Kindergarten in Taka-Töölö – Helsinki, Finland

Kindergarten Building
Helsinki, Finland
2021

The design of the new Kindergarten building is based upon the premise of creating a pavilion in the forest, architecturally and functionally rich, visually bold and at the same time user scale friendly with a presence that blends with the natural formations of the park.

Sitting at the edge of the park and adjacent to the urban and suburban developments the view from afar and above, from the approaching streets, the Park hills and the Sibelius Monument and show a series of overlaying organic-shaped roof slabs that extend beyond the building facilities creating outdoor large canopies and terraces extending the learning areas to the exterior. The roofs are planted to merge the building even more with its natural context reflecting the changes of the seasons and in order to give a feel of a single story space from within the learning areas overlooking towards calm gardens and the forest further back. The top roof is populated with solar panels sufficient for the use in the building and also hidden from eye level sight from the surrounding area positioned at the high-test point.

The building is constructed from modern wood construction, with solid wood joists and column grid and log construction for the interior partitions, not only for an ecology and economy of means but also for making this pavilion an extension of the forest, an all-natural environment for overall learning.

Project Team
Leonidas Trampoukis, Eleni Petaloti, Anastasia Maggouta, Eirni Doumani, Zoi Eleftheriadi, Vilja Halonen, Miltiadis Christodoulakos
Visualization
Konstantinos Koudounis
Total built area
1994m²
Status
Entry in open architecture competition