Project Ö – Behind the Design

Aleksi Hautamäki – a designer of spatial planning in a commercial context, shares an in-depth look at how all the design decisions and details came together when designing his private house “Project Ö” for his family on an archipelago of Finland.
“My design philosophy in this case, as well as in my work in general, starts with the user. And I’ve been thinking of course – as being the user myself in this project, what I want here and what we need here”.

Harmonious design and a rugged landscape

The couple’s aim was to find a visual and functionable wood material for the exterior claddings, terraces, and interior to achieve the perfect outcome.

Aleksi sheds some light onto the relationship of shapes in design, which correspond with the surrounding scenery and on the conventional architectural style at archipelagos.

“The building has a log frame. Log houses are usually characterized by thick horizontal logs, giving away a certain kind of feeling”.

“I wanted something a little more modern, with thin upright wood cladding, which is irregular and not even, so it just blends in. It feels like it fits well in this kind of place”.

The facade is finished with vertical Lunawood cladding   

Choosing Lunawood to enhance functional design

The absolute requirement was that the exterior materials withstand the harsh weather condition of Finland and respect modern and minimalistic design.

Lunawood Thermowood was therefore chosen as the wood material for the sauna.

The material was used for the exterior and interior decking, exterior cladding, interior panelling, and benches for the sauna.

“I was familiar with Lunawood and had visited the factory. I’ve seen the manufacturing process, so to me it was such an interesting brand”.

“There are different widths, it is dimensionally accurate, it has an appealing appearance and it grays naturally. As planed, Lunawood Thermowood is very smooth, scarp, it’s lightweight to carry and has enough variety”, Aleksi sums.

The end-result is a modern yet modest family house, creating a safe and cozy atmosphere for the owners and due to its timeless design, leveraging all available space.

The future of architecture and user-based design

According to Aleksi himself, hopes are for far more than just the exterior design of the building. Aleksi hopes that in the future, the interior, the user, and above all, the user’s needs will be taken into account during the design process.

He feels that nowadays in architecture, the focus is on the bulk of a building and exterior dimensions, while quality living takes place inside of a building.

When asking for Aleksi’s vision, we asked how he would like to see architecture to develop in the future.

In response, Aleksi hopes architects of the future will use the dimensions of a building wisely to also pay more attention to the material consumption.

“Not just to build houses too big for your own sake, and because you can, but use the squares wisely and as less as possible”.