Day care centre, Hintta, Oulu
Inspiring and high-quality early childhood education facilities with a rental model
The Oulu municipality was in a situation familiar to many municipalities with the day care centre property in the Hintta residential area: the facilities built decades ago do not meet today’s needs, and their renovation is not sensible. The municipality chose to acquire new premises using a rental model and selected Hoivatilat as the executor.
Day care centre, Hintta, Oulu
Client City of Oulu
Tyyppi Day Care Centre
Location Oulu
Number of children 150
Completion time December 2021
The preparation of the project and the construction of the day care centres facilities proceeded rapidly. The Oulu municipality took the decision to acquire the premises at the beginning of the year 2018. In May 2020, Hoivatilat was selected as a partner for the project, and operations in the new facilities started in a cheerful atmosphere in January 2022.
In the tendering process, the plan of Hoivatilat had stood out to its advantage in many ways. For example, the adaptability and practicality of the facilities were convincing, and the handprint and narrative of architectural firm PAVE Arkkitehdit Oy were charming. The size of the recreational courtyard was also just right.
Markus Niva, development engineer of Oulun Tilapalvelut public utility company, participated in the preparation of the project as the client’s representative. Niva became familiar with Hoivatilat and the acquisition of early childhood education property using a rental model some years ago when the Oulu municipality selected Hoivatilat as the executor of the Ruiskukka day care centre. Niva says that the rental model and co-operation have proven to work very well.
– The rental model has many advantages compared to building into one’s own balance sheet, such as the fact that the orderer’s resources are saved at the planning stage and that the contract includes maintenance costs and renovations. In Hintta, the demolition of the old property was also part of the contract, says Niva.
Day care centre staff strongly involved in planning
Eeva-Liisa Vilmi, director of the Hintta day care centre, and deputy director Annakaisa Luoma participated in the project from the preparation of the material for the call for tenders. They also acted as messengers for customer families and staff, describing the journey to the new facilities as staggering.
– Participation played a strong role throughout the project. It was great to be able to define what serves best our customers, the children. We had not even dreamed of such co-operation, the two rejoice.
The children also participated in the design of the interior and equipment. For example, a trampoline in the yard and a climbing wall inside are elements conceived by children. Luoma notes that in all the material choices quality and practicality have had priority over price.
The staff, for their part, hoped that adults, too, would be able to store their clothes in the mudroom and have sufficient sanitary facilities. Now there are toilets in connection with the mudrooms, where the staff can change clothes more quickly when going outdoors than by passing through the staff rooms as usual.
During the planning stage, as many functionally divisible spaces as possible were hoped for and obtained.
Luoma and Vilmi wish to raise their hats to Jari Lehto, development manager of Hoivatilat. They say Lehto is a true professional in the field of early childhood education facilities.
– Throughout the project, Jari reflected a genuine interest in our cause and ‘children first’ thinking. He perceived our views better than we could express them ourselves, adds Luoma.
Jari Lehto is also very satisfied with the co-operation. He thanks the representatives of the user for their active participation in the development phase and the employees of the main contractor Temotek Oy for their strong commitment to the successful project from the beginning.
“The finest day care centre in the world in Finland”
The leader duo of the day care centre describes the result of the co-operation as inspiring and high-quality early childhood education facilities that motivate to move. The homely atmosphere with its warm colours and adaptability are also delightful.
Both staff and customer families have been impressed by the new facilities and the courtyard. The spontaneous exclamation of a five-year-old sums up the mood excellently: “We have the finest day care centre in the world in Finland!”
The building marvellously reflects the architecture of the area and is surrounded by a varied courtyard with a playground and an adventure forest. The materials, idiom and architectural modellings of the day care centre follow the look of the adjacent school building built in the 1950s, forming a complementary pair of buildings.
Acquisition of new facilities with particularly with the rental model has also shown itself to be a positive thing for the day care centre staff.
– It only occurred to use to present some wishes only when the facilities were already in use. They have also been taken into account at Hoivatilat. This site had no taillight guarantee, instead, we have a union of at least 25 years, says Eeva-Liisa Vilmi.
