ateljé sotamaa's 'meteorite' residence in finland emerges as a mystical dark object

‘meteorite’ supports interconnected living close to nature

located in seemingly remote kontiolahti, in eastern finland, ‘meteorite’ emerges from the woods as a mystical dark object. designed by ateljé sotamaa, the residential, three-story building is made of wood and features a series of open, interconnected rooms that integrate with the surrounding landscape. inside the polyhedron-shaped home, a tall atrium with a large 10 sqm skylight provides unobstructed views to the stars. meanwhile, residents can ‘float’ on a catamaran net, which is placed right under the skylight, at a height of seven meters.

‘meteorite is not a large house, but on the inside it represents a completely new 3-dimensional open-concept way of organizing living space,’ says ateljé sotamaa co-founder kivi sotamaa. ‘unlike traditional houses where each room has a specific predetermined purpose, meteorite’s architecture supports more dynamic relationships of its residents and a variety of life situations. digital design and new prefabrication and construction technologies enable the creation of unique, aesthetically high-quality ecological wood buildings that add experiential value to their locations.’all images courtesy of ateljé sotamaa

ateljé sotamaa’s low carbon home made of prefab components

ateljé sotamaa’s ‘meteorite’ is made of prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, while all building services, engineering and technology is hidden inside the massive wood walls. the building uses natural ventilation, its walls contain four meters of air insulation, and the large windows bringing in nature are all electrically heated. light nordic wood clads the interior, while there is no plastic anywhere in the structure, and nothing prone to moulding. the roof, too, is of solid wood, oiled to resist the elements and age beautifully.

‘this was a unique project also in terms of structural design and detailing,’ says ahti rantonen, managing director of structural engineering at vahanen group that provides engineering consultancy for landmark projects such as the museum of contemporary art kiasma and musiikkitalo of helsinki. ‘we are delighted about cooperation with ateljé sotamaa and hope there will be more opportunities to work on top wood construction projects in the future, regardless of their locations. important aspects involved include low carbon impact and healthy building. the living experience in meteorite will be very close to that of a traditional log house with all artificial materials eliminated. another key element is the digital design and fabrication process. all parts of the house can be prefabricated and assembled on the construction site, which means they need to be computer-modelled on a highly detailed level and delivered on site just on time.’

the polyhedron-shaped building can be approached on foot through the woods