Kumpula High School of Natural Sciences

Located on the Kumpula campus of Helsinki, the five-storey timber high school is part of a university campus for the natural sciences. Positioned on the crest of a hill at the corner of the site, it completes the urban fabric and allows for a park-like courtyard between the new high school and the existing buildings. The main façade material is wood that will grey naturally, softening the campus environment, and exposed massive-wood interiors express warmth and openness in a contemporary school setting.

Nature and science formed the foundation of the building concept, guiding the design toward an environment that supports scientific learning intuitively. The five-story building, placed on the crest of a hill within the Kumpula campus, frames the urban space while offering a park-like open space shared with surrounding university buildings. Clarity, modularity, and visibility of structure are the key characteristics of the architectural strategy, allowing material and construction logic to dictate the shape and form. The grid façade provides regularity, allowing the interior to be left spatially open for pedagogical flexibility. The city, university, and designers in collaboration with each other guaranteed education and environmental objectives were met through spatial openness, daylight, and the natural expression of materials.

The structure combines glued-laminated timber columns with CLT wall panels in staircases and façades, and CLT–concrete composite slabs with timber beams for floors and roof. Structural stability is ensured by the exterior and stairwell walls and horizontal slabs. Fire protection was designed using a performance strategy to offer equal protection compared to non-combustible schools. Prefabricated CLT elements were moisture-resistant treated in the factory and constructed under regulated environments. The fire-protection treated-for vertical board cladding will weather naturally to grey and further age well as part of the architectural expression. Geothermal heating and solar panels mounted on the roof offer energy efficiency, and the project is targeting LEED Gold certification.