“Eagerly anticipated”, sums up Risto Mikkola, planning manager at the City of Kouvola, describing the new community centre in the urban area of Valkeala, whose construction is set to begin in late summer. The comment is apt, considering that the project began in 2017, but had to be put on hold due to a school network reform in 2018.

The restructuring of the school network cut the number of schools in the area from 34 to 20. The old village schools are making room for new multi-purpose buildings that will also host day-care services, youth services, hobby clubs and local associations. The Valkeala community centre will be the first of these modern buildings.

“The building will rise on the main street, at the site of Valkeala’s old town hall. The community centre will become Valkeala’s new heart in many ways”, Mikkola predicts.

After the school network reform was settled, the work on the community centre has progressed on time – although without any visible construction, the design phase may have appeared slow to the local residents.

“Lots of work has been done, but so far there are no physical results to show for it. Now that we are about to enter the construction phase, the project will start feeling more tangible for the residents, too”, says Hellevi Kunnas, director of finance at the City of Kouvola.

In this project, the contractor is YIT Group. The contracts will be signed on 4 June, and the groundwork is set to begin late this summer.

High praise from the Green Evaluation Team

The Valkeala community centre is funded with MuniFin’s green finance, and the project scored the highest ever points from the MuniFin Green Evaluation Team in the suistainable buildings category. Risto Mikkola confirms that there were no special tricks involved: the high score was the result of determined and systematic work.

“In the tendering phase, we emphasised quality and environmentally friendly solutions, which worked out well. We’re very happy and also a little surprised to have scored this well”, Mikkola notes happily.

MuniFin’s Green Evaluation Team praised the community centre project for its material choices, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, high utilisation rate of services, and the exemplary treatment of stormwater. The building will mainly use district heating, which is produced locally in Kouvola with exceptionally low emissions.

Green values played an important role not just in the building’s environmental impact, but also in its design. In the tendering process, the city set clear criteria for the role nature should play at the community centre. For example, all plans included the possibility of backyard farming.

“Children should have a chance to dig their hands in the dirt, if only for health reasons. This has been one of our goals right from the start”, Mikkola emphasises.

Breathing new life into the old population centre

The Valkeala community centre is by far the largest project the City of Kouvola has funded with lease financing and the first so called lifecycle project. The city has traditionally used its own funding and maintenance, but now wanted to try something new.

“We wanted to explore new alternatives because there are so many options available today. We have built some day‑care centres with lease financing before, and now we’ll get to test the lifecycle model in practice. It’s important not to get stuck doing things the same way”, explains Kunnas, the City of Kouvola director of finance.

Experience was also sought from outside the city, for example from the Heinsuo school in Hollola, where the lifecycle model has already proved successful. Another reference project is the Mansikkala school in Imatra, which is currently under construction. The purpose of visiting these schools with teachers was not only to learn about the lifecycle model, but also to hear opinions on what a modern learning environment should look like. After all, multi-purpose facilities are not without their challenges.

“When the curriculum was reformed in 2016, it swinged rather heavily in the direction of an open model. Soon after, it became clear that there cannot be too many groups working in the same space without the groups disturbing each other. Now we have taken a step back and combined the more separate and more open approaches”, Mikkola says.

The city and the service providers are currently drawing the big design lines for the community centre together with the teachers. Mikkola praises the lifecycle partner YIT for their model of participatory design.

“In May, before the summer holidays, we will make the major decisions that affect the building’s shape and yard functions. In the autumn, we will continue with details like the shelves and cabinets. YIT has provided a really good framework for this process.”

A small section of the old high school will be demolished in the summer to make room for the new 10,000-square-metre multi-purpose building. Excavation and piling work will begin towards the end of the summer, and foundations will be cast in the autumn.

The Valkeala community centre will kick off a series of large school projects in Kouvola. The next multi-purpose buildings are planned in Inkeroinen, with renovations planned for Kuusankoski and the Kouvola city centre as well. For local people, the school projects instil confidence in the vitality of their home region.

“Residents have had serious concerns about the future of this area. The community centre is an indication that we will continue to invest in Valkeala. The old town is gaining new vitality”, Kunnas summarises.

