HELSINKI, Finland — The €180 million Helsinki Music Centre has been equipped with an array of lighting fixtures supplied and installed by Philips Entertainment’s Finnish distributor, Hedcom. Key goals included the assurance that all lighting fixtures operated silently and efficiently with minimum heat output.
“We installed over 150 Philips Entertainment luminaires into the 1,700-seat main auditorium and five additional, smaller spaces,” noted Pekka Rytilahti, product manager for Hedcom. “The specification included Philips Selecon SPX, Arena, Rama and Pacific fixtures alongside a number of Vari-Lite VL1100AS.”
Rytilahti worked closely with the client project manager Antti Rehtijärvi from ISS Proko, theatre consultant Tapio Ilomäki from Akukon Consulting Engineers and lighting manager Antti Silvennoinen from Helsinki Music Centre.
“The Philips Entertainment fixtures were chosen because they are silent, low energy and therefore emit less heat. These factors ensure that there is a considerably less impact on the acoustics of the room as a performance progresses,” said Rytilahti, noting that the venue had employed the services of Yasuhisa Toyota, the Japanese acoustician behind the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
The Music Centre, designed by Finnish architects LPR-arkkitehdit Oy, embraces the clean lines and airy atmosphere of Scandinavian design — but with a few surprises. The auditorium features double-paned, insulated glass walls, which allow daylight in, and also lets the audience see through to the foyer and into the park beyond. Curtains between the glass panels provide productions with a blackout if one is needed.
“It was crucial that the lighting worked well with the daylight, either by emulating it or by being strong enough to contrast with it,” noted Rytilahti. “Another consideration was that YLE – the Finnish broadcast company – broadcasts regularly from the main stage. Key to our specification decision was therefore consistent color temperature and strong efficient output, and so for us the best solution was definitely Philips Entertainment fixtures.”
The Helsinki Music Centre hosts performances from chamber music to jazz to electronic. The Philips Entertainment lighting package was chosen to be flexible, efficient and effective.
For more information, please visit www.philips.com.
