| Project | Välno Aurerin Apartments |
| Architect | Helin, Pekka, & Tuomo Siitonen |
| City | Helsinki |
| Country | Finland |
| Address | Välno Aurerin Katu 10/Gadollninkatu 4 |
| Building Type | Slab, point-access Tower |
| Number of Dwellings | 0 |
| Date Built | 1990 |
| Dwelling Types | 1,2 bra. flats |
| No. Floors | 3 |
| Section Type | flats |
| Exterior Finish Materials | concrete/ceramic tile panels, metal balconies and detail, clad windows |
| Construction Type | R-C frame |
| Ancillary Services | storage sheds, balconies |
This is a large new perimeter block of about 150 one and two bedroom flats. Part of a larger medical and residential complex, this group of three and four story blocks are organized into two interlocking U's which form an interior garden courtyard. While not actually touching, the separate building elements form a very regular and continuous larger structure There are two versions of the basic rectangular block: a four unit linear block and a 5 unit "T"-shaped block formed by attaching another dwelling to one side of the basic block. The apartments are small but extremely well planned with more variety than might be expected with a prefabricated building system. The entrance sides of the buildings are very planer with small windows covered entrances, and an applied grid of recessed squares of ceramic tiles. These flat, hard surfaces of the precast panels contrast remarkable with the opposite side of the building where there is much more details. Each dwelling has a small balcony opening to the sunny side of the building. Most of the balconies open to the interior landscaped garden, however, some open to landscaped spaces outside the perimeter form. Precast concrete panels are used to construct the overall solid form of the building. The balconies read as separate structures which extend above the roof line and attach to the planar precast form. In contrast to the cream-colored precast wall panels, the balcony structures are brightly colored with dark green ceramic tile wall panels, dark blue balcony balustrades and details, and a single round white concrete column. The balcony structures are used architecturally to articulate the corners of the buildings and, thus provide relief to the very precise, machined quality of the wall elements. The grid of recessed tiles and the secondary set of site elements, walls, gates, ramps, railings and canopies and also serve to enliven the precast walls.
Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki-Expoo-Vantaa; Architecture of the 1990
ARK (Finnish Architectural Review, 7-8, 1991.
