Former bar to be converted into an open community space in Kontula

Liisa Aunula, 79, goes to Kontula Community House almost every morning to read the daily Helsingin Sanomat newspaper and have a cup of coffee. Over the years, the employees and many of the visitors to the house have become important everyday acquaintances to Aunula. Their familiar faces make her feel at home.

“Inviting people to visit me at home feels difficult, but I can catch up with them here.”

Aunula became a customer of the community house 15 years ago, when she retired from her job in the food industry. Time can pass slowly at home. Aunula’s husband has a memory disorder and lives in a nursing home, where Aunula visits him every other day. 

“For many people with low income, the community house is like a second living room. We can't all go and sit in a café. If I didn't come here, who would I talk to during the day?” 

The community house’s activities are free of charge and open to all ages. In addition to chatting with others, Aunula has participated in other community house activities, such as a poetry club and a comics workshop – though she first thought that she was ‘all thumbs’. Visitors to the house can often hear a range of different languages and admire a variety of skills. Even now, the whirring sounds of a sewing machine carry in from the next room.

Next autumn, the community house will have a new home when the house, its people and all the activities move a stone's throw away to the premises of the former Aapelin Baari. The new, temporary community house will be called Aapelinkulma. Kontula residents and the customers of the community house, including Aunula, have had the opportunity to comment on the plans and implementation of Aapelinkulma. 

“I hope that the same familiar crowd will find its way to Aapelinkulma and that the atmosphere of the community house will stay the same. On the other hand, I hope that new people of all ages would also find their way there.”

Activities planned together

The idea of turning the former bar into a public meeting place was originally conceived by Anu Satukangas, the director of Kontula Library. The library receives up to a thousand visitors a day, leading to a chronic lack of space.

“On Helsinki Day a couple of years ago, I suggested that the library and the community house could set up a joint space in the bar premises. Aapelinkulma will not have any books to read, but the library will make use of the facilities for various events, such as author visits,” Satukangas says.

At the moment, the final renovation plans are being drawn up for Aapelinkulma together with an architectural firm. The next step is the interior design and the procurement of both the furniture and event technology. There are a total of eight City community houses in Helsinki, and the Kontula house will have a new address by next autumn.

The implementation of Aapelinkulma and the cooperation between the community house and the library is the first project of its kind in Helsinki: everything is shared, from planning to rental expenses and working hours. 
Satukangas has been working at Kontula Library since 2017.

“Kontula is a great place, as there are so many partners to work with. There's always someone to call with your ideas,” Satukangas says.

City residents are part of the active life of Kontula. Aapelinkulma is also being developed in partnership with the local residents and employees.

“Our intention is to create different networks between residents and the City in Kontula, such as music and handicrafts networks. The networks will come up with ideas for local services and events and implement these,” Satukangas envisages.

Satukangas and Pudassalo-Thurman are particularly proud of the participatory plans, i.e. the way the residents will be included in the work. Encounters with residents, strengthening the sense of inclusion and reducing loneliness are the main focus areas in the cooperation with city residents.

“More than 50% of Kontula residents have an immigrant background. They may not have had their voices heard in the planning of the area,” says Satukangas.

Satukangas promises that this will not happen in the design and operation of Aapelinkulma.

Strengthening communities now and in the future

Kontula is a residential area of about 15,000 inhabitants in East Helsinki. Kontula is part of Helsinki suburban regeneration areas where the City is creating new vitality in the areas and investing in their comfort, services and new construction. About a decade from now, the Kontula House will be completed, and, in time, Aapelinkulma operations will also find their new home there.

Irene Pudassalo-Thurman, Head of Community House operations at the City of Helsinki, believes that a project like Aapelinkulma is a great example of how communities and neighbourhoods can be strengthened further: by bringing together different City services, organisations and residents. The Aapelinkulma project is part of the future direction of community houses, she states.

“Aapelinkulma will continue as a public living room where everyone can walk in and have a cup of coffee, free of charge. The house applies the principles of safer space.” 

At the same time, visitors to Aapelinkulma can make requests about the services – or even provide them by themselves. There is also room for self-guided activities, and Aapelinkulma can be rented for evening events or for groups to also use outside the house’s opening hours.

Aapelinkulma fits in well with the neighbourhood work also mentioned in the Helsinki City Strategy, where neighbourhoods are made more comfortable, safer and more functional together with the local residents.

“We are where the people are, giving them opportunities to make their mark in their own neighbourhood. When somebody has an idea, we can work together to see who can make it happen.

For now, you can peek into Aapelinkulma through the windows of the former bar, where residents have been invited to paint their messages about the future Aapelinkulma. In autumn, the view inside will be quite different – and the door will be open to everyone.