Gamified Cohousing Lappeenranta

24/04/2026

Lappeenranta being shown in Sydney :-)

06/04/2026

Lappeenranta's Gamified Cohousing will be presented this month at the University of Sydney, in Australia

https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/bewCCROND2uRgJwZAHXH1S1f-qB?domain=t.e2ma.net
Yle Lappeenranta

06/02/2026

21/11/2025

24/09/2025

Gamified Cohousing Oy is now officially registered on the EU Transparency Register

This step reflects our ongoing commitment to openness and active participation in shaping European policy conversations around housing, sustainability, and democratic renovation.

Our registration number is REG 7344744100535-19

This allows us to take part in EU-level public consultations, engage more directly with European institutions, and ensure that our voice, on behalf of communities building a more inclusive, sustainable future, is part of the conversation

28/08/2025

Gamified Cohousing: A Different Future for abandoned buildings demands cooperation

Gamified Cohousing is about giving new life to abandoned or obsolete buildings by transforming them into affordable, shared living spaces. Instead of demolishing the heritage of old schools and trainstations, we preserve it with light-touch renovation: repairing only what is necessary for safety and functionality, while leaving room for residents themselves to participate in improving their homes. This makes housing both more affordable and more communal. It is an approach that has already been recognized widely, from being a Finnish finalist in the 2025 New European Bauhaus Prizes, to hosting the Re Renovate Symposium in Oulu supported by city leaders, and presenting at the Venice Biennale of Architecture this November.

For this vision to work, cooperation is essential. Residents are not passive tenants but active contributors in the process of shaping their environment. Because we deliberately avoid costly, high-spec renovations, rental costs remain reasonable. At the same time, we ensure that all basic safety issues are repaired upfront: heating, electricity, fire safety, and water. There are never direct safety threats, only a gradual process of improvement, where residents and professionals work side by side. But this requires planning departments to understand that full compliance takes time. Once the housing stabilizes and improvements are consolidated, full permits can then be applied for and granted.

Unfortunately, when authorities or media call out the process prematurely, mid-stream, it creates unnecessary alarm. Residents who had felt safe and welcomed are suddenly made anxious, and some leave. This not only empties the house again but also threatens the financial model that allows for affordable rents and continued investment.

What should be celebrated as a community-driven solution to housing and heritage preservation instead risks being undermined by rigidity and miscommunication. Lappeenranta now faces a choice: allow Gamified Cohousing to continue proving that life, safety, and affordability can be brought back to neglected buildings—or see valuable heritage once again left to rot.

Pedro Aibéo

Gamified Cohousing

28.08.2025

11/07/2025

Gamified Cohousing is making headlines in Lappeenranta.

Etelä-Saimaa just published a feature on our transformation of the historic School into a living, working, and cultural space for a new kind of community life. This is part of our mission to revive Finland’s disused public buildings and turn them into participatory, sustainable cohousing environments.

With five sites already active across the country, this latest project in Lappeenranta continues our commitment to architectural democracy, heritage preservation, and social innovation.

Read the full article in Etelä-Saimaa (in Finnish):

https://www.esaimaa.fi/paikalliset/8649253

04/07/2025

Lappeenranta is being represented at the New European Bauhaus Awards, through Gamified Cohousing, as the sole finalist from Finland for 2025. :-)

04/07/2025

Some urgent roof repairs being done

02/07/2025

Our work was on the news, at Etelä-Saimaa
Read the article here: https://www.esaimaa.fi/paikalliset/8649253?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social

27/06/2025

Today Etelä-Saimaa newspaper came by to see what have we been up to after 2 years since we bought this property.