What happened
Anttinen Oiva Architects completed the Lagmansgården Reform School in 2025 in Pietarsaari, on Finland’s west coast. Commissioned by state-owned Senate Properties, the scheme brings together education, care, recreation, administration, dining and residential functions for children and young people who need intensive care and special education.
The project followed an invited architectural competition in 2020, won by the practice’s Ihop proposal. Its brief prioritised practical operation, security, a domestic atmosphere and therapeutic qualities.
Rather than forming one large institutional block, the development is made up of single-storey volumes. The school and homes form an L-shaped plan around a shared courtyard that opens west towards the landscape. Four residential units contain 20 accommodation rooms.
Why it matters
The project illustrates how care and education facilities can combine robust operational requirements with lower-carbon building systems. For designers, contractors and public clients in Türkiye and Europe, it shows the application of cross-laminated timber (CLT), laminated timber and timber-frame walls in a setting with demanding safety and durability needs.
The school’s lifecycle carbon footprint was calculated at 14.07 kg CO₂e per m² per year. The accommodation buildings recorded 13.05 kg CO₂e per m² per year. Both figures were below the relevant Finnish reference limits cited for their building categories.
Heating comes from a geothermal system. Its energy wells are also used to cool incoming air in summer, while solar generation on site supplements the energy system. CLT production remnants were reused for exterior furniture and entrance benches, reducing material waste.
Background
An existing pine and spruce forest, estimated at about a century old, shaped the site layout and the orientation of interiors. Classrooms face the forest, while common areas look onto the sunlit courtyard through large timber-framed glazing. Exposed CLT and plywood contribute to the interior material palette.
The design also draws on building traditions in Finland’s Pohjanmaa region through modest volumes, long eaves and vertical timber cladding. Staff and young residents contributed during design development; some tables in shared spaces were designed and made by students.
What’s next
No further project dates or implementation milestones were provided.
