An abandoned factory is now a luxurious apartment building—Anu and Tony’s massive project took eight years

Inside, it was dirty, dark, and damp. The floor was covered in piles of bricks and concrete rubble. The roof’s underside was coated in moss, and you could barely see the view from the upstairs window openings.

The huge space gradually came into view for Anu Pelander in the light of a headlamp, revealing something extraordinarily intriguing.

The house factory was built in Southern Finland right after the war in 1946. The factory made war reparation houses for the Soviet Union until the early 1950s, then operated as a sawmill until closing in the 1960s. In 1997, the municipality of Halikko purchased much of the sawmill area. The factory building stood empty for years before Tony Pelander bought it.

In 2006, Tony Pelander bought the vacant house factory frame from the municipality and founded a housing company with six residential units. The Pelanders’ second-floor home has a large balcony and a summer kitchen.

And here we are now, in the middle of an urban living room with a heated concrete floor stretching an impressive 17 meters. Thick concrete beams on the ceiling and partially exposed brick walls recall the building’s former life as a house factory.

A rugged brick wall and ceiling beams reflect the home’s history. The concrete floor was poured over underfloor heating. The sofa set sits by the balcony. The striking rug is from Marrakech.

A five-meter-long dining table runs through the spacious area, resting on a 28-square-meter Moroccan rug. Cozy sofa sets are arranged at both ends of the room.

“Furniture needs to be big. Small pieces just vanish in a space this large,” Anu says.

A cozy sofa set occupies the far end of the living room, which opens onto the balcony.

You enter the living room through the open kitchen, which provides a sea view. Anu designed the kitchen with a built-in bookshelf in the island, and Adi-kaluste constructed it.

Anu, who runs the Design Hill interior shop, doesn’t remember feeling anxious about her husband’s idea to turn an abandoned factory into a small apartment building. The old factory had been deserted for years before Tony Pelander set his sights on it.

“Tony is always coming up with ideas for one project or another. We both love to plan and renovate. Knowing he had top-notch builders put my mind at ease,” Anu says.

At one end of the living room is another seating area with a fireplace and a niche for firewood. There’s a sauna behind the window. A painting by Johanna Oras hangs on the wall.

The idea to rebuild wasn’t just a whim. It had been on the engineer’s mind since the 1990s, when he and his friends used to surf near the old sawmill. The big brick structure along the waterfront made quite an impression. Later, Tony returned with a friend to take a closer look at the so-called haunted house’s shell.

“In the late ’90s, we didn’t have the courage to tackle such a big, demanding project yet,” Tony says.

In the bedroom, trunks from the Saaristo series act as nightstands and storage.

Anu had a custom bookshelf made by Adi-kaluste for the hallway.

One autumn day five years later, Tony headed by motorboat to Vartsala. When he saw the old house factory, the project idea became clearer. It felt like the perfect challenge for a man who had already renovated a 1930s functionalist home for his family and built two industrial halls for his companies.

“When we realized the factory’s frame was still straight, we figured the foundations must’ve been solid. The house has a cast-in-place concrete frame, and the apartments can be thoroughly soundproofed. That’s where it all began,” Tony says.

A long steel coat rack is a practical, straightforward solution in a loft-style home.

Black-and-white textiles brighten up the bedroom.

The purchase went smoothly once they received confirmation that factory could be converted into a housing company.

“That was key to the entire project. I wanted to build an energy-efficient small apartment building that would be easier to maintain and more cost-efficient than a single-family home,” Tony says.

In the sauna’s dressing room, there’s a practical bench and open shelving for towels. The lively stone tiles are from Laattapiste’s collection.

The Pelanders spent three years collaborating with architect Mertsi Toivonen on the home’s interior and exterior design, allowing the structure to dry thoroughly.

The abandoned factory building was transformed into a modern apartment building reminiscent of a Danish country house, heated by geothermal energy. Large balconies and terraces, plus windows with black metal frames, define its appearance.

On the spacious terrace, you can lounge on Sackit’s Retroit beanbag chairs. In the background is the boat shed, accessible by an old log-floating channel.

The Pelanders’ 300-square-meter loft is on the second floor at the building’s south end. Its windows overlook the boat shed, built at Tony’s request. It’s truly a boater’s dream: those who want to can navigate the old log-floating channel almost right to their front door.

Other shared amenities include a glass structure resembling a greenhouse, which holds a swimming pool and a small fireplace area.

The pool building has sliding doors that stay open whenever the weather allows. A solar panel on the adjacent building heats the pool water.

The shoreline and swimming pool are available to everyone in the housing company.

In the pool building, you can relax by the fireplace. An heirloom rya rug cushions the bench. The slender metal furniture is by Broste.

“There’s so much old wood on the seabed that swimming from the shore is a bit tricky,” Anu says.

Anu and Tony designed the interior to match the factory’s character. They divided the big space by thinking about which activities would work best in each area.

The open kitchen leads to the living room, while the hallway off the entry holds the sauna, wash areas, and bedrooms. Almost all the furniture was brought from their previous home.

“We love Scandinavian style and timeless furniture you can place almost anywhere,” Anu says.

She built a table for 12 by combining three vintage Artek dining tables. They added more chairs and stools around it.

“Furnishing this place was easy because we only have a few pieces, even though they’re large,” Anu says.

Anu and Tony Pelander love living in their small apartment building, which took them eight years to renovate.

This large urban space and its materials call for ample lighting. Anu estimates there are 117 discreet LED fixtures built into the ceiling, walls, and floor. The home also has pendant lights and floor lamps that add ambiance.

“Lighting shows off the space’s best features. Poor lighting can ruin the whole vibe,” Anu says.

In spring and summer, the sun blazes inside, so they tame the heat with translucent, heat-blocking roller blinds.

Over the last three years, the ocean view here has become a treasured part of their day-to-day life.

“Every morning, it’s just as breathtaking and always feels new to us.”