Description

Located next to a senior citizens’ assisted living and care center, the Ruukki Health Clinic reaches out to the local community, adding a dental clinic and simple healthcare services, among them facilities for childcare. Ruukki is a small community of some 4,500 inhabitants in the province of Oulu, located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region of Finland, and the health clinic site is surrounded by pine forests.

The building has two linear and one concave façade, resulting in a curved L-shaped plan. Most treatment areas and consultation rooms are located along the perimeter of the outer façade of this L-shaped building; wide ribbon windows offer views of the adjacent pine woods. The inner side of the building is marked by a curved wall that is interspersed with windows in a seemingly random order, lending the building’s entrance a humane and playful character. Wooden frames protrude outwards to the square in front, marking the entrances. The façades are clad in larch wood, that will gray over time, and anodized aluminum. Jutting forward, the wooden roof protects the glazed parts underneath from the impact of inclement weather conditions. Architect Ville-Pekka Ikola from alt Arkkitehdit explains that ‘ample eaves protect the cladding from weather and connect the embracing, free-form wall to the older buildings with its stern but polite profile.’

The main entrance in the middle opens to a spacious lobby that gives access to the two corridors that lead to the spaces for consultancy and treatment. The dental care, healthcare, and child healthcare facilities are distinct units grouped around the central lobby at the core of the building. The end of the corridors are left open, preventing the impression of dead-end streets. Finnish birch veneer and white façades give the interior a friendly, almost homely character. Though relatively small, the clinic has a strong presence, its contemporary architectural language contrasting with the adjacent buildings. The project was a collaboration with Martti Karsikas (Architecture Office Karsikas) and was exhibited in the Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2016.

---

Originally published in: Cor Wagenaar, Noor Mens, Guru Manja, Colette Niemeijer, Tom Guthknecht, Hospitals: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2018.