Award-winning Finnish daycare faces €235,000 floor replacement after just four years

The Martta Wendelin daycare in Tuusula, Finland, a celebrated example of wooden architecture, will have its entire parquet flooring replaced at a cost of roughly €235,000 after only four years of use, Yle reports.

The facility, completed in 2022, has won both the national Finlandia Prize for Architecture and an international award for wooden architecture. It also meets the environmental criteria for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.

Tuusula’s building chief Patrik Kalteva confirmed the replacement in an official decision, attributing the failure to a change in materials during construction. The originally specified parquet was swapped for a cheaper alternative that did not meet durability requirements.

“The new flooring will match the original design specifications,” Kalteva stated, noting that the same material has performed well in similar settings. The work will be carried out during the summer break by Grellar Trading Oy.

Designed for 200 children across ten groups, the fully wooden daycare was intended to showcase sustainable construction. Standard parquet in public buildings typically lasts decades.