Apartments
5
Tähtitorninkatu 18
Year
2023
Location
Helsinki
Area
710 m²
Photography
Atte Aaltonen
Design Team
Pauli Siponen
Noona Lappalainen
Atte Aaltonen
Apartments
5
Entisiin toimistotiloihin syntyi 5 uutta asuntoa Tähtitorninmäen laidalla
Avarrus was able to design 5 new apartments for the office in a familiar building on the edge of Tähtitorninmäki. The Finnish Missionary Society's dormitory, office and church building, designed by K.A. Wrede and completed in two parts in 1900 and 1906, is divided into two different addresses: Tähtitorninkatu 16 and Tähtitorninkatu 18.
In 2020, a total of 26 apartments designed by Avarrus were completed on the Tähtitorninkatu 16 side of the building in the former office premises of the Sending Society. In the 2020 change, the protected church hall located at the other end of the building, the banquet hall and the office spaces above and below it were still in the possession of the Missionary Society.
The challenging site required careful planning.
Shortly after the completion of the apartments at Tähtitorninkatu 16, the planning of the vacant office space at Tähtitorninkatu 18 for the Mission began to be turned into five apartments. What makes the four-story part special is the church hall in the middle of the building, which is protected in the site plan and remains in use. Building apartments above and below the church hall was really challenging in many ways, because the building technology and acoustic improvements had to be implemented inside the apartments without disturbing the church hall. The handsome organ in the church hall brought additional challenges to the acoustics, the sound levels of which were measured several times.
In the new apartments, classic material choices that proved to be successful in the previous conversion were used. High quality is created by customized furniture solutions, such as bench furniture in the hall, integrated household appliances and built-in mirror cabinets in the bathrooms. What makes the apartments unique is also their different windows and views: There are French balconies and skylights, as well as a rose window, from which there are views of both Tähtitorninpuisto and the shared courtyard at Tähtitorninkatu 16.
The apartments are accessed via the previously renovated Tähtitorninkatu 16 stairwell. New extensions were made to the stairwell, matching the old one. The restored stairwell at Tähtitorninkatu 18 will continue to serve the church's guests. A coloring study was prepared for the stairwell, which served as a guideline for color choices. The final color scheme was defined together with the City Museum, taking as a starting point the oldest color layer found.
