New community manager for SATO StudioHome building: ”Communality can help tackle loneliness”

SATO Corporation, Press release, 6 September 2017 at 08:30

SATO’s new Community Manager Olli Järvenkylä is tasked with helping the residents of the StudioHome building to be completed in Vantaa towards the end of the autumn to enjoy spending time together. He will move into the building with 67 other residents. The StudioHome is a SATO pilot property for communal housing that will feature shared living spaces in addition to one-bedroom mini homes.

- Communality can help tackle social problems such as loneliness and isolation brought about by urbanisation. Interaction and closeness to other people are our basic needs, but sometimes support from an outsider is needed to create a connection. I’m really lucky to get to work on themes that I find important, says SATO Community Manager Olli Järvenkylä.

Järvenkylä’s work has already begun. He is currently participating in the selection of residents for the StudioHome building as the aim is to find people who are interested in building communality and expanding their living space beyond the walls of their private home unit. Once the residents are known, Järvenkylä will organise meetups for them as the first steps to build the StudioHome community spirit.

- My task is to enable the residents to find their own way of interacting with others. Taking part in social activity is will be an opportunity, not an obligation. I’ll help the residents to get to know each other, encourage them to share their competencies with others and promote the sharing economy approach. The way things will be done in the StudioHome building is slightly different from what people are used to. For example, instead of the traditional list of surnames found at the entrance to apartment buildings, we’ll have the photo and first name of each resident on the wall, Järvenkylä explains.

Järvenkylä is a community educator, wilderness guide and a keen traveller of the world. He believes that support for communality will help residents settle in quicker and find their personal, meaningful role in the group. The aim is for the StudioHome residents to shape into an active community that at some point will be able to function without the community manager's assistance.

New take on apartment-sharing

The idea behind the StudioHome concept is that the shared lounging area, sauna section, laundry room and spacious rooftop terrace are part of each resident's home. The pleasant communal areas allow neighbours to interact, creating the foundation for social activities. The plan is to also employ the lessons learned from the StudioHome communal housing pilot in other SATO buildings.

- StudioHome is a new version of people sharing an apartment, with each resident’s home expanding considerably by simply opening their front door. That’s precisely why the community manager will play a major role in supporting good neighbourly relations and reducing loneliness. The StudioHome – including the role of the community manager – is one of our concepts for a new take on housing. We’re determined to listen to the market with a keen ear and continue to develop a variety of housing types in the future, too, says SATO President and CEO Saku Sipola.

The pilot building rising on Raikukuja street in the Vantaa district of Martinlaakso under exceptional planning permission contains a total of 68 homes. Each home has a floor area of 15.5 square metres. The apartments also have a sleeping loft of 6.3 square metres. Resident recruitment took place in August, and the selection process will begin in the autumn.
For more information please contact:

SATO Corporation
Miia Eloranta, Director for Marketing and Communications, miia.eloranta@sato.fi, Phone: +358 201 34 4497 or +358 50 441 4221
Olli Järvenkylä, Community Manager, olli.jarvenkyla@sato.fi, Phone: +358 50 525 3840