Log School Campus in Pudasjärvi, Finland

A bold step was taken in 2014, when the city decided to build a new school campus using solid log construction.

A log building of this scale had never before been realised in Finland, or anywhere else in the world.

The result was the Log Campus, which opened its doors in 2016 to approximately 700 students. The modern timber school building comprises around 10,000 square metres of facilities and serves students ranging from the youngest primary pupils to upper secondary graduates.

“The Log Campus was a bold project, and it is unlikely that even in Pudasjärvi we would have dared to undertake it without prior experience of large-scale log construction,” says Aila Ryhänen, who led the Pudasjärvi Log Capital initiative. “Even so, the planning and construction phases required extensive research and the development of entirely new structural solutions, as the campus combined large glass surfaces and massive log walls in a completely new way.”

The school was constructed using a new type of life‑cycle model.

The city procured the school through a form of “leasing agreement”, under which the contractor was responsible not only for building the log school but also for maintaining it for the following 25 years.

“Pudasjärvi gained a new, high‑quality log school. At the same time, the agreement ensured that the building was well constructed and will be properly maintained over the long term, as it is also in the contractor’s interest to keep the school in good condition. After the 25‑year contract period, the city has the option to purchase the school for half of the original construction cost,” says Aila Ryhänen.

To keep project costs under control, the development was put out to tender among several log suppliers and construction companies. The contract was ultimately awarded to a consortium formed by construction company Lemminkäinen, Log house company Kontio and Architectural Office Lukkaroinen.

Improving Acoustics and Indoor Air Quality

When an indoor air quality survey was conducted among students and teachers in Pudasjärvi after the Log Campus opened in 2016, the results differed significantly from those of a similar survey previously carried out in the old school building.

Based on earlier experience, it was already known in Pudasjärvi that log buildings provide good indoor air quality, but the exceptionally positive results still came as a surprise. Wood has natural antibacterial properties, and solid wooden walls do not emit harmful compounds. Log structures also naturally balance temperature and humidity differences between indoor and outdoor air, creating a comfortable and healthy indoor environment. Everyday experience supported these findings: people feel well in the log school.

The log structures also produced other positive effects that had not been fully anticipated.

“We knew that log buildings have good acoustics, but we did not expect how significant an impact the log structures would have on the school’s sound environment. At the Log Campus, the acoustics are simply excellent. There is noticeably less of the noise typically associated with school buildings,” says Aila Ryhänen.