A sculptural white staircase lit by a skylight connects an open-plan living space to a mezzanine floor inside this house in Finland by Avanto Architects (+ slideshow).

Avanto designed the villa in the town of Nummela for a family who wanted "a modern house with high class detailing" on a site near a busy road.
Named Lumi ? Finnish for snow ? the house is sheltered from the noise of the road by a poolhouse and a courtyard with a wooden terrace.

"The courtyard opens to the evening sun and is closed to the south where the big road with noise is," said Ville Hara and Anu Puustinen, co-founders of the Helsinki studio. "There are some small trees planted to block the view to that direction a bit as well." The fully glazed pool house sits between the road and the courtyard, while the main house is set further back with windows looking onto the terrace.

The terrace is used for a variety of activities, including barbecuing, sunbathing and playing ping-pong. Seats sunken into the floor surround an outdoor fireplace.

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"The deck temperature is two degrees higher than in surrounding open spaces which is a big plus in our cold climate," the designers said.

The main house, which is two storeys high, is L-shaped with an angled roof that connects to the smaller pool house.
On the ground floor, an open-plan...