Helsinki-based design firm Studio Puisto Architects has turned an old bank building into the new and chic Forenom Hostel Jyväskylä in the heart of Jyväskylä’s downtown pedestrian precinct. Completed in December 2017, the adaptive reuse project imbued the dated building with a modern refresh that oozes warmth and comfort with its predominate natural materials palette. During the renovation process, the architects carefully preserved elements of the original design, such as the vault, as reminders of the building’s history.
Commissioned by Scandinavian real estate company Forenom, the modern Hostel Jyväskylä spans an area of 1,043 square meters and includes 49 beds with rooms ranging in size from five to 18 square meters. The ground floor houses the reception and includes space for retail and restaurant use, while the lodgings are located on the second, third and fourth floors. The basement level holds a larger restaurant as well as the hostel’s spa and sauna facilities. The Jacuzzi space is inside the former bank vault, which is lined in alder.
In keeping with modern Finnish design, the interiors are minimalist and dressed in simple natural materials with plywood furnishings throughout. Boxy plywood volumes were constructed for the bedrooms, of which there are three types on each floor. The compact bedroom volumes open up to a shared central space, kitchen and bathrooms.
Related: Derelict property transformed into a vibrant, sunny hostel in Portugal
“In all parts of the building, the same simplified colors and materials are repeated: black, white and wood,” Studio Puisto said. “The history and spirit of the building also oozes from its interior. The walls and furniture are covered with domestic birch plywood and the floors in the lobby and bedrooms are linoleum. The hostel’s ecological choices, efficiency and communality make up for a fresh type of accommodation that is an interesting new addition to the service structure of the center of Jyväskylä.”
Images by Pauliina Salonen and Henri Juvonen
