This coal-black day-care centre in the middle of the Urpolanpuisto park and local sports facilities has a small carbon footprint.
Vilttihattu offers 24-hour day-care for children of shift workers in five groups. The building borders a green slope and has playgrounds on both sides. Its form is dominated by broad, sheltering eaves whose slanted lower surfaces bend to form a consistent surface with the façade.
The interior spaces and the day-care groups are connected by a lobby corridor that runs through the building. Natural light enters the lobbies through colourful skylights. The slanting ceilings of the day-care areas and the hall are patterned with dark batten strips in the direction of the ceiling. The external walls of the group areas and the hall are clad with dark glulam panelling, as is the façade. The panel-ling in play corners is treated with colourful translucent varnishes.
The façade has vertical 32 mm UTS tongue-and-groove cladding whose boards are treated with a translucent wood preservative. Colourful painted fibre cement boards are used in the entrance re-cesses and on some parts of the walls. The roof is made of bitumen felt that neutralises nitrogen ox-ides in the air.
The building’s LVL frame is reinforced with steel structures. There are sprinklers inside the building with a fire classification category of P2.
The edgy and playful form of the roof inspired the name Vilttihattu, which means ’felt hat’ in Finnish. The hat-like roof and eaves protect the patio areas, made of composite board.