The Landscape

An uninterrupted green stretch runs the length of the Seurasaarenselkä. The intent was to make Sibelius Park part of a more extensive stretch of green space by creating a pavilion for the kindergarten that blends in with the park’s landscape. As a result, the park links the city’s southern outskirts and the Ulfasa Hospital to the north and beyond.

The new kindergarten is at the plot’s eastern boundary that creates a close and homely world for the students. The structure’s rooftop serves as a green terrace that blends in with the higher level of natural terrain to the east.

Combinations of topographies, accessible roofs and stone formations on the site, allow kids and park visitors to move around and enjoy an architectural promenade with a mix of built and natural landscapes.

The proposed volume makes no changes to the layout of Sibelius Park. Instead, it serves as a new backdrop to the villa for visitors entering the Seurasaarenselkä coast from the east, helping to redeem what now looks to be a garden.

The Kindergarten

To make the project’s main idea that the kindergarten park could be a green space for people to cross from one place to another a reality, a single volume was proposed for the building that blends with the park. As a result, the same volume gets divided into two floors, with classrooms and outdoor play spaces on each. The bottom floor has a gym, an eating area, a kitchen, a multipurpose space, staff quarters, and technical areas.

On both floors, all classrooms open onto the outdoor play spaces. The classrooms on the ground floor are staggered and provide views of the water to the west. The compact top floor of the kindergarten opens up to a roof garden.

The service and technical area are on the east side of the building, making up the back of the ground-level classrooms. An internal walkway with a courtyard for light and ventilation grows between the two edges of the kindegarten. The classrooms scan be combined to create larger spaces for activities when needed. Each cluster of classrooms has service facilities, such as toilets, at the back. The gymnasium is on the northern side of the building so that visitors may access it from the street level.