PREMISES

The premises occupied by Kuopio Academy of Design are in two buildings owned by the Ladies’ Association of Kuopio, which is also responsible for their upkeep.

The ‘main school’ is at Piispankatu 8 (map) in the Väinölänniemi district of the city. It consists of four buildings: the Piispantalo (Bishop’s residence) built in 1856, now a protected building of cultural-historical value, providing facilities “fit for a bishop” for the Academy administration, and three other buildings housing the lecture rooms and workshops for ceramics and glass design, product design and graphic design.

The teaching facilities on this site were built between 1962 and 1975 and have naturally been modernised and extended on several occasions. The Piispankatu buildings comprise a total of 7,354 m2. In addition to administrative and teaching premises, they house the Academy’s exhibition rooms: the Taitemia Gallery, the Kellari Gallery and foyer, the Library, the Kafetemia cafeteria, the auditorium, and the Design Forum project premises.

The other Academy property, known as the Turo site, is at Niiralankatu 15 (map) in the Niirala district of the city. It has inherited its name from Turo clothing factory that once operated there. The Turo site was built from the early 1940s onwards as a factory and business block for Savon Pyörä Oy. It then served as the Turo clothing factory, and when the factory moved to other premises nearby, the Ladies’ Association rented the premises for nearly ten years before purchasing them for the use of the Design Academy in December 2002. The Turo site has naturally undergone several conversions and repairs since it was built and is nowadays a protected building of cultural-historical value.

The teaching premises at the Turo site cover 6,013 km in all and house the lecture rooms and workshops for textile, fashion and clothing design, the textiles laboratory, the Materials Library, and the teaching rooms for visual expression, plastic design and photography.