Designs for a Cooler Planet
Discover tomorrow at Aalto University's biggest exhibition! Open 1 September – 30 October 2026.
Giving a vacant health center a new life as a temporary school
Reusing buildings can save up to 50 percent of natural resources compared to demolition and new construction.
The Kivikko Health Center, built in 2000, will be vacated when the new wellbeing center for East Helsinki opens its doors.
The City of Helsinki wanted to continue the story of this award-winning building and tasked students at Aalto University with designing its transformation into a temporary school building that can adapt to the needs of pupils of different ages.
About half of the Earth’s natural resources are used in construction. Reusing buildings can easily cost as much as constructing new ones, but it can save tens of percent in natural resources.
“Historical and cultural values also support renovation. Adaptability should be the starting point in the design of new buildings as well, so that they can serve other purposes in the future,” says Professor Pirjo Sanaksenaho.
Find this and dozens of other fresh perspectives, bold experiments and practical solutions in the autumn exhibition.
