, Finland, is part of the Modern Wooden Town, a nationwide umbrella project whose objective is to use wooden construction to create residential environments.
Beautiful rocks, woodland and natural waterbeds are an asset , close to the town centre. As much as possible of this character should be preserved. The Land is left as given and the buildings place themselves carefully on stilts within the landscape.
The fortification park and the artillery road leading to it create a natural border. The view and the walk up to this park is left free of houses. The unbuilt landscape merges with the planned green corridor on the north of the site.
On each side two very different landscape situations are contrasting environments which show the versatility of the proposed system: upland//lowland:myllypuro
lowland: The benefits of urban anonymity, combined with the security of direct neighbours, is supported by the larger units. Most of the houses are up to three storeys high and are located, thanks to the change in level, close to the street, giving the area an urban feel while still providing the necessary privacy.
upland: On the ridge of the two hills separated by Ratasmyllyntie the wild rocky landscape suggest a concentrated blockplan. The housing units are placed around a communal yard in “Clusters”, concentrating the access road, parking facilities and hard surfaced areas to a minimum.
The one room planning principle applies a single room size for all required functions. This means using a limited kit of parts, allowing maximum flexibility for initial and future use.The one room is based on a wooden construction grid of 62,5cm. The internal dimensions are 3,75 x 5m.
The one room planning system is optimised for prefabricated construction. Each house is based on the same system and can be produced in a systemised way. This also allows for later additions and can be dismantled to be recycled as housing.
Single concrete foundations are the base for the wooden columns upon which the building is placed. The span between the columns doesn’t exceed 5m. The good thermal qualities of wood construction frees the planing and allows loadbearing structures to stand free.
The façades are clad with vertical timber boarding. Impregnated, it retains its natural colouring and structure.
