The three-storey brick-façaced retirement home built in the Kuukkari district of Pori in the 1970s no longer responded to the requirements of contemporary senior’s housing in terms of accessibility and communality. On the site of the demolished building, a new wooden apartment building was built, following the parameters of the town plan of the wooden house district.

The three-storey block of flats is an example of the new wood building trend in Finland after decades of oblivion of wooden buildings due to fire safety regulations. In recent years, the regulations have been changed so that the wood is once again suitable building material for public buildings and even for service buildings such as this senior housing.

The building was designed by architects Hilla Rudanko, Anssi Kankkunen, Sanna Sunela, Valter Rutanen and Elli Hirvonen and it was completed in 2018. 

Source: Finnish Architectural Review 1/2019