The largest residential community in Orange is located in Kumpula. It consists of a courtyard of five small wooden blocks of flats. The houses are called green, yellow, white and red, according to the colour of their facades. The fifth light blue house is named Akkala. The buildings are identical in design, two-storey wooden houses, each with two staircases and eight apartments. Thus, there are 40 dwellings in total in the courtyard. Most of the apartments are 40 m² two-bedroom apartments, but there are also a few studio flats and three-bedroom apartments. All the houses are protected by the sr-2 designation in the zoning plan.

The five orange houses form a large courtyard, which is maintained by the residents of the houses. Over the years, the courtyard has been developed into a park-like area through planting. It is rich in fruit trees, berry bushes and small vegetable and herb gardens planted by the residents themselves. There is a children’s playground in the centre of the courtyard and several barbecue areas.

The houses in Kumpula were built in 1950 to ease the post-war housing shortage. The houses were designed by the architect Hilding Ekelund and can be found elsewhere in Kumpula. All five houses in the yard were condemned when they were taken over by Orange activists in January 1990. The demolition of the buildings had been delayed by the recession. In early 1992, Oranssi signed a ten-year lease with the City of Helsinki for the yellow and green houses. Oranssi Asunnot Oy was established to manage the renovation and housing activities. The two buildings were Oranssi Asunnot’s first renovation projects.

Despite their dilapidated appearance, the buildings were in reasonable condition, and were good work by today’s standards. The aim of the renovation was to provide the houses with the basic amenities they needed and to improve the technical equipment. Otherwise, the aim was to preserve the well-preserved atmosphere and basic appearance of the buildings. Wood heating was retained as the main form of heating. Common wood-fired saunas and shower rooms were built in the basements of both houses. The old laundry room was modernised. The windows were renovated and painted. The thermal insulation of the main apartments was improved. The Porin Matti fireplaces were renovated. The chimneys were partly replaced and the slate floors were renovated by slagging. The old cast-iron sewer pipes were put back into service by means of slagging. The plumbing and electrical installations were replaced and hot water heaters were installed in the basement. As a pilot project, solar collectors were installed at the end of the second house to heat domestic hot water. The residents renovated the apartments to their liking. In some of the apartments, the room layout has been changed, with adjacent two-bedroom apartments being converted into one-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments.

The renovation was mainly carried out by the residents through voluntary work. There was no actual foreman, but the residents worked as a team. Professionals were used for the design and some specialised work, many of whom were involved in the project on a voluntary basis.

The three other houses in the courtyard: the Red House, the White House and Akkala were managed by HOAS until the 1990s, when they were also rented out by Orange Apartments in 2002. The three houses have different technical equipment, inherited from the renovations carried out by HOAS. The Porin Matti fireplaces have been removed from most of the apartments and electric heating is the main form of heating. Each apartment also has its own shower.

All five houses in the yard were bought by Oranssi Asunnot from the City of Helsinki in 2005.