Hanasaari residential area

The scheme, called “Tropaion”, consists of five perimeter blocks of varying heights covered with the roof terraces of the uppermost apartments on the site of the coal mount of the Hanasaari power plant. The blocks form gigantic bowl shapes with sea views from all terraces and a sense of community and togetherness for the residents.

The courtyards of the perimeter blocks will form semi-private spaces, which the residents of Helsinki are very fond of. The public streets in-between the blocks will offer the residents street-level shops and services. Building heights vary from 16 floors down to two, with varying housing typologies and apartment sizes included within the same block.

The methodology of this project was rigid. We first started by analyzing the views to and from the site, the functions surrounding it and the nature of the immediate surroundings. The eastern shore was given an industrial nature, the western was made into a park.

A traditional Helsinki city block structure projected onto the site was shaped to fit long vistas across the site and broken up to minimize wind acceleration. The corners of the buildings were rounded to smooth out wind loads. Sea views were maximized by lifting up the buildings by the shoreline and opening up the public spaces outward to the sea. Streetscapes were given a human scale by lowering the buildings down to two floors in central areas. These moves give the area its bowl-like topology.

When the design was published, the general public responded with enthusiasm to the promise of something different on the very conservative Finnish housing market. The City, however, ended up redesigning the block structure while waiting for the closure of the coal-fired power plant on the site.