"The construction of the Fortress School is the biggest one-off investment for Rae rural municipality so far," said Madis Sarik, the Mayor of the Rural Municipality. According to him, the municipality has a past history of successful cooperation with which the contractor that was selected as a contract partner and so the contract was signed in the firm belief that the end result will be exactly as the contracting authority and the community expect it to be. “The construction of the Fortress School is in many ways very similar to the construction of the Järveküla School, which was opened in 2016. Both the municipality and the builder are now richer by the previous experience, so we can be sure that the result will be just as impressive or even better,” Madis Sarik said.
“Along with the school places that we have a shortage of today, the school complex offers added value to the booming region. The vision of the school principal, Annika Räim, to turn the schoolhouse into the heart of the community inspires us to create the best possible conditions. Both for learning as well as for extracurricular activities, for example, in the outdoor areas and in the pneumatic hall being built as part of the school, which the community will definitely adopt into active use,” Sarik added.
“Nordecon is starting the construction of the second new schoolhouse in Rae rural municipality in the last four years – a special event not only for the municipality and the builder but also for all of Estonia. We will start construction as soon as possible so that the first elementary school students can begin their studies at the Kindluse School on September 1, 2020,” said Ando Voogma, Member of the Management Board of Nordecon AS. "The building is very large and a big investment for the municipality: after completion of the elementary school building, we will continue with the kitchen, dining room and outdoor areas until the end of October 2020 and the remaining parts – the basic school, the sports hall, some of the outdoor areas, and the pneumatic hall – will be completed in spring, 2021.
The completion date for the entire building complex is 18 months after signing the contract, but according to Jaanus Männik, the Deputy Mayor of the Rural Municipality in charge of the construction, the schedule is the same as for the Järveküla School. This means that classes can begin on September 1st. "In the first phase, the elementary schoolhouse will be completed, and the students will be able to start the next school year in a brand new schoolhouse and see with their own eyes how Kindluse School, which is going to play a very important role in their lives until the end of their basic school, will be getting its last touches.
The building of the Kindluse School which will be erected in between Turu Road and Kindluse Road in Järveküla Town, will have a closed net area of 8772.5 m2 and a capacity of 870 children and 70 teachers. The building is conditionally divided into three parts: Between the two-story upper-level block and the one-story elementary school, is the heart of the school, consisting of the lobby, the dining room, and the assembly hall with auxiliary rooms. The one-story elementary school block also features a library. The elementary school block is linked to the school’s main entrance through a spacious one-story gallery that houses the teachers’ block of the entire school. The predominantly two-story elementary school building accommodates a sloping auditorium extending through two floors, classrooms, and the kitchen of the dining room. A separate block for children with special educational needs is planned for the same part of the building.
The building also has a four-story fortress tower, with space for speech therapists and special needs educators, the activity leader, the student council in the room featuring a climbing net, and a tower class for outdoor observation on the top floor. On the second floor of the elementary school there is access to the gallery of the sports building to be built.
The contract includes also completion of the first stage of the sports building with the net area of 2511.4 m2. In addition to the elementary school, basic school, and gym section, the first heated football stadium with artificial lawn in Rae rural municipality will be built in the course of the construction and will be covered with a pneumatic membrane for the winter. The sports complex is meant to serve not only the school, but the entire community.
The basic design of the Fortress School was prepared by SWECO Projekt AS and architects Ahti Kooskora and Sander Palling. With its modern Nordic look, the new schoolhouse follows the established style of the educational infrastructure of Rae rural municipality, forming an environmentally harmonious whole. A screen made of metal mesh, which allows light to pass through and allows to see through it but shields the hot sun, will be used for passive cooling of the building. A similar outdoor area solution, where bikes can be kept and simpler games can be played in rainy weather, is featured at Järveküla School.
Rae rural municipality is located in Harju County, south of Tallinn, and borders with Jõelähtme, Kiili, Raasiku, and Kose rural municipalities. With its about 20,000 inhabitants, Rae rural municipality is one of the most rapidly developing rural municipalities in Estonia with the youngest population. A whopping 33.2 % of the total population of the municipality belongs to the age group of 0-19 years, which in turn requires constant investment in educational infrastructure by the municipality.
