VILLA KOIVIKKO FEATURED AS HOUSE OF THE MONTH IN THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD

The renovated and restored Villa Koivikko, a landmarked residence designed by Aarne Ervi in 1958, is featured as the House of the Month in the September 2021 issue of the Architectural Record. 

In the project to renovate the villa, ”Our starting point was to celebrate the beauty of Ervi’s architecture, then to add to the complex in a way that would meet the needs of the current owners and their lifestyle” Anssi Lassila describes in an interview for the Architectural Record. The brief given by the new owner of the villa was to make it a place where the family could relax while he focused on his work as an author in a new, separate writer’s studio. His only requirement was that any new buildings had to be of the same high caliber as the original villa and the caretaker’s house.

The main villa of reinforced concrete, brick and iroko wood was restored and partly renovated, and three new wooden buildings including a writer’s studio, a freestanding car shelter, and a sauna, were added to complement the villa. The caretaker’s house, part of the original design by Ervi, was also renovated and a geothermal heating system was built to provide an energy efficient and ecologically sustainable way of heating.

Located on a forested lakeside hill just outside Helsinki, the villa is used by its new owners as a second home all year-round. The name Koivikko means “birch grove”. 

Anssi Lassila of OOPEAA is the architect in charge of the restoration, renovation and extension of the Villa Koivikko. Studio Petra Majantie acted as the interior architect and client’s representative on the project. The project was carried out under the supervision of the landmark authorities. The landscape design was developed in close partnership with VSU Landscape Architects. The cabinetry and wooden detailing for the project was realized by Punavuoren puuhevonen.

To read the full article written by Wendy Moonan on the Architectural Record, see HERE

To learn more about the project for the renovation of the Villa Koivikko, see HERE.