Alteration and renovation of Ylistönrinne proceeding as scheduled: Facilities to be handed over as they are completed
The alteration and renovation work in Ylistönrinne in Ambiotica’s YAA-YAC areas has progressed according to schedule during the winter. During the spring and summer, the construction will progress to the renovation and expansion phase of the YAD area.
The renewed facilities to be introduced in stages
The first facilities of the transition areas in Ambiotica’s YAA-YAC areas have been completed and they are already being moved into. More spaces will be gradually handed over to users as they are completed.
In the final phase, the alteration work of YAA-YAC will move to the area of the second floor of the YAB, from which operations are currently being moved to other facilities.
“The moving process has gone well in cooperation with O. Jylhä Oy,” says Chief Laboratory Technician Petri Papponen from the Department of Biological and Environmental Science. “The moving operations have required good planning and preparations, so that they could be carried out according to a tight schedule. Interruptions to operations have been kept to a minimum.”
The work in the YAA-YAC areas is expected to be completed on schedule by the end of July, after which the Department of Biological and Environmental Science will fully move out of the YAD area during August.
YAD area’s renovation will bring changes to parking and the Nanoscience Center’s haul routes
The groundworks for the renovation and expansion of Ambitioca’s YAD will start as early as the beginning of May. The area between YAC and YAD will become a construction site and access through the area will be blocked.
Because of the construction work, the bicycle stands will also be removed from between the areas. The goal is to facilitate bicycle parking during construction by adding bicycle stands to other bicycle parking areas. By September at the latest, the parking spaces of the YAD, area P25, will be out of use.
The haul route to the Nanoscience Center’s basement will be out of use due to construction. An alternative route goes through the gateway between YAC and the Nanoscience Center. The gateway limits the size of the equipment that can be moved. Special arrangements can be made for the hauling of large equipment that cannot fit through the gateway to the basement according to the preliminary schedule in August 2024 and autumn 2025.
Construction will progress from outdoor areas to indoors
In the first construction phase, the outdoor stairs between YAC and YAD will be demolished and maintenance work will be carried out on the waterproofing of the underground parts of YAC. Next, the work will expand to cover the entire area between YAC and YAD. The construction site will be demarcated with construction barriers and appropriate signs. The groundworks will be preceded by the removal of trees from the site and the relocation of the European fly honeysuckle.
Removal and relocation of plants to be carried out systematically
Three birches will be removed from the construction site in April–May. At the same time, the European fly honeysuckle on the side of the building will be relocated. According to the Jyväskylä University Botanical Garden’s expert, the birch trees will be used to extend the deadwood hedge at Ylistönrinne.
“The relocation of the European fly honeysuckle has also been carefully planned because they are the habitat of an endangered butterfly species, Perittia herrichiella,” says Project Coordinator Jussi Ahokas. “The transfers of bushes and new locations have been planned together with an expert. The goal is to preserve the living conditions of the endangered species as well as possible.”
YAD’s construction works will cause noise and vibration nuisance
During late spring and summer, groundworks will cause noise and vibration nuisance, especially in Ambiotica and the Nanoscience Center. Piling works are expected to be the most significant single source of noise and vibration and are scheduled to take place in July. Drilled piles will be used for the construction, as the vibration caused by their installation is lower than that for conventional piles.
“During the spring, the information about the vibration sensitive equipment of Ylistönrinne and risks caused by the vibrations have been updated,” says Ahokas. “Notifications about construction will be extended to the entire Ylistönrinne area to ensure that all staff members of Ylistönrinne receive weekly construction bulletins. The weekly bulletins will have more information about the work phases in the future as the construction progresses.”
The construction starts inside the YAD wing at the beginning of September. First, the demolition of certain structures will be carried out. This phase will cause noise and vibration nuisance particularly in the Nanoscience Center, which is structurally part of the YAD area. The demolition phase is scheduled for September–October 2024.
The staff are requested to take into account the interruptions caused by the construction in their daily operations. To minimise the impact to the offices, Facility Services are implementing a previously planned pop-up workspace in the YK building’s old library hall. The space will be limited to the office end of the library hall.
“The dean and the heads of departments have decided that there is no need for any bigger temporary relocations at this point,” says the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science Mikko Mönkkönen about the construction. “It became obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic that people are also able to work efficiently remotely. Pop-up workstations are offered to those who don’t have this opportunity.”
The JYUmeet spaces in Agora and Lähde can also be used. The JYUmeet spaces are suitable for a wide range of work activities and informal meetings.
The construction also impacts the emergency exit routes of Ambiotica and NSC, which are being mapped. Emergency exits will be appropriately marked to ensure safe exit also during construction.
Plans become construction drawings
The staff participating in YAD’s planning has been working hard on the last details of the plans to ensure that the end result is what they had hoped for. The need for a few small changes has come up, which is a normal occurrence during the design process.
“All the polished small details will also be revealed when the building is commissioned,” says Ahokas. “Then it is realised exactly where everything is and what the usability of the facilities is like. The 3D models have been helpful in the visualization of the facilities and also helped the users to better visualize the facilities already in the planning phase.”
The biggest change to the YAD’s plans was that the 3D printing laboratory no longer had the same need for space, and so the space could be used for other purposes. The computing cluster of the Department of Chemistry, which was previously outside the scope of the project, could finally be assigned the necessary space from YAD. In addition, a small but needed teaching laboratory was fitted in the freed-up space.
“The revised plans have also been started for these,” says Ahokas. “The plans are progressing to construction drawings and towards implementation when construction for YAD starts in May.”
