City Cottage, Small Helsinki Building, Helsinki Weekend House, Finnish Architecture Images
City Cottage in Lauttasaari
26 Feb 2020
City Cottage
Design: Verstas Architects
Location: Lauttasaari, Helsinki, Finland

It is well-known that Finns love to spend time in a cabin and amidst nature. So much so, that spending time in a cabin is possible even in the centre of Helsinki.

City Cottage is a 14 sqm cabin for the 4-person Palva architect family was built in Lauttasaari, only two kilometres from the family home and the parents? workplace.

?This is a way of life?, says Jussi Palva, ?We wanted a place that would be easy to go to, and if necessary we could go home to take a shower or deal with urgent matters. Because our home is so close by, it?s also possible to leave unnecessary stuff at home and bring things to the cabin only when necessary.?
A way of life that preserves nature has during the last few years become a trend in the Helsinki region among young families with children; a 14 sqm city cabin is ?ecological vacationing? at its best. ?Because the cabin is small its building costs are reasonable and the use of electricity is sufficiently low that it can operate with solar energy, even though the cabin is suited for winter use? explains Jussi Palva. ?And of course, a localised lifestyle where you don?t use a car or fly away on holidays is also ecological.

It?s typical for Finnish cities that there are camping areas also within the city limits. When this is combined w...