Blackout screens in a shared holiday home guarantee a good night's sleep

An extraordinary holiday home is nestled away by the seaside in Kirkkonummi, in the south of Finland. In a spot surrounded by nature, Jani Lahti (Plusarchitects) chose to demolish two old, detached houses to make way for one large summer house with separate entrances, bathrooms and sleeping quarters at opposite ends of a number of shared spaces. The owners, the Isosaari brothers, each own one side of the shared house. Dekosol fitted the individual bedrooms with windproof, blackout sun protection fabric by Renson so the occupants can sleep soundly at night.

The Isosaari brothers fell head over heels for the style of the buildings created by wood construction firm Honkatalot. Since many of the firm's projects were designed by Jani Lahti, they turned to Plusarchitects for their plans.

Shared semi-detached home

"At the site, two existing homes had to make way for the new home of the two brothers/owners," the architect comments. "The new home was built in the exact spot where the previous buildings had been demolished, to ensure the impact on the natural splendour surrounding the site was as limited as possible. In my plans, the communal areas, such as the living room, dining room and kitchen were located in a central place. To the left and right of this were private entrances, bathrooms and bedrooms for each of the brothers. As such, the families each have their own section of the house, but they can also spend time together when they want to. I always design with as much respect as possible for the natural environment," the architect pledges. "Given the natural slope here, we positioned the living areas slightly lower than the rest of the house. That way, the house doesn't seem quite as imposing and tall. In terms of materials, I opted for natural elements such as wood and stone to make sure the house really blended in with its natural surroundings."

Screens on frameless windows

Sun protection fabric by Renson was fitted in both bedrooms of this holiday home in Kirkkonummi. "We installed Fixscreen 100 Slim outdoor sun protection in the bedrooms. These were fitted with blackout fabric, which is essential for a good night's sleep, as during the summer, the midnight sun barely ever dips below the horizon over the course of a 24-hour period. The 'frameless' windows in the bedrooms run from floor to ceiling. To integrate the screens properly, this needed to be considered during the planning phase. We always take this into account as standard," the architect says. "The customer can then choose whether or not to go for screens. Opting for screens in retrospect, when there is no space available, is much more difficult."

"The Renson screen fabrics we sell are almost all black (charcoal)," says Maria Sillman of Dekosol, the installer. "With that in mind, the fabric head boxes and side guiding channels usually come in those colours too, for a consistent overall look. This has worked out wonderfully well here, especially since the fabric head box is at ceiling height in this case. It was also important to install the right model on this project, so that the fabric head box remains easily accessible from the outside for maintenance and/or repair."

"When I visited the house, I didn’t even notice which windows had sun protection fabric installed," the architect admits. "To me, that's the best proof that we've picked the right solution. In fact, that's exactly the reason I always choose Renson for all my projects. It also comes in handy that Dekosol are happy for me to refer my customers to them for the exact sun protection specifications they prefer. That makes working with them even more of a pleasure."

Finland & sun protection

"Sun protection fabric in Finland is often a matter of weighing up the costs and benefits," Jani says. "Finns will calculate which cooling methods are the most cost-efficient. Special types of glass in combination with a heat pump can often render sun protection redundant. This is especially true outside, as outdoor sun protection has some way to go before it becomes the standard. People often take a critical stance on it because the weather conditions can be so extreme here."

"Sun protection fabric on the inside is still the more popular choice," Maria (Dekosol) adds. "Again, this is all down Finns not really understanding how it works with the climate, as well as confusion over the cost. The initial cost of outdoor sun protection is slightly higher due to the extra side guiding channels (which are absolutely necessary to guarantee a windproof solution), but that investment is recouped in no time thanks to the energy you end up saving. After all, by blocking the sun before it reaches the glass in the windows, you save a fortune in cooling costs. Fortunately, we are starting to see a turnaround in opinion. Given the trend for larger and larger windows — and in no small part due to climate change — more efficient sun protection has become essential. Another downside of indoor sun protection is that it is tricky to keep smooth and tight without side guiding channels. Once again, outdoor sun protection fabric has the advantage here. In fact, this is something of an 'Aha!' moment for anyone opting for Renson outdoor sun protection. And we can honestly say that every one of our customers who have made that choice are extremely satisfied afterwards."

Darkness during Finnish summers

Markus Isosaari, one of the two owners of the summer house, is also satisfied with his outdoor sun protection: "We wanted perfectly dark bedrooms for a good night's sleep, including during the Finnish summer, when the 'midnight sun' barely ever sets. Because of its top quality in particular, Renson sun protection came highly recommended. We have been using the screens for a year now, and the quality and functionality are as expected. We are also grateful to Dekosol for expertly guiding us through the selection process to find the right screens. The structural preparations were carried out according to the instructions, and the installation went very smoothly. The end result looks wonderful. The screens and the mechanism are perfectly integrated into the whole."