Tag Archives: studio puisto

This micro resort in remote Finland is made from three prefab tiny timber cabins!

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How many people wish they had their own little retreat? Studio Puisto has developed a new, modular accommodation that it believes would make it easier for people to open a small, sustainable resort anywhere.

The Helsinki-based architecture firm designed its new, prefab units in collaboration with nature tourism entrepreneur Kari Vainio and installed the first prototype in the forest of Hyvinkää, Finland. One U-shaped, 1,205-square-foot Uni Villa, as the design is called, consists of two studio units along with a larger suite. Each unit comes with a keyless check-in system and readymade furniture. Uni means “dream” in Finnish; as such, Studio Puisto wants other aspiring hospitality entrepreneurs to be able to realize their dreams of running their own micro-resorts.

This first Uni Villa is tucked into Kytäjä Golf, which won the title of Best in Finland in 2020. Two courses designed by Canadian golf course architect Thomas McBroom are set in an unusual natural forest and lake environment. Kytäjä Golf is only 45 minutes from the Helsinki airport.

The prefabricated, U-shaped blocks can be delivered via standard truck and are designed to sit on a compact foundation. The dark exteriors feature cross-laminated timber to blend into the forested areas. “The cladding is treated with a breathable and ecological dark oil stain that creates uniformity with the environment,” architect Sami Logren told Dwell. The designers created distinctly different looks for the suite versus the studios. The suites are furnished in dark wood and earthy textiles, while studio décor is much lighter in color. Both borrow their palettes from the natural world, with neutral furniture and gray, stone-like bathroom tiles.

Indeed, the architects strove for comfort and accessibility to nature while blending in with the forested surroundings. “Sustainability and a low environmental impact are key values in our design process,” Logren said. “These values correlate with the current state of how people want to connect with nature to gain calm.”

Designer: Studio Puisto

This cabin is elevated by a single pillar above Finland’s dense forest for an immersive winter getaway!

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Dedicated to providing eco-friendly micro-hospitality solutions in far-reaching destinations, Studio Puisto is at it again. Following the success of their tiny, modular cabin design, ‘Space of Mind’, Studio Puisto, a sustainable interior design studio based in Finland, recently debuted the first prototype of cabins soon to be part of a larger hospitality project called Kivijärvi Resort. Once completed, the resort, situated near Salamajärvi National Park, will comprise of 25 cabins that vary in both design and structure to adhere to the ever-changing landscape of Finland’s dense, snow-covered forest, offering accommodations for guests looking for an elevated, yet immersive getaway in nature.

The resort’s first completed cabin is called Niliaitta, which refers to the traditional storage structure built at the end of a high pillar, used by the Sámi people to store food and equipment, keeping it safe from the grasp of hungry or curious wildlife. In order to immerse guests of Kivijärvi Resort in the elements of nature as safely, but also as close as possible, Studio Puisto installed a floor-to-ceiling window that stands some distance from the cabin’s deep gable roof. From Niliaitta’s front-facing window, guests enjoy the most dominant landscapes as the cabin’s location was purposefully selected to offer the most unobstructed views of Finland’s forest and nearby body of water. The cabin itself is painted twilight black to disappear into the darkness come night, but the warm, wooden panels that line Niliaitta’s interiors provide a cozy refuge that glows with relaxed, ambient lighting.

Maintaining the forest’s original terrain was a top priority for the architects at Studio Puisto, which meant that Niliaitta’s location was strategically decided upon based on whichever location required the least number of trees to be cut down. Since the whole structure rests only on a single pillar, there was only minimal contact with the natural environment and landscape during construction – the final structure requiring the removal of only a few trees. When sourcing their material for construction, Studio Puisto avoided plastic, opting instead for wood to build the cabin’s frame, walls, roof, and base. In a similar pursuit of sustainability, Niliaitta was insulated using eco-wool, a natural type of thermal insulation that traps air in millions of tiny air pockets found in the insulator’s fibers.

With both hospitality and sustainability at the forefront of these designers’ plans for Kivijärvi Resort, Niliaitta currently offers all the luxuries found in high-end hotel experiences including, a ventilation unit, air-source heat pump, water heater, and electrical switchboard. Then, a bathroom, spacious shower, as well as a kitchenette can all be found in the rotating core in the middle of the cabin in addition to the more mechanical luxuries mentioned above. Water, sewer, and electrical lines run to Niliaitta under the cabin’s external staircase. Offering guests with these conveniences of daily life was just as important to Studio Puisto as was the cabin’s elevated immersive nature, “The idea is that by simply retreating away up in the air, we feel immediately detached from our everyday worries happening on the ground.”

Designer: Studio Puisto

Prefabricated as a gym or an office, this lightweight modular cabin is the answer to 2020’s travel blues!

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With stay-at-home orders getting stricter in some cities, daydreaming about travel feels like some faraway consolation prize. Thankfully, however, plenty of tiny home and micro cabin designs have come from the woes of 2020 and turned our daydreams into reality. Studio Puisto, an interior design studio based in Finland, collaborated with furniture brand Made By Choice and design firm Portos Demos to create Space of Mind, a modular, micro cabin prefabricated to be stationed anywhere so that guests can go from their home office to an off-grid mountain studio for peace and productivity.

I don’t know about you, but it is getting harder and harder to get work done in my apartment – every day feels the same. We’re certainly in this, and by this I mean 2020, together and no matter how we see ourselves ‘getting away from it all,’ Space of Mind currently has three options. The modular cabin can be stationed anywhere accessible by helicopter or crane and designed as either a peaceful working studio, dynamic fitness hub, or a cozy, hotel-style bedroom. Studio Puisto, turning their micro cabin design into a micro-hospitality solution, even has plans in the works for creating an app for bookings and keyless entry and constructing another micro cabin outfitted with a sauna.

After all, Space of Mind’s integral attribute is its changeability, which is highlighted by the designers, “The outer wooden structure acts as a blank slate while the interior is adjustable to individual preferences, creating a space that can manifest into a gym for one and into a home office for another.” Inside the micro cabin, pieces of furniture like bed frames and benches are supported by wooden rungs that provide guests with a little bit of their own creative direction in regard to interior design. Both Space of Mind’s interiors and exteriors are constructed using ecologically-sourced Finnish wood, providing durability for even the harshest of Arctic winters. Proving that, “with less, we can feel more,” Studio Puisto did not include added insulation to their cabins, asserting that this brings guests closer to the raw elements of the outdoors.

With an overall architectural footprint of just below 10m2, Space of Mind is designed to be lightweight, minimal, and compact – an empty canvas. Studio Puisto brings their modular, tiny home to those who need some space most, allowing guests to decide how they’d personally prefer the peace of mind. Studio Puisto knows that can be attained either through grounding yoga in the great outdoors or finally getting that work project done away from the city noise so they let you decide, “No matter whether it is placed in a backyard, rooftop terrace or even the nearby forest, Space of Mind acts as a spatial solution that fosters a similar experience – just without leaving home.”

Designers: Studio Puisto with Made By Choice and Protos Demos