Nekala Cultural Centre – Nekalab

The Nekala school is being renovated into a vibrant and versatile cultural center that will enable artistic work for artists, experiences for visitors, and communal activities for local residents. The extensive renovation focused on improving indoor air quality began in early 2024 and will be completed by the end of 2025, after which the doors will open to residents and new operators of the building.

Library, courses, and events

Once the renovation is complete, the library will return to its familiar location to serve local residents. At the residents' meeting held on November 2, 2021, there were strong wishes for a communal space for events, relaxation, and personal activities, as well as a library that serves as a safe place for children to do their homework and spend time, in addition to self-service hours. These wishes are the starting point for the design of the new library. 

Alongside the library, the goal is to bring public activities to the ground floors, such as a café, a cultural shop, and art exhibitions. The operators of the building will organize both open and targeted activities for specific audiences. These activities may include music lessons, painting courses, demonstrations, and workshops, depending on the selected operators. The old gymnasium will be transformed into an event hall where regular events will be held. Some spaces will be for the private use of artists. 

The Adult Education Centre of the Tampere Region will move its workshop from Onkiniemi to the new cultural center. The workshop being built in the school's craft rooms will enable both course activities and self-directed activities for local residents and the building's artists. Other courses from the institute are also planned for the school's premises.

Space for artists and associations

Most of the building will be allocated for use by associations and artists. The goal is to create a vibrant community where new collaborations are born. The cultural center will provide spaces for about 40 different creative professionals or groups. 

The operator competition for the Nekala Cultural Center was held in the spring of 2025. Through the competition, the rental costs of the cultural center have been compensated so that the spaces are accessible to non-profit cultural operators and associations. The operator selected is Livelaboratorio Tampere Oy, a nationally known cultural operator owned by the Musicians' Union. The operator is responsible for renting the spaces to individual operators and developing the cultural activities and events of the building.

Towards a Cultural Center through renovation

The Nekala Cultural Center project is based on the cultural space survey conducted by the City of Tampere in the winter of 2020–2021, which highlighted the need for new cultural spaces. The City Council decided that the decommissioned Nekala school is the primary option to meet these needs. The condition surveys and studies conducted require extensive building and technical measures to improve indoor air quality. In addition, minor functional improvements will be made, and all systems and building parts that are at the end of their life cycle will be renewed if necessary. Functional changes will be made moderately for cost reasons, and future tenants will be responsible for modifying the spaces to suit their intended use.

History of Nekala school

The history of the Nekala school building dates back to 1930. In the 1950s, the east and west wings and the main lobby were expanded. The school was renovated and expanded in 2009. The building has four floors, plus a basement and attic. The oldest part of the school is from 1930 (architects Bertel Strömmer and Jaakko Laaksovirta). 

The school's spaces were symmetrically arranged on both sides of the entrance and entrance hall, with lobby spaces and classrooms in the central part of the building on four floors, and other spaces, such as the assembly hall, sculpture hall, and teachers' rooms, in the lower wings at the ends of the lobbies. 

In the 1950s, the east and west wings and the main lobby were expanded (architects Bertel Strömmer, Mikael Nordenswan, and Pekka Pussinen). The east wing and its spaces (sculpture hall and assembly hall) were "extended" towards the schoolyard, and the west wing was extended almost to the edge of the plot along the street. The dining hall and kitchen were placed on the first floor of the west wing. Five classrooms and a teaching kitchen with dining halls were placed on the second floor. Five classrooms, a teachers' room, and teaching equipment storage were placed on the third floor of the wing. 

The school was renovated and expanded in 2009 (Architects A3 Oy). Changes were made to the interior spaces due to the school's operations (separation spaces, computer room, administration spaces), and the building's accessibility and building services were improved (level lifts and ventilation spaces). The apartments and old kitchen located at the end of the first floor of the west wing were converted into library spaces. The school's kitchen was moved to a new extension, and a new HVAC machine room was built on the roof of the west wing. The spaces in the basement of the east wing were lowered in some areas and taken into use for teaching.

School operations in the building ended in 2018. The building also housed a dental clinic at one time.