‘Meteorite’ designed by Ateljé Sotamaa is a residential building located in seemingly remote Kontiolahti in eastern Finland. Approached on foot through the woods – as preferred by the architect – it appears a mystical dark object among the trees. The inside of this ultra-modern, ecological, three-storey wood building, however, is another world of open interconnected rooms that integrate with the surrounding landscape.

In the middle of the polyhedron-shaped Meteorite, a tall atrium with a large 10 sq. m. skylight provides an unobstructed view to the stars. Another unique feature of the house is a catamaran net at a height of seven meters on which the residents can “float” to stimulate creative thinking. Meteorite is made of prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, it is insulated by air, and it uses natural ventilation. The building that has captured close to 60 tons of carbon dioxide into its materials is introduced to the public for the first time in an exhibition at the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki during Helsinki Design Week.

“Meteorite is not a large house, but on the inside it represents a completely new 3-dimensional open-concept way of organizing living space,” says Ateljé Sotamaa co-founder Kivi Sotamaa. “Unlike traditional houses where each room has a specific predetermined purpose, Meteorite’s architecture supports more dynamic relationships of its residents and a variety of life situations. Digital design and new prefabrication and construction technologies enable the creation of unique, aesthetically high-quality ecological wood buildings that add experiential value to their locations.”

The building was originally designed to function as a guesthouse for Ulla-Maaria Koivula, founder and CEO of education technology provider ThingLink based in Palo Alto, California, on her grandparents’ old homestead in rural Karelia of Finland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfires raging in California, however, her family has decided to live in and work from the province more or less full-time.

”Every building materializes our relationship with the natural environment,” Koivula says. ”My inspiration to have a unique wood house built in this country sprouted from the rocky hills and rugged woods of Koli, rich in erratic boulders that also served Finland’s defense during the Winter War. Meteorite reflects the connection my soul has to Finnish nature, and looking through one of its large windows to the misty fields around takes me back to the calm days of childhood. We use the house as a creative space for remote work, hobbies and hanging out together. In the old days, families gathered into a large horizontal kitchen space to be together; we now interconnect vertically with each other and with the surrounding nature. In this time and age with effective telecommunications and speed trains to the metropolitan region, this is a paradise for us to get settled into the good life.”

Healthy low-carbon building made of prefabricated components

At best, the massive wood walls of Meteorite contain 4 metres of air insulation, and all building services engineering and technology is hidden inside the walls. Inside the house, there is light Nordic wood all around, no plastic anywhere in the structure, and nothing prone to moulding. The roof, too, is of solid wood, oiled to resist the elements and age beautifully. The large windows bringing in nature are all electrically heated.

”This was a unique project also in terms of structural design and detailing,” says Ahti Rantonen, managing director of structural engineering at Vahanen Group that provides engineering consultancy for landmark projects such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and Musiikkitalo of Helsinki. ”We are delighted about cooperation with Ateljé Sotamaa and hope there will be more opportunities to work on top wood construction projects in the future, regardless of their locations. Important aspects involved include low carbon impact and healthy building. The living experience in Meteorite will be very close to that of a traditional log house with all artificial materials eliminated. Another key element is the digital design and fabrication process. All parts of the house can be prefabricated and assembled on the construction site, which means they need to be computer-modelled on a highly detailed level and delivered on site just on time.”

CREDITS:

Ateljé Sotamaa designed the Meteorite for Ulla Maaria Koivula and her family. The studio is specialized in designing human experiences for unique clients. It was founded to explore and architect beauty, strategy and human experience in the digital age. Ateljé Sotamaa used the newest tools, concepts and cross laminated timber to create the Meteorite. The aim was to delight, to create a sustainable home less boring with more meaning. The design was created by a team that included Kivi Sotamaa, Tuuli Sotamaa, Filippo Fabi, Irene Pace, Pietro Barcaccia & William Dusen.

Vahanen structural engineering services were in a key role in the design of the Meteorite. The success of the project depended on the management of all aspects of construction and innovative structural design. Ahti Rantonen, Kari Saarivirta and Antti Kalliola at Vahanen helped develop the CLT structure and associated details, which made the one-of-a-kind cross laminated structure of the Meteorite possible. They helped ensure that the technical and economic targets of the project were met and outcome was ultimately successful.

Lahden Puurakentajat was responsible was the construction of the Meteorite in collaboration with the local contractor Joen Kodin Rakentajat. The company has special expertise buildings made with CLT, which are characterized by ecology, health, building sustainability, energy efficiency, serviceability and short construction time. With the Meteorite the company to demonstrated their unique skill and ingenuity in realizing complex mass timber structures, which are great to live in.

SAAS Instruments design for Meteorite lighting was driven by attention to how people interact with one another, how productive they are, and how much time they want to spend in the building. It is precisely the one of a kind of spatial experience, which that has turned SAAS into one of the world’s leading experts in innovative, high-quality lighting. SAAS used the latest technology such as fibre optics and LED for the project. Technology is their heritage. But moreover, they understand the poetry of light and its significance to architecture.

Finnglass customized the glazing solutions for the Meteorite’s demanding needs. Right from the start, the company worked with Ateljé Sotamaa in order to define the specifications and technical properties, such as tolerances and mechanical strength, taking into account the customer’s wishes and local building codes. For example, the 10m2 electrically heated skylight is installed flush with the roof surface using structural glazing. Its heated surface melts away snow and ice during the winter so that the sky remains always visible.

In addition to the project partners there has been several key players behind the realization of the Meteorite. Most importantly Markku Immonen/Joen Kodin Rakentajat, and Eero Liimatta. Other contributors have been Hoisko CLT, Chips and Bricks/Olli Pyykönen, Grado, Alufront and Jotset.

Ateljé Sotamaa:

Kivi Sotamaa & Tuuli Sotamaa

Design Team: Filippo Fabi, Irene Pace, Pietro Barcaccia & William Dusen.

Vahanen:

Ahti Rantonen, Kari Saarivirta and Antti Kalliola

Lahden Puurakentajat & Joen Kodin Rakentajat.

SAAS Instruments

Finnglass

Hoisko CLT

Chips and Bricks