Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2016 | Page 40

Rooted in community values,
Opinmäki glimpses into the future of school

Photos: Jussi Helimäki

Laboratory for Learning

As the City of Espoo set out to build Suurpelto – a new city district – in the beginning of the
millennium, there was already talk of creating a vibrant heart for the community-to-be. Over
the years, a vision started to take shape: the centre piece for the new community should be a
multipurpose school that would be available for all citizens, not just school children.

T

he City put together an open architectural competition in 2011 to find a
totally new concept that would work for
Suurpelto. Young architect Esa Ruskeepää
won the competition with his work ‘Mäkin
opin’ (“I’m learning, too”). The building, the
very first realized project by Ruskeepää, was
designed and built in close co-operation with
its users ݙ\