KUOPIO, FINLAND – Walking through a cavernous sports hall, the threat of a third World War feels vanishingly small. But, besides hosting children’s parties and dance classes, this building has a chilling purpose: it is ready to be transformed into a nuclear bomb shelter at a moment’s notice.
The Luola Sports and Event Centre – “luola” means “cave” in Finnish – is carved into rock face in Kuopio, a city just 100 miles from the Russian border. Its vast 13,780 metre-squared footprint houses a volleyball court, dance and martial arts studios, and gyms, as well as storage rooms containing helmets, gas masks and iodine tablets to combat radiation poisoning.
In 72 hours, Luola converts from a public sports facility to an airtight bunker that can protect nearly 7,000 people from missile, chemical and nuclear threats, as well as natural disasters.
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Luola is protected by between 20 and 40 metres of rock above, blast walls, maze-like corridors and layered doors, and a complex air filtration system to protect against outside toxins. Each person is allocated 0.75 square metres of space, sleeping on fold-out triple bunk beds and using toilets which are effectively plastic buckets.
