Homogenous Homes of Finland: ‘standard’ Flats in Non-standardized Blocks

Several authors have successfully created and employed vintage cohorts and housing typologies in research addressing energy renovation needs in the existing dwelling stock. This paper suggests that the idea of types would be useful in creating living quality related renovation and adaptation concepts for homes as well. Such concepts could be used for increasing accessibility and individuality of flats and easing life in cramped conditions by means of design. Therefore, the study tests the approach by examining flats' plan design in one cohort: Finnish 1960–80s dwelling stock. The research material consists of plan drawings for 320 apartment blocks with 8745 flats in 51 cities. The study results in recognizing 18 flat types, which are based on ten basic layouts, covering over 80% of all flats in the research material. Although the housing production of this era was characterized by cost-efficiency and industrialized prefabrication technologies, the result can be deemed somewhat surprising. This is because the buildings or their layouts were factually never standardized in Finland, only the production technology was. The identified flat types are estimated to cover as much as one-third of all existing Finnish flats. These findings provide future opportunities for creating new mass-tailored renovation concepts.