Espoo´s Housing Fair offers insight into the latest trends and innovations in interior design and construction

The planning and construction of the Espoo Housing Fair have been guided by the principle themes of  “work and housing”, “community spirit,” “diversity of housing solutions” and “interior design”. These themes will be incorporated into this summer’s fair events and a number of projects at the fairs will provide insights into housing and living.

The themes of the Espoo Housing Fair were published today at the Travel Fair, held at the Trade Fair Centre. The Safety Censor Project, conducted by the University of Technology, was presented as a prime example of  a solution that promotes safety within the living environment.

The Espoo Housing Fair will be held in Kauklahti between the 14.7-13.8. 2006. The site of the housing fair will be spread over 13 hectares and will showcase a vast diversity of housing solutions. The area will have over thirty detached houses, numerous terraced and semi-detached houses, as well as four low-rise apartment buildings. The total number of  residences found within the fair area will amount to 263.

- Espoo is a fast growing city and between 2,000 and 3,000 new homes are being built annually. Western Espoo, especially Kauklahti, is one of the most rapidly expanding  target areas for residential building in the capital area. The Espoo Housing Fair area is a prime example of harmonious supplementary development in one of the local centres of Espoo. The current residents of the area will also benefit, as services will be improved because of the fair says, Technical Services Director Olavi Louko.

- At Kauklahti  you can find  a “ low-rise home” to suit everyone’s taste. Compact, low- rise residential areas  bring  state of the art low- rise living into the reach of everyone. During the planning of the site, special consideration was given to the attractiveness of the area and its sense of community spirit. Compact residential areas, abundant nature and humane dimensions create a sense of security,” adds Mr Louko.

The concept of  the ecological interaction between work and home life has been the basis for the planning of the Kauklahti residential area. The area offers a variety of recreational activities and a well functioning public transportation system for its residents. Everything is within easy distance of Kauklahti and there are excellent transport connections. The railway line offers a fast and effortless means of transportation to the centre of Helsinki. However, if you have your own vehicle, Ring Road Three provides easy access to the road network around the capital area.

The combination of work and home life has been taken into account at Espoo Housing Fair. Because of the increasing flexibility of working hours more and more people are working remotely, at least part of the time, therefore special working spaces are needed either within the home or in connection with them. There are also an ever-growing number of small business owners who need to have well designed homes that are also able to function as bases for their business activities.

- The Kauklahti Housing Fair has risen to the challenge of working- space design and will be exhibiting examples of functional workrooms in the detached homes, as well as different types of workspaces and business premises in the cellars of the rental apartment blocks. All in all, at Kauklahti, we are building a huge fair event, says Pasi Heiskanen,the Managing Director of the Finnish Housing Fair.

As well as tips on construction and renovation the Espoo housing fair showcases interior design ideas for all areas of the home. The fair has over fifty interior designed homes that showcase the latest trends and models within a real environment.

- The housing fair is the largest interior design event of the year. At the fair we have all the most significant players in the business- from designers to manufacturers. In addition to the show homes there is also a separate interior design exhibition. There will also be an advice clinic, open daily, so that visitors to the fair can ask for advice about interior design and house planning from professionals in the field, says Mr Heiskanen.

As well as house planning and interior design the fair also provides advice on mechanical engineering planning as well as a building cost calculator.


Kauklahti – a safe, village-style community

Living environments have a clear impact on how safe residents feel within their own housing area. At Kauklahti we have strived to create a village-style community, where residents can interact with each other and nature is an innate part of daily life. At the heart of the area there is also Palttina park. Forested hills border and define the residential area and there is abundant plant life. The compact building lay -out of the area has also been harmoniously balanced by green spaces and beautiful planted yards.

Experimental technical solutions have been incorporated into the homes at the fair, which would for example; improve safety for the elderly living at home. The Universtiy of Technology´s laboratory  of applied electronics has developed an under floor safety sensor system that can be used to track the movements of an occupant around the home.

The safety sensor has been installed in Alkuasunnot Ltd ´s Klippinkitie 5 residence for the disabled. The building will have a total of nine residences for the disabled that will be let by Invalidiliitto ry. They residences will be let out to the chosen occupants and will be equipped to suit their individual needs.

- The sensors will be firmly installed into the construction of the flooring and they will be a permanent fixture. All the required technical equipment will be installed and in working order to display to the public during the duration of the fair. After the fair the scope of the sensors will be adapted to the needs of the chosen occupants says the developer of the project’s system, Professor Raimo Sepponen.


The Fair in Brief

- The themes of interior design, work and home, community spirit and housing diversity.

- The fair will be held between the 14.7-13.8. 2006

- The largest and most multi-dimensional fair to date. The housing solutions on show are the most diverse in the history of the fair.

- At the fair you can find something to suit everyone .In total there are in total 58 residences comprising detached and semi-detached houses, low -rise apartments, coupled detached houses and terraced houses. The average size of the detached homes is 165 square metres.

- Around 600 residents will be moving to the area and a total of 263 homes have been constructed of which 117 are earmarked as rental accommodation for young people.

- The fair area comprises of; 25 detached houses built independently by their future occupant families, 9 separate detached homes built by developers; 23 coupled -detached homes, 4 semi -detached houses, 14 terraced house and 4 low rise apartment blocks.

source: Finnish Housing Fair