City Cottage by Verstas Architects

It’s well-known that Finns love to quality time outdoor in a cottage, near the thousands lakes and if it’s not far from home, well, even better. This 14 square meters (approximately 150 square feet) cottage designed by Verstas Arkkitehdit for the Palva architect family was recently built in Lauttasaari, only two kilometers away from the family home.

“This is a way of life”, says Jussi Palva, “We wanted a place that would be easy to go to, and if necessary we could go home to take a shower or deal with urgent matters. Because our home is so close by, it’s also possible to leave unnecessary stuff at home and bring things to the cottage only when necessary.”  – “Because the cottage is small, its building costs are reasonable and the use of electricity is so sufficiently low that it can operate with solar energy, even though the cottage is suited for winter use” explains Jussi Palva. “And of course a localized lifestyle where you don’t use a car or fly away on holidays is also ecological”.