Helsinki to build €50 million temporary school complex in Puistola

Helsinki plans to construct a large temporary school and daycare facility in the Puistola district at a cost of tens of millions of euros, public broadcaster Yle reports. The modular complex, designed to serve 650 students and 170 daycare children, will operate for at least 20 years despite being classified as a temporary solution.

The city justifies the project as a flexible response to fluctuating student numbers, though local parents have criticised the decision, citing poor conditions in existing temporary structures. The annual rent for the facility will total €2.6 million, amounting to roughly €50 million over the two-decade lease period.

Parents oppose long-term temporary solution

Parents in Puistola have expressed shock at the plan, which involves expanding an existing temporary pavilion school that has operated since 2021. Maija Kallis, chair of the local primary school board, questioned why the city would invest €50 million in a structure that “isn’t even functional now.”

“This was supposed to be a wonderful, well-functioning school,” Kallis told Yle. “Instead, it creaks, has acoustic problems, and door handles fall off.”

The expanded facility will include a gymnasium, technical workshop spaces, and a civil defence shelter—all housed in prefabricated modules. While the city refers to the structures as “relocatable flexible units,” critics describe them as substandard temporary buildings.

City cites declining student numbers

Officials defend the project by pointing to projected declines in Puistola’s child population. According to city estimates, the number of 1–6-year-olds in the area will drop by approximately 300 over the next decade, while the 7–15 age group will shrink by around 500.

“In 20 years, there won’t be a need for this school in Puistola,” said Jarmo Raveala, head of the city’s project unit, dismissing concerns about the 20-year timeline. “Twenty years isn’t a long time for this kind of lease.”

Raveala emphasised that the modular units are factory-built, safe, and mould-resistant, adding that permanent buildings have been demolished after just 30 years. He framed the project as part of a broader city strategy to use relocatable facilities in areas with volatile student numbers—a policy established during former Mayor Jan Vapaavuori’s tenure.

Parents have instead proposed renovating the nearby Nurkkatie multi-purpose building for daycare use, though its future remains undecided.