Hotel Hilton Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

The five-star luxury hotel has 246 superbly appointed rooms and suites. Meeting facilities include 10 adaptable halls, the largest of which, the 340-seat Ballroom, converts into three separate spaces. In addition to the kitchen, the hotel's 250-seat restaurant features a show kitchen where guests can watch the chefs at their tables. Hotel is located in the immediate vicinity of the airport's international terminals.

The hotel's interior was designed by Doos Arkitekter Ab, an interior architect working in partnership with Hilton, to evoke the tranquillity of nature. Finland's pure nature and the changing seasons were the architect's sources of inspiration. The result is a hotel with a modern Finnish flair for international tastes.

The Hilton Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is spacious and bright. The interior is rich in wood and stone, with warm and earthy colours. The rooms and public areas are furnished with furniture designed by the world-famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, among others. The hotel's entrance lobby is decorated with birch trees and the reception offices are surrounded by a wall covering resembling a snowy shingle roof.

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The hotel's electrical and lighting design was based on Hilton's occupancy plan, which included objectives for the adaptability of lighting in the restaurant, meeting rooms, corridors, gym, saunas and public areas to different situations and times of day. Electroarina Helsinki Oy, a specialist in electrical contracting for demanding special applications, together with Helvar's distributor Audico Systems, a leading AV system integrator, specified the equipment required and translated the plan into working drawings.

"The project had an open starting point and a busy schedule. We needed a reliable and cost-effective lighting control system. We compared different options and chose Helvar's Imagine lighting control system," explains Kalervo Vaattovaara, Technical Director of Sähköarina Helsinki Oy.

Audico Systems supplied and commissioned the lighting system and its equipment. With the Helvar Imagine lighting control system, the lighting in the different areas of the hotel can be easily adjusted from the control panels.

"The hotel's spaces have a very natural look, with wood and stone. With lighting, we can quickly transform the spaces into different atmospheres. For example, the meeting room can easily be transformed into a cosy banquet room with round tables, candles and lighting that matches the atmosphere," says Matti Kuosmanen, IT Manager at Hilton.

The hotel uses lighting control to take into account the different seasons and create different atmospheres according to the needs of the guests. Lighting control also optimises lighting according to different daylight situations and helps to save energy.

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International guests and the varying requirements of AV equipment demand a versatile system. The meeting rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art AV systems, which are easily controlled via AMX touch screens on the room doors. Touch screens control lights, projectors, curtains, screens, sound systems and various software sources such as computers and DVD players.

The challenge was to make each room's system work both independently and seamlessly as the rooms were resized. Naturally, AV control was integrated into the lighting control of the rooms. In addition to the general lighting, the ceiling of the large conference room is fitted with a large light piece made of fibre optics, the "Northern Lights". The colours of the light in this work are made to change and move in waves from one side of the hall to the other, like the flickering of the Northern Lights in the Finnish Lapland winter sky. The hotel's lighting and lighting control system has received high praise from guests.

Text by Juhana Päivärinta/Helvar & Audico Systems

Photos by Johan Stenberg/Helvar & Audico Systems