AIKALISÄ Housing for Seniors

A group of senior citizens formed a housing company and
applied to the City of Helsinki for the right to rent a site in
the new Jätkäsaari area. Jätkäsaari is close to the center of
Helsinki and surrounded by the sea. These kind of initiatives
are highly welcomed by the city. The senior citizens financed
the project by themselves since banks refused to give
mortgage for an unfinished construction of this type. The
housing company hired a project manager and the design
team. First they decided on the common spaces – they
wanted to have more than is usual to apartment buildings.
The architects designed an adaptable building, where the size
of some of the units could be altered. For each unit several
floor plan options were created to act as a starting point for
individual design. Every household met the architect once or
twice and their unit was tailored for them. The building costs
and total costs for the occupants were considerably lower
than the price of condominiums sold in the area