Akvarelli, School and Kindergarten

The biggest challenge was to transform this large, over 10000 sqm2 building to a learning environment that is understandable, pleasant and safe from a child’s perspective. How to channel the flow of everyday functions in smooth way and how to make sure, that even the smallest user can navigate the building. The project was most expensive public building in Forssa´s history; how to find a solution that would meet the high expectations of decision-makers and tax paying citizens? How the new, modern type of learning environment would be received by the educators, children and parents?

Akvarelli was a design process that involved a lot of people from the city decision-makers. The demands and dream towards for the new school complex were crafted in numerous workshops with the children, parents, teachers and politicians for us architects to deign a building that would meet the expectations of the small city. Design process was a long and hard one; beside the user involved design process it included several presentations in different committees and boards of the municipal government. Final decision for the building the project was won by one vote just before construction phase.

Forssa has suffered of depopulation for quite a many years, which reflects in the community’s strategy towards existing school buildings, in this case efficiency and maintenance issues. This also had a huge impact of the importance and expectations of the new building. After opening, the new school has gathered a lot of interest within the community. New, school building attracts young families to move in the city, it increases the possibilities free time activities in culture and sports and finally, the project came under the budget, which launched the idea of an ongoing large scale art competition in school yard.

Akvarelli is desigend for the children. Even the smallest user can navigate the building using colour themes. The heart of the village-like school is like the market place: a space surrounded by brick buildings of different colours, that serves as a meeting place and dining hall. In addition to an exciting learning environment, the city of Forssa also gets a multi-purpose space with many possibilities: a new library, the centre’s large sports hall and well-equipped stage serve the community as a versatile hobby and leisure time venue. One of the main ideas of the building was also the concept of growth. Children grow both socially and mentally as they age: they gain more skills and abilities year after year Facilities can be used to support children’s growth. The architecture of the building proudly draws from Forssa’s industrial history starting from the mid 1800. The heart of the industry was spinning mills and production of fabrics. The multi-purpose building, with façades of five different bricks, is a modern continuation of the city’s old industrial building stock. The area’s history is also reflected in the façade and glass surfaces inside, which use Finlayson’s old patterns to create a strong local identity.