A student centre will be built as a joint meeting place for Aalto University students
Aalto University Student Union (AYY), Aalto University Business Students (KY) and the Swedish-speaking student nation Teknologföreningen (TF) will have a long-awaited joint student centre which can be used as a meeting place and recreational premises to which every Aalto community member has a reason to come. AYY, the Foundation for Business Students in Aalto University sr, TF and Aalto University have agreed to build a student centre at the heart of the Otaniemi campus, right next to the metro station. The construction project is expected to be completed in summer 2024.
In the early stages, Aalto University will develop the building and order its construction. The student organisations will participate in the design of the building, redeeming their share of the student centre after its completion. Aalto University will lease facilities in the building for student services, for example.
AYY Board member Otto Usvajärvi: ‘I’m so glad we finally got the project going! This building will serve as a home for the Aalto community and bring together our numerous student organisations and student groups.’
Antti Perttula, Chair of the Board of the KY Foundation: ‘Business students have long longed for a new home in Otaniemi. We will now we get one right at the heart of the campus, to be accomplished in the form of collaboration with the rest of the Aalto community. This is a great thing for business students and an important step in the history of KY.’
Edvard Ohlström, Chair of the TF Board: ‘We have been planning Träffpunkt Aalto for a long time, and it is great to take the first step towards a new TF home and the living room that can be shared by the entire Aalto community. This project will create new opportunities for building synergies and communal spirit.’
Marianna Bom, Chief Financial Officer at Aalto University: ‘The student centre, to be built in the middle of the campus, will create even better conditions for developing students’ communal spirit and supporting their well-being. Aalto University promotes the project by taking responsibility for the development and ordering of the construction of the project at an early stage.’
The building will be easily approachable, functionally flexible, supporting versatile use and energy-efficient. Indoors, we strive to achieve a workshop-like style and a relaxed atmosphere and, in technical solutions, life-cycle cost-effectiveness and ecology. The gross area of the building will be approximately 4,700 square metres.
The Student Centre will be built in a block known as the Chemist’s Block, for which an international invitation competition was arranged in 2016. The competition was won by a proposal known under the name of Nexus from Finnish architecture firm Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit Oy. This proposal will serve as the basis for the design of the student centre.