Lahden Talot raises Lahti’s student city image with a new student housing brand
Lahden Opiskelijakodit, or LOK, is the new student housing brand of Lahden Talot. It is a concrete measure to develop the image of Lahti as a student city and part of a long-term development work in student housing.
Lahden Talot has taken concrete steps to strengthen Lahti’s student city image and student culture. During 2025, Lahden Talot started planning work to develop a brand for students. Lahden Opiskelijakodit is student housing brand of Lahden Talot, for which a separate visual and communication identity has been created.
– We want to play our part in building Lahti into an attractive city for students. We do everything we can to ensure that moving to Lahti for studies isn’t hindered by finding a home,” says Sanna Karppinen, Managing Director of Lahden Talot.
The City of Lahti’s strategic goal is to strengthen Lahti’s position as a significant student city. Strengthening the student city and student culture is highlighted in the City of Lahti’s strategic priorities extending to 2035.
– The number of international students in particular is expected to increase in Lahti. A separate student housing brand will not only increase the accessibility of student housing for this group, but also support Lahti’s wider efforts to become the most attractive student city in Finland in the future,” says Helene Vanninen, Housing Manager of the City of Lahti.
Focus on students’ needs and aspirations
Lahden Talot has long invested in the development of student housing by building apartments that meet the needs of students. In 2022, a wooden apartment building for students was completed in Svinhufvudinkatu, Kartano residential area. This year, a new 99-apartment student building was completed on Laatikkotehtaankatu, next to the campus in Niemi. In both new buildings, the focus has been on the common spaces desired by students, and the homes are spacious one- or two-bedroom apartments.
New brand embodies student life – it is energetic, cheerful and full of life. The brand is both visually and communicatively vibrant and approachable. LOK’s brand has been designed from the ground up with students in mind – that’s why the branding team wanted to include young adults who are familiar with student life and working with students. In addition, current students were also involved in the branding work, and their ideas and wishes for the brand were identified through a survey. Lahden Talot has developed student housing in cooperation with Lahti’s educational institutions, and this cooperation will be further strengthened in the future.
Kamua Helsinki Senior AD Pekka Berg is responsible for the visuals of the Lahden Opiskelijakodit LOK brand. Berg, who himself studied at the Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts, wanted to emphasise the brand’s strong connection to Lahden Talot, but also to bring completely new elements to the look.
– The pink of LOK has its roots in the look of Lahden Talot. The new headline font and casually drawn illustrations of household appliances add personality and a certain open-mindedness to the look. The idea behind the logo was to create a three-part image that can be remembered either as a triptych or as letters. The LOK acronym has since become a catchphrase for Lahden Opiskelijakodit,” says Berg.
Attention has also been paid to how the brand sounds. The communicative identity is relaxed – it combines terms used by young people, often in English but also in everyday Finnish, with colloquialisms.
– We want to be close to our tenants. We have been strategically developing our property management and customer service for a long time, so that we are close and accessible to our tenants in their daily lives. The students’ own brand is one part of this development. We hope that LOK will appeal to both our Finnish and international students,” says Karppinen.
