THEMES
Homes for everyone
A TV-House, a modern log home, an archipelago home complete with lighthouse tower, s well as an open functionalist house are remarkable and interesting examples of houses at the Vaasa Housing Fair.
The site plan of the area is quite flexible, which provides an opportunity for a diverse range of houses to be built along the shoreline. The prefabricated housing industry, including the Ostrobothnian housing industry especially, is widely represented. For example, almost all the private houses are being built in cooperation with the prefabricated housing industry.
The wide range of houses on display follows the theme for the Vaasa Housing Fair: Homes for Everyone! There are traditional and modern houses, luxurious as well as simpler designs, personal as well as standard styles. Different materials have also been used extensively. Every visitor will probably find their own dream home at the Vaasa Housing Fair.
Ecological values
The other important theme at the Vaasa Housing Fair is Ecology. The most loveable features of the Suvilahti suburb are its verdant nature and close proximity to the sea. Green values have had an influence on everything, from the planning of the area to actually building the houses. The most noticeable ecological feature is the low-energy system, which is unique in the world and utilises the warmth from the seabed to heat up the houses.
This low-energy system developed for the housing fair area is an invention made by energy experts in Vaasa, and in 2006 it won the Innosuomi prize. A pipe network was laid on the seabed in order to accumulate heat for the houses at the fair. During the summer, this low-energy system can be used to cool the houses. The heat pumps in the houses are powered by combustible methane gas, which is collected from the old Suvilahti rubbish dump. Therefore, the area is almost self sufficient in its energy needs.
