– Construction as a service
Bringing premises planning to life with VR goggles
The construction site is still nothing more than a pit in Kirkkonummi. However, the teachers are excited, as they are already walking around their future workplace – wearing virtual reality goggles. SRV Planning Manager Anu Raatikainen is accompanying them on their tour.
The teachers are on a virtual tour of the Jokirinne Learning Centre, which is scheduled for completion in December 2020. Music teacher Tuuli Lehtomäki and her colleagues have come to Kirkkonummi to get a taste of how their new school will look and, above all, get the chance to influence the final result themselves.
The new learning centre will have room for 1,100 pupils in grades 1–9 of basic education plus 240 children in daycare.
As a user-oriented approach was required in the design of the learning centre, a decision was made to use VR technology. VR goggles enable end users to experience the school’s premises solutions in a completely different way to just looking at floorplans.
Tuuli Lehtomäki and class teacher Johanna Ruokamo can get acquainted with their virtual school on a grassroots level. Where will the children put their bags and outdoor shoes? How will the canteen operate in relation to the rest of the school? And what about the gym? After the virtual tour, the teachers’ feelings and any suggested improvements are noted down. The virtual school is currently unfurnished, so the teachers will have to imagine the furniture (and pupils) themselves. However, the teachers still hope to see the virtual school again – this time with furniture.
Both teachers are happy with the experience: the school both looks and feels good. The VR session has brought their future workplace to life. “For me, this was a completely new way of getting acquainted with a new school and also pretty neat,” says Johanna Ruokamo.
“The VR goggles really brought the school to life and helped me get a much better idea of how things will be,” says Lehtomäki.
Ruokamo and Lehtomäki intend to recommend the virtual tour of the new school to all of their colleagues. SRV’s Anu Raatikainen confirms that the teachers who visited the site enjoyed the VR tour immensely.
“And we also got very valuable information on how to move forward with the design and development of the learning centre,” says Raatikainen.
