The central location of Spesia creates opportunities for business cooperation

For a blind person, new places and environments are always particularly exciting and require a lot of learning, but paying attention to accessibility can help a lot.

“When everything is new, you have to learn everything from scratch. I’m nervous about how to combine all the information with the map in my head. It’s amazing how well accessibility has been considered in the premises. For example, all signs can be read in Braille,” enthuses Ira Uwimana, who is graduating as an artisan.

“Starting in the new premises was different but exciting. It’s nice to have a new class, new facilities and new furnishings. I was nervous, even though it was great,” describes Hertta Sihvonen, a second-year student at Spesia.

The wishes of students and teachers are reflected in the result

The lobby of the building, named Vasara, has learning and working environments where you can work alone or in a group. Several spaces can be divided by movable partitions. Spesia’s personnel were strongly involved in designing the premises right from the initial needs assessment, says Spesia’s Education director Jaana Myyryläinen.

‘The ideas and wishes of students and staff are widely reflected in learning and working environments, furniture choices and colour schemes, for example. In addition, teachers have together done pedagogical planning on the education in a new environment,” Myyryläinen says.

The campus organises vocational upper secondary education, degree-preparatory education and education preparing for work and independent living. Basic qualifications can be completed in fields such as cleaning and real estate, art and media, and vehicle and logistics.

Proximity to companies creates job opportunities

The new premises are in the Seppälä business cluster, which brings students into the local business world and offers opportunities for implementing working life-oriented teaching and cooperation.

‘Students study right at the forefront of working life. At Spesia, work is learned by doing, so this is especially valuable to us,” Myyryläinen describes.

Enviromentally friendly property will produce enough environmentally friendly electricity to meet its needs

The construction project of the new educational unit began in spring 2022 and was completed on schedule in June 2023. In the expansion and renovation project, the old warehouse and business premises were demolished and replaced by a new extension of more than 3,000 square metres. At the same time, the teaching facilities of more than 800 square metres, which had already been used by Spesia, were renovated. After the alteration, the entire property will have an area of 9,000 square metres.

In the future, solar panels placed on the roof of the property will produce environmentally friendly electricity for the needs of the property. During the construction phase, the Healthy House principles were followed, with special attention paid to cleanliness and moisture control.

”Contractors operating in Jyväskylä and local labour were extensively utilised in the design and construction. Energy efficiency and environmental responsibility have been at the core from design to implementation,” says CEO Hanna Rauhala.

Additional information:

Hanna Rauhala, CEO
+358 40 0297 312
[email protected]