Mäihä is a  five-floor wooden apartment building, due to be completed for next summer's Housing Fair in Pruukinranta, Seinäjoki. 

Construction of the modules at Stora Enso's factory starts in early 2016. The completed modules will be installed between January and February. The installation is expected to take roughly a week per floor. A clear advantage of modular construction is that the modules are built in dry factory conditions and installed during dry weather.

Picture: http://asuntomessut.fi/ajankohtaista/maiha-nousee-seinajoen-messualueella/

Lakea Ltd celebrated its forty years of operation on June 5^th, 2015 in Seinäjoki. 

Lakea's day of celebration included seminar and evening celebrations. Architect's a-live members Markku Hedman and Sini Kotilainen presented research done for Lakea at TUT in the celebration seminar "Future housing" held at the Frami in Seinäjoki.  

Architect's a-live's plans for the future housing can also be read from Lakea's anniversary publication Lakean lailla - Näkökulmia asumiseen 1975 - 2024, written by Päivi Karvinen.

Architects a-live congratulate Lakea on such a successful 40-year journey!

Picture: Lakea Ltd, http://www.lakea.fi/Lakean-40v-juhlapaiva-kuvina

The final report of the TUT's ModuLakea project was published in The Future of Housing –seminar on the 7th of May 2015 in the Museum of Finnish Architecture. The objective set for TUT'’s and Lakea Oy’s project ModuLakea has been developing the construction of CLT-framed timber modular apartment building.

Work done in ModuLakea project were presented on 7th of May 2015 in the Museum of Finnish Architecture in the seminar called The Future of Housing. The ModuLakea study consists of theoretical analysis as well as practical design and it has incorporated two case designs. During the seminar project’s final report Asukaslähtöinen puukerrostalokortteli tilaelementeistä (Resident-oriented modular timber framed housing block) was also published.
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CLT-framed timber construction is currently one of the most interesting method of residential construction. It has possibilities to regenerate the Finnish apartment production significantly. The challenge is that a wide range of architects are not yet well familiar with the characteristics of the construction that affect also design. The report gathers information about CLT-framed timber construction. The aim of the ModuLakea study was to both determine necessary areas of development regarding modular timber framed building construction from the viewpoint of architectural and housing design; and to function as a resource for ideas and knowledge regarding the design of modular timber framed housing blocks.
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For further information, check out Lakea’s article of the event: Asumisen tulevaisuutta tehdään nyt (The future of housing is implemented now.)

Picture: Lakea, http://www.lakea.fi/Asumisen-tulevaisuutta-tehdaan-nyt

Architects a-live has been designing a residential block for Mältinkallio district in Uusikaupunki. The initial design of the residential block is ready on schedule.

The design task has consisted of analyzing the area and evaluating various options for the site. The design has been carried out in cooperation with Lakea Oy and the representatives of Uusikaupunki's city planning,  including city architect Leena Arvela-Hellén. The design has taken into account both the special features of the beautiful area and the site, as well as the possibility to build the residential block using wooden modules.

Real-time mobile polls pertaining to solutions of urban housing were carried out in the interactive housing design evening concerning Lakea's and TUT's ModuLakea project. 127 comments and ideas for improving residential construction cascaded in the comment box during the evening. The interactive housing design evening was related to the ModuLakea research project by the Tampere University of Technology and Lakea.

The interactive housing design evening that took place on Tuesday, the 10th of March, managed to establish dialogue between residents, developers, and the research organisation. Interactive housing design evening was organized by Architects a-live memebers Sini Kotilainen and Markku Hedman. An inclusive idea forge regarding the possibilities of urban living was organised on Tuesday evening at the Kokkola town hall, but the event could be attended virtually via the Internet from anywhere in the country or the world. 

Picture Päivi Karvinen.