Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2016 | Page 41

various timeframes for use, one really needs
detailed planning to make the concept work
in the optimal manner,” he says.
“In the end, I feel that we were able to
fit all the parts together pretty well.”
Educations in Opinmäki is based on
collaboration and interaction, both between
the operators and with residents of the community. Flexible premises, smart technological choices and using facilities in novel ways
enable residents of all ages to meet and interact every day of the week.

Roll the Dice
Opinmäki is extremely accessible from
any direction, comprising nine separate buildings – already called blocks –
that are connected by open lobby spaces.
According to Ruskeepää, dividing the
large program (16,700 square meters)
into smaller "buildings" makes sense. The
result has much smaller, more refined scale.
The apparent danger in multipurpose
space is cramming dozens of activities in

Opinmäki – Fast Facts
Services: Espoo International School, Päivänkehrä School, Opinmäki Day-care Centre,
Active Learning Centre AKKU, Espoo Youth Centre, Espoo Adult Education Centre,
Espoo Sports and Exercise Services, Suurpelto associations
Architect Esa Ruskeepää (b. 1980)
Principal Designer Vesa Erikkilä (b. 1963)
Project Architect Sasu Marila (b. 1972)
Competition entry Thomas Miyauchi, Esa Ruskeepää
Architectural competition 2011
Structural design: Jyrki Ketonen
HPAC and I&C design: Vesa Jermilä
Electrical design: Mika Lamminen
Project management contractor: SRV
Total costs: €54 million
Gross floor area: 16.700 m2
Year of completion: 2015

one mega-building – but how does this all
look to, say, a seven-year-old?
“What we have now is more like a
village composed of several smaller buildings,” he says.
The building materials are brick, concrete and wood. Ruskeepää says that in his
design, he was going for a mood that is more
peaceful and dignified: this way, the centre
can be seen not so much as a school, but as
a “building for the community”. Opinmäki
is also energy-efficient and optimised for
life-cycle expenses – meaning, among other
things, that the premises are convenient to
service and maintain.

Push the Envelope
Kaisu Toivonen, Director of Education at
the City, comments that in the coming years,
Opinmäki will become one of the pioneers
of education in Espoo.
“Placing international and Finnishlanguage basic education in shared premises will create linguistic and cultural understanding,” she says, adding that a lifelong
learning tunnel reaches from pre-school to
adult education.
“