Protected wall nearly derailed Finland’s first housing fair industrial loft

A dispute over a protected wall nearly brought down a project to turn a former factory in Salo into the first loft development in the history of Finland’s Housing Fair, Yle reports. The fair is due to be held in Salo in 2028.

The Turku City Museum, the regional heritage museum for Southwest Finland, initially opposed demolishing part of the factory’s river-facing wall. The building has moisture damage, but the museum said the protected factory complex reflects Salo’s industrial history and is valuable at regional level.

Developer Henri Nieminen wanted to remove the damaged wall. He said he was prepared to abandon the project rather than risk future compensation claims over unhealthy homes.

The museum later accepted plans to rebuild the parts of the wall affected by microbial damage. Salo’s city government supported an exception to the factory’s protection rules in September, and the revised plans were approved. The exception took effect on November 6.

Demolition work is expected to begin after the turn of the year, Nieminen said. The construction budget is five million euros. The former school furniture factory will be converted into 17 homes, about half of which have been reserved, mostly by people from Salo.

The factory, established in 1910, once made school desks and joiner’s benches. Production ended in 1994 and moved from Salo to Lahti. Some of the factory buildings are protected and are now controlled by Nieminen’s family business.

Some apartments will be left unfinished for fair visitors to see the construction work. Buyers will choose their own surface materials and kitchens, and Nieminen said virtual reality headsets are planned to let visitors try out the final designs.