Huhtasuo school and day-care centre, Jyväskylä

Huhtasuo comprehensive school in Jyväskylä has nearly 900 pupils and the day-care centre looks after almost 200 children. The need for new premises arose as a result of indoor air quality problems in the former building. The city wanted to ensure that children and employees have access to healthy and safe premises. The goal was to create a versatile and flexible learning environment that will serve the changing needs of learning and function effectively far into the future.

Huhtasuo is now home to a school and day-care centre that utilises the life-cycle model and smart technology: the design, construction and maintenance have all been implemented with a long-term approach to benefit the centre’s users as well as the city.

Ongoing maintenance under the life-cycle model

Groups of various sizes can be taught at the school by adapting the rooms using movable partitions. The accessible building was designed to be comfortable for its users in terms of its architecture, lighting solutions and the use of colour, among other things. The technology used in the building is not particularly visible, but you can feel its effects. For example, the ventilation system is adjusted based on measurements of indoor CO2 levels and temperature.  The access control system identifies the number of people in each section of the building, which also improves the monitoring of security.

The construction project was interesting for the people involved due to the centre’s architectural diversity.

“Our cooperation with YIT was pleasant, uncomplicated and responsive to our needs,” says Principal Kirsi Kallionpää from the City of Jyväskylä. She adds that the users are satisfied with the impressive and highly functional school.

The project had clear objectives and a clear framework for implementation. Under the life-cycle model, it is in everyone’s interest for the work to be done as agreed — after all, the responsibility will continue for a long time.

In line with the life-cycle model, the maintenance agreement for the property has a term of 20 years. This ensures that the property will remain in good condition and be energy-efficient. There will be no surprises arising from an accumulated maintenance backlog.

Huhtasuo school and day-care centre was the first construction project utilising the life-cycle model in Jyväskylä and also the city’s most significant investment in basic services in the 21st century.

Huhtasuo comprehensive school

• Mainstream education premises for 760 pupils and intensive special education premises for approximately 100 pupils
• Huhtasuo day-care centre, approximately 160 children
• Personnel: 170–180
• The larger-than-normal indoor sports facilities, exceeding 1,100 m2, and some of the other facilities are also used by the local residents outside school hours
• Total floor area: approx. 16,000 m2