Villa Miekka is a single-family CLT house in Vantaa. The building forms a small-scale, sympathetic whole in its surroundings and slips into a fairly dense low-rise neighbourhood while giving it a fresh, uplifting character.
The starting points for the design were mass timber and arranging the client’s desired spaces into a functional whole suitable for a family with children. The large site made it possible to build mainly on one level, which was also important to the client. The house has places both for everyday encounters and for retreat. The spaces for different activities are connected, while each forms a clear area of its own. This flowing sequence was created by stepping the mass and opening views through the spaces.
The main building consists of two elongated gabled volumes along the northern and southern edges of the site, reaching furthest into the yard. The northern volume is the bedroom wing, with a full-height attic above containing craft and living spaces. The southern volume has a sauna area with terraces and a hot tub, a study, and a multipurpose room that can be used, for example, for watching films. The volumes are joined by a lower central section, reached through the building’s formal entrance. The central “meeting area” also contains a large living room and kitchen with dining space. All rooms bordering the south-western yard have access to the terrace, whose covered dining area includes a masonry bread oven as a special feature.
The main building’s frame is made of cross-laminated solid timber, or CLT. The exterior is clad in translucent-painted spruce panelling. Inside, most of the wood was left visible and given a lightly translucent finish. Oak and oak tones were used in the built-in fittings, internal doors, the multipurpose room’s glass sliding doors, and the acoustic slatted ceiling between the dining and living areas. The bedroom wing ceilings are made of multilayer wood board, or rema board, finished in the tone of the walls. The living-room fireplace and terrace bread oven were rendered light.
