A loan locker system brings the sharing economy to life at TOAS Hippos
At the Tampere Student Housing Foundation’s (TOAS) Hippos property, everyday life has been taken to a new level. Residents have access to Lainamaatti – a loan locker system for borrowing shared household items. It’s a unique service that lets residents borrow what they need instead of having to own everything themselves.
This is how it works: A resident reserves an item easily through the electronic booking calendar in the One4all Mobile App, and picks it up from a locker using a PIN code during the reservation period. Returning the item is just as effortless: it’s placed back into the locker by the end of the reservation using the same code.
How Lainamaatti works:
Lainamaatti supports sustainable living
TOAS’s Property Director Jari Ahonen, Marketing and Communications Planner Eveliina Toikkonen, and Maintenance Engineer Tatu Mäkilä explain that Lainamaatti has become a key enabler of the sharing economy.
The idea for Lainamaatti was born from TOAS’s ambition to make residents’ everyday life easier and to complement shared spaces with borrowable items. Eveliina says the concept stems from TOAS’s strategy, in which sustainable housing and the sharing economy play a key role.
“We try to promote sustainable living through simple, everyday actions. Lainamaatti supports this goal perfectly. It’s great that we can experiment and offer something new, as we strive to be pioneers in these areas,” Eveliina explains.
Jari shares the same view:
It’s a real benefit for our residents that we can offer items to borrow. When 800 people don’t all need to buy the same power drill, we’re right at the heart of responsibility.
The idea of borrowing items isn’t entirely new – in some TOAS properties, resident committees have previously organized item lending for residents.
“From that experience, we learned that a more controlled system was needed. Otherwise, items get broken or lost, and it’s impossible to track who had them,” Eveliina says.
When asked how shared items would be borrowed at Hippos if Lainamaatti hadn’t been launched, the trio responds in unison:
“We simply wouldn’t have this service. It would be too laborious to manage without the booking calendar and locker system.”
A familiar booking system also manages items
TOAS listens carefully to its residents’ needs, and that approach guided the design of Lainamaatti as well.
Our residents are young adults accustomed to digital services. Lainamaatti is exactly what they expect.
Since there was no ready-made solution, the service was designed in collaboration with One4all and access-control specialists.
“Lainamaatti was built specifically for us. We had a need, and from there we started figuring out how to solve it. The idea was to have one platform that could handle everything.”
The electronic booking calendar by One4all was already used at Hippos for booking saunas, washing machines and co-working spaces, so expanding its use to Lainamaatti was a natural step.
“It becomes cumbersome if there are too many different systems. The booking calendar is already familiar to residents from common-space reservations, and now they can reserve items in the same way,” Jari sums up.
Data from the service guides development
Which items ended up in Lainamaatti? TOAS found out by asking its residents. Based on the voting results, the most wanted items included a power drill, tool set, sewing machine, label maker, carpet cleaner, iron and ironing board, and a vacuum cleaner. Some items are available in duplicate to meet demand.
TOAS plans to continue listening to resident feedback about Lainamaatti. Data from the booking system also provides valuable insight.
“We started with these items and now we’re following the data to see how often they’re booked. If we notice that some items aren’t used, we can replace them easily. We even left a few empty lockers so the resident committee can add something new, like board games,” Jari explains.
“We suggested names like Hippomaatti, but since we also have a key-pickup locker (in Finnish ‘noutomaatti’), the name connects nicely with that,” Eveliina adds.
A digital solution that makes life easier for both residents and administration
Lainamaatti benefits not only residents but also TOAS’s administration. Tatu, the main user of the One4all Manager system, describes the implementation as a smooth process.
“The rollout went very smoothly. We agreed on the settings together, and everything was ready at once. Eveliina added the booking instructions and rules, which residents must accept when booking. That was basically it. Since then, we haven’t needed to change a thing — I just check the booking status every now and then,” Tatu notes.
Jari sums up the benefits for everyone involved:
“General instructions are available both on-site and within the booking process, so residents understand their responsibilities. Controlled use keeps items in better condition and ensures availability. When making a booking, residents can trust that everything works as it should and they’ll get what they need.”
Lainamaatti encourages everyday encounters
Hippos is the pilot location for Lainamaatti, and the experiences gained there will determine whether it will be introduced in other large TOAS properties with many potential users.
The first experiences have already been very positive. Lainamaatti has been serving residents since June, and Jari says feedback has been excellent.
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been that there haven’t been any problems. Residents have been careful, and it’s clear they value the service.
According to data, the most-borrowed item so far is the vacuum cleaner. Eveliina adds that she has seen residents ironing dresses and shirts next to the lockers:
“At the same time, a group of residents were sewing patches onto their student overalls together in the same lounge.”
Lainamaatti was deliberately placed in a comfortable lounge area next to the laundry room — with the idea that it might inspire everyday encounters and a sense of community. That goal seems to have been achieved.
TOAS also uses of our other digital services – read more about TOAS’s experiences and discover how digital solutions support student living:
“Residents Want Digital Housing Services”
This article is an ai-generated translation of the original article in Finnish.