Aitiopaikka in the Turku Student Village
The air in the new housing complex of the Turku Student Village is kept fresh by apartment-specific ventilation. Special attention was paid to energy efficiency and ease of maintenance.
The gleamingly white facade of the building with glazed balconies make an impression when arriving to the Turku Student Village. To be completed in spring 2019, Aitiopaikka building will have 255 apartments for students, shared sauna facilities, a laundry room, and club premises. The flowery shape of the new building, located next to the spa hotel Caribia, hides an inner yard. The dark facade of the inner yard provides a contrast to the whiteness of the exterior facades. Thanks to the arched design, the apartments are distributed towards all directions and the views from the balconies vary greatly. Modern technology and energy efficiency were emphasised in the design of the student housing.
Vallox units were chosen due to their energy efficiency.
– The energy efficient ventilation units by Vallox match the theme of the buildings. Their design and manufacture are also modern, says Property Engineer Joonas Rantala from the Turku Student Village.
Easy to maintain
Apartments are accessed by means of outdoor corridors located on the inner yard side of the building. The building mainly consists of small one or two bedroom apartments with an average size of 30-35 m2. Vallox TSK Multi 50 MC ventilation units that are used for the ventilation of the apartments are hidden above the front doors. These can be accessed from outside the apartments.
– Locating the ventilation units outside the apartments is based on the need to make maintenance easy, says Rantala.
– Our aim is to go inside the apartments as rarely as possible, for which reason it is important that all the necessary maintenance measures can be implemented outside the apartments. At sites like the Student Village, the number of apartments is high and the time required by maintenance measures needs to be minimised.
The residents will only be responsible for washing the grease filter of the cooker hood from time to time. The cooker hood is also used for controlling the efficiency of ventilation.
– We will prepare clear instructions for the residents on the use of the cooker hood and on washing the grease filter. Clear instructions also serve property managers, says Tomi Pakarinen from PakuAir Oy, which is responsible for implementing the ventilation solution at the site.
Ventilation serves different rhythms of life
Apartment-specific ventilation was considered to be important because the residents live their everyday life according to their personal schedules.
– Each apartment has a ventilation unit that is in operation without time restrictions just when needed. This is the best solution considering the individual rhythm of life of each resident, says Pakarinen.
Ventilation is always turned on, ensuring that the replacement air needed flows in into the apartment and exhaust air is removed. Boosting is needed when the residents cook inside the apartment, for example. In such a case, the resident can use the cooker hood to boost the ventilation.
– Boosted ventilation that is bound to a certain timetable is outdated. People’s daily schedules vary so greatly that the comfort of living is enhanced when ventilation is also organised based on need, says Tomi Pakarinen.
Aitiopaikka, Turku Student Village
Building: apartment building
Year of construction: 2017-2019
Apartment-specific ventilation: Vallox TSK Multi 50 MC
Ventilation in shared premises: Vallox 245 MV
Installation: PakuAir Oy