The Urbanist Tall Stories 485: Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Natural Sciences
Nov 17, 2025
Petri Burtsoff, a journalist and producer specializing in architecture, explores Helsinki's innovative Upper Secondary School of Natural Sciences. He describes it as Finland's first five-story wooden educational building, emphasizing the compelling reasons behind the use of timber, from aesthetics to sustainability. Burtsoff highlights how the school fosters an engaging science curriculum, thanks to its strategic design and proximity to university facilities. The discussion also touches on the building's understated exterior, showcasing it as a bold civic statement in urban architecture.
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Wood As Structural And Sensory Material
- The Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Natural Sciences is a five-story building that uses extensive timber both inside and out.
- Its 1,700 cubic metres of wood and exposed timber surfaces create warmth and daylight-driven visual comfort.
A School That Smells Like Wood
- Located on Kumpulanmäki, the five-storey wooden school sits within a verdant campus with gardens and geology collections.
- The interiors even smell of fresh wood, creating a relaxing, nature-connected ambience for 900+ students.
Timber Cuts Building Emissions
- Timber construction delivers measurable carbon benefits, cutting initial-stage emissions by up to one-third in Finland.
- This school's whole-life emissions were estimated about one-fifth lower than the Finnish educational average.