Linnanpuisto Housing

SOHA

Architects Eveliina Sarapää, Franka Oroza
Project Type conversion, maintenance building into residences
Location Vyökatu 3, Helsinki
Gross Area 496 m2
Original Building 1890
Completion 2026

Architect Franka Oroza: The red-brick courtyard building, built in 1890, is part of the old prison complex in the Katajanokka district.  The founder of our office, architect Eveliina Sarapää purchased the building from the city a while back with an intention to design, convert and repair it for residential use. 

In addition to the design, our office was one of the project’s speculative developers. This enabled bolder solutions than usual, and the implementation of a comprehensive vision. As architects, we wanted to challenge the slick and conventional solutions of modern housing construction and show that solutions that stem from the location, and repairable, natural materials that age authentically, together create architecture with more layers, personality and connections to the surrounding place and its history.

The starting point for the design was the historical values ​​of the listed building, the grittiness of the materials characteristic of the era and the natural integration of the building into its surroundings when its use undergoes change. The design was carried out in cooperation with the Helsinki City Museum.

The exterior brick walls, the granite foundations, and the load-bearing brick walls were preserved of the old building. The selection of new materials was guided by respect for the long history of the area and the building. It means that the building will stand for the next 150 years, and even after it is no longer standing for whatever reason, the materials, having already been processed once, can continue their story in the next use.

Photos Pyry-Pekka Kantonen 
Drawings SOHA

The listed maintenance building belongs to a nationally significant built cultural environment. The original architect is unknown, but it is likely Theodor Decker.
The courtyard building is part of the old prison complex in the Katajanokka district.
The wooden section of the original facade was rebuilt.
The original exterior walls and structure were reinforced with concrete pilasters in the interior. A new layer of brick in the interior improves envelope airtightness and thermal insulation.
The interior brickwork was carried out with surplus bricks found in the building contractor’s warehouse.
All brickwork repairs were carried out using old bricks salvaged from the old firebreak floor, partition walls and new window openings.
The interior walls have been either plastered with clay or painted with clay paint.
All five apartments span two storeys.

Plan of a 86 m2 apartment with 4 rooms and kitchen-living room.
The cabinets in the kitchens and bathrooms are a solid wood furniture series developed by the architects, which saves on materials and transport because it can be assembled on site, and disassembled and reassembled.
Soapstone from Juuka was used in the bathrooms. 
The windows and doors are wood. The stairs and wooden details are built on site from Finnish pine.

Published in 3 – 2026 - Small Interventions

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