Tuupala Elementary School is the first CLT-constructed school building in Finland. It is located in a small town of Kuhmo, near Russian border. The school is truly a local building. The main building material, wood, is cut from local forests, and CLT-factory and wood mill are only a few kilometers from the site.
Large building mass is divided in three parts and further arranged in a village-like composition. Building volumes are complemented by smaller scaled canopies that mediate between the school yard and the building. CLT structure can be read from the facades: where there is visible timber cladding, there is a structural CLT element.
Interior architecture is strongly based on visible wooden surfaces: CLT and plywood. Atmosphere inside the building is serene. The goal is to create simple spaces where the users – children – bring colour and action to play.
Tuupala Elementary School was awarded Finnish Wood Price and shortlisted for Finlandia Price for Architecture in 2018. The building is widely published in magazines, books and blogs.