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Heinävaara Elementary School
Heinävaara, Finland
Cuningham Group Architecture
A small Finish village is home to "the
wooden school of tomorrow"
© Pekka Agarth |
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& drawings' above.
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behind this project click on 'people & products.'
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Called "the wooden school of tomorrow"
in the Finnish press, this facility combines leading-edge
design and technology with the rich cultural heritage of Heinävaara
(population, 1,000), located in North Karelia, a heavily forested
region on the Russian border.
When the mayor of Heinävaara, Juhani
Rouvinen came to the U.S. shopping for architects to design
the school, his motive was partly economic: Heinävaarans
wanted to boost their local wood-products industry by using
the construction project to learn a North American building
technique known as wood platform-framing. But the mayor and
his delegation were also determined to build a "school
of tomorrow," blending leading-edge school design and
21st-century technology with the rich cultural heritage of
North Karelia.
Educational modules of the 26,000-square-foot
school open to a central gathering space with media center,
performance area, and cafeteria available to the community
in the evening. A variety of different-sized learning spaces
encourage connections and support hands-on, individual, and
group learning experiences. A stage opens to both the gym
and cafeteria, making the performance area adaptable to the
size of the gathering. Computers on carts can be routed to
the modules or clustered for use by students or community
groups. A focal point of the main gathering area is a 10-foot-high,
soapstone fireplace used by students for activities such as
baking traditional Karelian pies. At the front entrance of
the 26,000-square-foot building is an ornate wooden canopy,
a classic Karelian design feature. The school’s exterior
is pine, with a typically Karelian metal roof.
Formal name
of Project:
Heinävaara Elementary School
Location:
Heinävaara, Finland
Gross square
footage:
26,000 sq ft
Total construction
cost:
$2.7 million
Owner:
Commune of Kiihtelysvaara
Architect:
Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A.
201 Main Street, Suite 325
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612.379.3400
612.379.4400
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