Professor | Satu Huuhka and Ari Rahikainen
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Control Studio
Joana Ferreira
Isabella Pollak
Rafael Candau
PUU, a (water) research center is located at a peninsula, at the lake Lounaja, in Suomussalmi in Finland’s Middle East. In this location, the presence of large wood amount is a meaningful part of this research work. In order to make the best use of local resources, the project is based on this special one, trying to combine function, structure and design. This adaptation to a local landscape allows us to have a sustainable use of energy and raw material, and the logistical problem of material transportation is already solved.
The starting point of the design process was to create a space division between working and living, orienting itself according to sun position. Facing North, the living space is looking at the lake, with many tall and open windows. The working space, where are situated offices and the laboratory, is facing the forest in the south. The bedrooms are situated on the first level of the working area, and can be reached by a staircase situated in the middle of these two spaces, connecting both of them. This staircase can only be reached by the living area, so the work and living spaces can have different functions and times for who lives there.
At the end, as proposed, this building can be use for many different functions, besides a research center. As it is an open space, divided into only two areas (with no walls) it can be used as a museum or exhibition place. The wall that divides the rooms space is pre-fabricated, and can easily be removed, as well as all the other walls in the ground floor. At the end, we can have only one big space on the ground floor and a second one on the first floor. The sauna building can be used as a viewpoint for the Lounaja lake.