Ruskeasuo Day-Care Center

The two-storied new building of Ruskeasuo Day-Care Center was completed in November of 2015. The cubical shape of the building keeps to the Ruskeasuo building tradition of the 1950s. Also, the materials and color scheme have been influenced by the surrounding architecture. The façades are rendered in light colours, the entrances are cladded with clinker tiles and the two-way sloping roof is painted welted seam. The building is located on the north end of the property and the playing ground is on the east side of the building. The service yard and parking lots for the staff are located on the north side. The day-care building is planted between the surrounding residential buildings so that the views from their apartments are as clear as possible. 

The Ruskeasuo Day-Care Center is designed for about 110 children, originally for five groups. During the construction phase, the plan was modified to better reflect the spatial thinking of the new principles of early childhood education in the city of Helsinki: spaces are to operate flexibly, not for a specific activity and group, but for the situation and need. The interiors are implemented in the same spirit as the exteriors: the interiors consist of light brickwork walls, fair-faced concrete walls and wooden elements of lacquered pine. The clinker familiar from the façades creates a surface for the wet-room walls and floors. The building’s several glass walls and light surfaces allow as much light as possible to come inside. The glass walls also operate as elements that bring spaces together both functionally and visually.  

The home areas for young children, two wet rooms, a staff office space, a children’s home kitchen which expands to a staff workspace, a kitchen, technical and maintenance facilities, locker rooms and a cleaning center are all located on the ground floor. On the second floor are the hall, three small group spaces, one of which is connected to the hall and can also serve as a stage, and three children’s home areas, one of which serves as a common dining area. The ventilation plant room is located in the attic. The building’s large and central foyers and stairwell also act as playing areas for the children. 

The yard area is divided into younger and older children’s playgrounds. The natural boundary is the large trees growing on the border of the existing plots, which are to be preserved. The yard area of ​​the day-care joins into the surrounding green yards. Plantations at the edges of the plot have been preserved and the plot is bordered by hedgerows facing the street. The yard-areas of the day-care and the southern Steiner school are visually connected.