Written by Roope Huotari

Picture by YIT Oyj & Linja Arkkitehdit Oy

Photos by interviewees

A modern new education centre is being built amid the rugged northern landscape along the Ivalo River. It will cover about 9,000 square metres and provide premises for a total of 500 pupils all the way from pre-schoolers to upper secondary school students.

It will be the largest investment in the municipality’s history to be financed with MuniFin’s green finance. The first discussions about the new school were held in 2017. Construction was launched in late summer 2020, and the plan is to open the school gates to pupils in time for the start of the school year in August 2022.

“These kinds of projects are huge in scale – a lot of time is spent on design and planning. Nothing happens in the blink of an eye, even though we’ve been actively moving forward with the project all the time. Expectations are running high throughout the entire municipality,” says Inari’s Municipal Manager, Toni K. Laine.

The new centre is a firm investment in the future and an important step towards a more modern municipality with better services.

“It’s high time for municipalities to get their schools and other public premises into shape. The Municipality of Inari wants to lead by example. We have a clear programme for renewing our public buildings and this education centre constitutes a significant opening,” says Laine.

He reminds us that many Finnish municipalities were largely built in the 70s and 80s. The building stock is becoming irrevocably outdated.

“In some places, the buildings are even older than this. Something has to be done. However, local authorities also hope that the government will be more involved in funding service investments in the future, at least to some extent. There is definitely plenty to do and build in Finnish municipalities,” says Laine, sending his greetings to the decision-makers.

Flood risk poses its own challenges

As in many other Finnish schools, Ivalo’s old school premises have had problems with indoor air. However, this is not the only reason for building the new education centre.

“Indoor air issues are often triggers that spark a rapid response, but there may be many other factors in the background. One significant factor was the introduction of the new national curriculum, whose pedagogical requirements could simply not be met in the old premises. The current school environment was designed for a completely different curriculum and era. It has fallen behind the times,” says Laine.

Laine says that, even at the project planning stage, there was already a prevailing consensus within the local authority that a new school was required and should be built. The only real discussion centred around the school’s location.

“Ivalo is a very difficult place to build in, as large areas are at risk of flooding. Although we do naturally already have flood protection in place, we must still carefully consider the location of new construction projects.”

The new school will be built on the site of the old elementary school, on the northern side of the river.

“We also wanted the school to be in harmony with the river,” says Laine.

Side by side with Lapland’s nature

Thanks to its energy efficiency, the building was approved for green finance by MuniFin and is currently the northernmost green finance project. Consolidating operations in modern premises will achieve clear cost benefits, while also guaranteeing safe, high-quality and, above all, healthy teaching premises for children and young people.

“Inari is aiming for the most ecological construction possible in all of its projects. Due to the cold winters, northern weather conditions naturally make ecological construction much more difficult to implement in practice than in the south,” says Laine.

Lapland’s stunning nature and unique landscapes have been the inspiration for the school’s designers.

“The brief for the architects was to create a style of architecture to suit Lapland in particular, by drawing on local nature and culture. Wood is highly visible as a structural element and glass is a similar element to water, keeping it in harmony with the nearby river.”

As Inari is a multi-lingual municipality, working in small groups was a particular focus.

“In addition to excellent spaces for group work, the centre will also have a first-class auditorium that can also be used as a cinema, as well as a top-notch space for cultural shows and exhibitions. We’ll be getting a new, full-size sports hall and a central kitchen, which will be essential for the local authority’s service provision. Extra Lapland enchantment will be provided by a separate kota – a traditional Sami hut that will be used as both a learning and meeting place,” says Laine.

Laine says that Inari has long been on the winning side when it comes to migration. These investments in education will further increase the area’s appeal.

“The new centre will definitely give our image a big boost. We’ll have the opportunity to show people who are considering moving here that we want to provide safe and healthy premises for children and young people and that we’re strongly invested in pedagogical development and education through physical factors. Future generations will be educated in the new centre. A more important factor is hard to find,”says Laine.

Text: Pihla Hakala
Photos: Lehto Group (illustration), Municipality of Inari (signing ceremony)