Metropolia
Metropolia’s Myllypuro campus is one of Finland’s largest campus projects. The Myllypuro campus is a University of Applied Sciences for students aiming for the social and health care, building and real estate industries. The facility is built for about 6,000 students and about 500 employees.
Cooperation
As an Interior Design Office specialized in learning environments, we were invited to design the concept of the campus interior. We created a furniture and interior design concept for the campus in close cooperation with the students and staff at Metropolia as well as the architects of the building.
Architecture
The architecture of the building is already very impressive. The campus is designed by 4U architects (Architectural Office Lahdelma & Mahlamäki and Architectural Office Lehto Peltonen Valkama) and consists of four interconnected 6 storey towers. Curved walls and full-height windows create a powerful look for the indoors. The facilities have colorful spaces for group studying and spontaneous encounters. A goal was to make the furniture a part of the building.
Three main themes of the concept
The interior was designed with three main themes; A mobile, flexible and architectural university campus. Furniture and space solutions were designed so that the spaces naturally adapt to different types of teaching situations. The furniture are grouped to make it possible for users to work in different setups. Mobility is encouraged by different ergonomic furnishings and, for example, with a tatami floor space. We also wanted to create a suitable environment for conversational education where everyone is sitting without a hierarchical order. The concept will work as a guide for the furnishing, the use of colors and the choice of materials.
5 spatial types
We divided the concept into five types of spaces so that the concept covers the most relevant functions. The concept covers the restaurant and library as a whole, as well as example rooms of the activity based office, classrooms and open study areas.
We developed alternative furniture concepts together with the students and staff. Illustrative plans helped users to perceive the overall picture of the future campus in advance. Finally, we arranged an online poll about classrooms and open study areas for students and employees. Decisions and plans were then made based on the users’ favourites.
The finished concept has been praised by users and project architects. The concept of the Myllypuro campus is a part of the international Live Baltic campaign, which presents new universities in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
Visualisation ja 3D-modeling: Työyhteenliittymä 4U
http://livebalticcampus.eu/
The Myllypuro campus is estimated to be complete in 2019.
