The Maunula children’s day-care centre, designed by the Architectural office Viljo Rewell and Keijo Petäjä in 1952, is protected by a town plan. In 2012 The City of Helsinki Real Estate Department commissioned us to plan a complete renovation of the building.

Our work began with mapping out the scale and objectives of the renovation. Thereafter, we proceeded to designing the implementation of the renovation. The focal point of the renovation was not solely to repair the building to a usable and technically up-to-date state. It was also to adjust the layout to better suit the needs of a modern day-care centre and the increasing number of children, while simultaneously preserving the original look and architectural features of the building.

The biggest changes were made by opening the hallways to create larger common areas, and by reorganizing the staff’s workspaces without changing the original hierarchy of the space´s scale. One of the most important tasks was repairing the water damage that had occurred due to the building being embedded into the terrain. This meant that an underground drain had to be built and the damage caused by urban runoff needed to be repaired. At the same time new cellars with social and technical facilities were constructed, and the kitchen located on top of these was expanded.

The playground was also completely renewed in accordance to a separate yard plan. The biggest architectural challenges of the renovation were related to the reorganization of the functions within the structure and the improvement of the structural features of the house while still maintaining the original detailing and architecture.