76 Mannerheimintie Street in Helsinki with a green courtyard

The building, which was completed in 1979, originally as an office complex, has now been turned into a residential building with modern, functional apartments.

Architectural firm Arkkitehdit Kirsi Korhonen and Mika Penttinen Oy has succeeded in the challenging task of converting the full volume of the building representing the modular precast construction of its time and standing on a busy main street into apartments that meet modern requirements. A diverse distribution of space has been used in the apartments which are based on different solutions. The street level of the converted building is taken up by a grocery store.

The original building utilised column and beam construction with a precast concrete frame structure. The external walls are precast sandwich units. The original staircases and lift shafts have been preserved. Building frame structures are visible in the apartments but the columns and load bearing beams have been rendered over. The solution of an open balcony with a metal railing is one that is commonly seen in the older stone buildings in Helsinki. The residents of the reformed building also have access to a green courtyard.

The carbon footprint of the conversion project is 60% smaller than what would have been the carbon footprint of a completely new building. Up to 90% of the demolition waste from the building was recycled and the degree of waste reuse was 98.5%.

Read the entire article in Finnish and see the images >>