Vision becomes reality through joint development work

The buildings of the Ylistönrinne campus of the University of Jyväskylä, designed by Architect Arto Sipinen and completed in 1991–2004, have reached the age where renovation is required. The joint development of project planning will improve the basic idea of the campus of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science in accordance with the HUB of Scientific Excellence vision.

Great opportunity

The principle guiding the process has been the functionality of premises – whether it concerns the flows of people or goods in the campus area, or more generally, the opportunities for synergy and cooperation between different departments. When the overall process is examined through joint development, consistency and overlap between different institutions can be seen.

“Joint development is a major change from the past, and it allows even extensive changes in the campus. The campus can be viewed together as a whole and better functionality found across department boundaries,” says Mikko Mönkkönen, Dean in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science.

The CO-SYK operating model steers action

The CO-SYK operating model for joint development was applied to the development of premises and operations at Ylistönrinne. Joint planning was used to collect user information to match the premises and activities. Due to the pandemic, the focus on joint development shifted in the spring of 2020 to combining the activities of expert groups and the premises team.

Digital cooperation platforms were used for joint development, which enabled seminars to be open to everyone, user profile surveys of personnel and students, digital presentation rounds of other campuses, pop-up workshops and user group meetings. Based on the process, an action plan has been prepared for joint development during the project planning stage.

Functionality is the key

In 2020, a project plan clarifying the ideas of the vision phase was jointly developed. A key objective was to take into account moving the Department of Mathematics and Statistics from the Mattilanniemi campus in Ylistönrinne.

The development resulted in a service street unifying the campus system. It brings with it learning environments and premises for joint encounters into teaching and work use, and free-form social encounters. At the same time, a new synergic laboratory concept was created to save the laboratory infrastructure’s building costs, and increase the efficient use of facilities and equipment.

“Functionality is the criterion guiding the renovation of Ylistönrinne. There is no over-renovation of premises that still have a useful life; instead, we want to make sure that the premises meet the users’ requirements,” Mönkkönen says, summarising the project design’s promotion.