Published in 2/2025 - Housing Reform
Kuokkalan Kalon
Rental, right-of-occupancy, owner-occupied and senior housing
Architects Kristiina Kuusiluoma, Martino De Rossi, Paula Leiwo, Emma Savela
Location Syöttäjänkatu 6, Jyväskylä
Gross Area 13 009 m2
Completion 2024
When designing the church in Kuokkala, the aim was to build a church that looks like a church in the middle of the village. Now, adjacent to the church, has been built a house that looks like a house, which will grow into a natural part of the existing urban structure: the gable roofs and wood and stone building materials link Kalon to the church and the nearby Puukuokka wooden apartment block, both designed by OOPEAA. Kalon stands for ethically good and purposeful beauty in Greek.
The Kalon block is based on the winning entry in the 2018 Housing Reform competition and offers a wide range of different housing types: senior housing, rental and right-of-occupancy apartments, as well as owner-occupied apartments.
All entrances to the buildings are located on the cosy courtyard side. The common spaces, both indoors and outdoors, create natural meeting places for the residents of all five apartment buildings. The amount of common spaces even exceeds that of the competition proposal. Residents can pop into the community kitchen for a coffee or a chat while waiting for the washing to finish in the laundry room. Mail is delivered to mailboxes located in the common areas, so residents have the opportunity to chat while fetching the mail. Living comfort is enhanced in each apartment by a glazed summer room, which serves as a year-round additional space.
The entire area is served by a system of shared cars, which reduces the need for parking spaces. Energy is obtained from geothermal energy and solar panels on the roofs.
The design focused on accessibility and the absence of thresholds. This required special attention in a wooden building, as there is a notable difference in height between the wooden walls and the ground due to the ventilated subfloor.
The senior rental apartments in House D (Maija) have been designed specifically for people with memory disorders, where they can live a normal life independently for as long as possible. In residential design, memory-friendly living means a living environment that is easy to perceive, with sufficient lighting, and the built environment, routes and visibility guide people from one place to another. The building is the first residential building in Finland that supports normal living for people with memory disorders. ↙
Text Martino De Rossi
Photos Kalle Kouhia, Niclas Mäkelä, Aarni Salomaa
