Cozy homes and large grounds
Child-friendly Martinlaakso
Within walking distance of Martinlaakso shopping centre and train station, this apartment building features charming shared grounds and fully modernised homes. It was originally built in 1970 and fully modernised and refurbished in 2022–2023 with new plumbing, electrical systems, balconies and facades.
The layouts of these bright homes are practical and open. Most of the homes have a glassed-in balcony with opaque glass railing, the others a Juliet balcony. The building has seven residential storeys, four stairwells and a ground-level basement floor with storage units and plenty of room for bicycles and baby carriages. The practical apartments range in size from studios to three-bedrooms. The pleasant green play and lounging area south of the building is shared with the adjacent building.
This is a ARA house, which means assets of the person (or family or other people moving in) selected as a resident must meet the requirements set by the state. The selection of tenants for these apartments is based on a needs assessment in which assets as well as housing needs and income level are used as criteria.
The apartment walls are painted in an off-white shade, the floors are in pale grey oak-effect laminate. The windows are fitted with Venetian blinds and feature double curtain tracks.
The modern kitchens are equipped with an induction cooktop with 2 or 4 burners. All appliances are white: a 45- or 60-cm dishwasher, cooker hood, oven and fridge-freezer. There is space for a microwave in the kitchen units. The upper cabinets are beige and lowers are light oak. The countertops are done in grey, slightly textured laminate, the recessed sinks in stainless steel and the backsplash in pale-coloured composite panel.
The spacious bathrooms feature low-maintenance Kide bathroom furniture, which is made in Finland. The bathroom floors are done in grey and the walls in larger white tile. The ceiling has alder wood panelling in a warm shade. The corner shower enclosure has folding doors. In addition, all homes have hook-ups and space for a washing machine: in the kitchen for studios, in the bathroom for all other homes. The wet rooms have electric underfloor heating. The bathroom door threshold has a vertical height of slightly over 5 cm and the bathroom floor is also similarly higher than the other floors of the home; the home is therefore not fully accessible.
The buildings have an air extraction system with cooker hood boosting. The property is heated mainly with geothermal energy. Heat distribution takes place though hot-water radiator heating.
Residents share access to a sauna section, laundry and drying room. There are five storage rooms for outdoor equipment and also three baby carriage storage rooms next to the stairwell entrances. Seven separate spaces, one of them the civil defence shelter, are allocated to storage. There are also toilets on the basement floor. The building’s waste containers are located in the yard.
There are 42 parking spaces and more than 200 places for bicycles.