The Roihupelto campus is the largest lifecycle project in Finland – operations to begin in January

With a gross floor area of 45,000 square metres and a total of 97 geothermal wells, the building is truly impressive in scale. The new campus of Helsinki Vocational College (Stadin AO) in Roihupelto is the largest vocational school in Finland. The building is about half the size of the Redi shopping centre and almost three times the size of Central Library Oodi. The campus can accommodate 3,000 students, and the facilities have been designed to be adaptable for different purposes to meet future educational needs.

The construction of the vocational school began almost four years ago, and it has been realised under a lifecycle model, in which the builder, Lujatalo Oy, will also be responsible for the maintenance of the property for the next 20 years. The campus is the largest lifecycle project in Finland, and its completion required careful planning on the part of both the City and Lujatalo.

“In a project of this scale, it is definitely a major advantage that the builder, who knows the building inside out right from the laying of the foundation, also continues to maintain it,” says Project Director Kari Pehkonen from the City of Helsinki.

The needs of the vocational college were taken into account at an early stage

Lujatalo's Site Manager Tomi Varonen emphasises the importance of good cooperation between the client, user, designers and builders.

“The open dialogue about the needs of the client and users, and how to incorporate them into the implementation, ensured a modern, comfortable and lifecycle-wise educational institution. The well-organised user cooperation and investment in advance planning paid off, as the project was completed in line with the set objectives,” Varonen says.

Lauri Porokka, Head of Business Area at Lujatalo, also sees cooperation as a key factor in the success of the project: “We are proud of the implementation of this mega-scale project, where effective cooperation resulted in an excellent outcome.”

Wide range of training opportunities – applications accepted throughout the year

The Roihupelto campus offers 12 initial vocational qualifications ranging from mechanical engineering and production technology to social and health care. Multidisciplinary cooperation is evident in daily activities at the school, and some students have also been able to participate in practical training at the construction site of their new school.

“The new campus will improve the quality and attractiveness of the education and provide excellent opportunities for skills development and further training. The space solutions support business collaboration, where the foresight map is interpreted together from the perspective of competence needs. We accept applications flexibly throughout the year,” says Maria Sarkkinen, Executive Principal of Stadin AO and Head of Vocational Education and Training at the City of Helsinki.

In addition to initial vocational qualifications, the campus offers short-term and further training, workshops for young people and preparatory education for upper secondary qualifications, which supports learning skills.

The Roihupelto campus is located along good public transport connections. Light rail line 15 runs past the campus, and a city bike station will also be created in the area. Parking spaces are limited, so arrival by public transport or bicycle is recommended.