“The best school system in the world applied to an urban public building.”

Case Jätkäsaari Comprehensive School

The building takes an active and participatory role in the new urban environment of Jätkäsaari and tells a new story in its urban context. The building fits right in with other planned construction in the area and fills its plot boldly. The multipurpose outdoor spaces in the corners of the plot serve as learning environments and visually and functionally open up the school building to the rest of the city. The school is the area’s new ‘hub’. The schoolyard is situated on top of the school building under a massive roof structure to create a safe and sheltered yard where completely new experiences of play, learning and experimentation are made possible.

The spaces inside the building have been divided to different floors based on their functions and possibilities. The spaces on the ground floor are open for everyone living in Jätkäsaari. Through glass walls, these spaces open up to the surroundings and enliven the area’s urban life. The teaching cells are situated on the second floor of the building.

World’s best school system will become even better in future. The new core curriculum has been incorporated innovatively into our plan. We created a center for holistic learning and growth where coziness and togetherness are strongly present. The fairly large entrance hall with multiple floors is surrounded by open learning spaces, which gradually separate as their own, smaller learning units. These cells work much like a city, and in its center, there’s a new kind of ‘learning plaza’. These elements create a building that encourages openness, social interaction as well as a shared understanding between the individual and the community.