The Cloud Block Inclusive Housing / INARO Integrated Architecture Office

The project seeks to explore how architectural design can support commonality and inclusion while reinterpreting the semi-dense perimeter block typology in a former warehouse area, Postipuisto, in Helsinki, Finland. Social inclusion forms the core of the design. The housing block accommodates affordable housing, co-housing, rental apartments, and owner-occupied units. The different housing tenure types share a common courtyard for all residents. The design of plan types is adjusted for each unit. For instance, the affordable apartments at the eastern tip of the block were designed for a local organization providing housing for low-income residents. Here, apartments for different households are mixed, including larger family apartments, studios, as well as special units with high-level accessibility for the elderly.