Project: MK5 House
Architects: Ortraum Architects
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Area: 2,475 sq ft
Photographs by: Marc Goodwin
MK5 House by Ortraum Architects
The MK5 House is a project by Ortraum Architects, located in a forest outside of Helsinki, Finland. This home for a family of five is placed on a site that allows for maximum privacy while, the main living areas can still enjoy west facing views towards the ocean.
The first floor hosts the living areas while the second floor is where the four bedrooms are located.
MK5 is the latest project of ORTRAUM Architects, built for one of the partners of the office and his family of five. The house is placed on a south-west sloping 500m2 site, located on the Jollas Peninsula east of the Helsinki city centre.
The architecture features a central kink inplan, which (according to the Finnish tradition) avoids a direct view towards the neighbours, andleads the main spaces to face the ocean towards the west.
The building’s relationship to the natural surroundings inspired the diverse placement of the windows, framing the changing views and daylight qualities in each direction. The open-plan living room is accessed from the north and located on the ground floor, sauna functions and building services are placed in the basement.
The four bedrooms are located upstairs. The geometric layout of the plan accumulates on the mezzanine level, where the three children’s rooms and the master bedroom connect in the centre point of the building, allowing for multiple consultation options before bedtime.
The structure of MK5 consist of highly customized CLT elements. In addition to the building’s electrical system, the ventilation system and lighting fixtures are fully integrated into the CLT elements. Siberian Larch timber is used for the façade, the flooring, and the furniture. Custom fabricated copper parts frame the windows.
The façade materials are chosen to allow the building to patinate naturally and age gracefully with time. On the south side of the building vertical wires are stretched from the building eaves to the terrace deck below, designed for hops climbers to grow to create a “green screen”, providing an extra curtain of privacy from the road.
