Harjunkulma Housing Block

Jyväskylä, Finland

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Harjunkulma Housing Block

Jyväskylä, Finland

Firm

Kirsti Sivén & Asko Takala Arkkitehdit Oy

Type

Residential › Apartment Multi Unit Housing

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

SIZE

10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET

$50M - 100M

Photos

Tuomas Uusheimo Photography (8), Kirsti Sivén & Asko Takala Arkkitehdit Oy (2), Sampo Sikiö (1)

Harjunkulma Housing Block
Jyväskylä, 2007-2014

The town plan for the Harjunkulma housing block was originally based on a design by Peter Zumthor. The idea was to create a monolithic glass block enclosing a vast courtyard. Our office was invited to design the block in 2004, when the town plan had not yet been ratified. The feasibility testing and detailed outlining of the plan were carried out concurrently with the schematic design of the buildings. The first building of the block was not completed until 2007, and altogether it took about ten years from our first sketches to get the whole block completed.
The challenge of the task was to make the image of a glass edifice meet the functions of living in a city center, the demands of ecological responsibility and the local cost level. Balconies with tall sliding glass panels cover three sides of the block and provide a buffering zone towards the streets. The walls behind the glass curtain are made of wood. The fourth side is facing north-east to a street with busy traffic, and the idea of the glass façade had to be applied by different means there. The courtyard side has a completely different rhythm and appearance created by free-shaped pavilions added to the main body. The concepts and materials of the facades are also different inside the block. The main parts of the courtyard facades have strip-like patterns resembling birch bark, and the pavilions are clad with sheet metal. This new urban block brings life to the centre of Jyväskylä – a university town – and in the evenings shines like a large lantern.
Dwellings are of reasonable sizes, a good part of them facing both towards the street and the courtyard. Ample daylight flows and main spaces continue through the dwelling. Vast glazed balconies widen the living room outdoors. The dwellings have no luxury but good design for everyday life.