Musiikkitalo is one of Finland’s largest and finest concert halls. The indoor climate played a key role in its design, ensuring that conditions were comfortable and functional for both the audience and the musicians. Ventilation is crucial to the overall design and must operate completely unobtrusively.
Musiikkitalo has a volume of approximately 250,000 cubic meters, comparable to that of 500 detached houses. It contains 25 kilometers of ventilation ducts.
“Ventilation requires huge amounts of air, yet it must operate silently. Halton’s solutions helped us achieve this,” says Marko Oittinen, Property Manager at the Helsinki Music Centre.
Among other offerings, Halton supplied Musiikkitalo with a floor ventilation system for the main hall. A pressurized supply air plenum is concealed beneath the 1,700-seat auditorium. The air is delivered into the hall through Halton’s custom-made plenum box and floor diffusers.
Auditorium to the lab
Halton’s floor diffusers are embedded under the rows of benches, directly at the audience’s feet. This arrangement brings fresh supply air as close to the people as possible. The air must flow silently so that customers do not feel a draft at their feet.
Halton’s floor diffuser distributes the supply air so effectively that there is no draft. There have been no complaints, even though we use cooled air,” says Marko Oittinen. The main hall’s draft-free performance has been confirmed through draft measurements.
Halton’s Key Account Manager, Sakari Hägg, states that the solutions for the large hall were verified through full-scale tests conducted in Halton’s laboratory in Kausala.
A miniature auditorium was built in the laboratory, featuring nine seats arranged in three rows. This enabled us to study air flows in advance under the most realistic conditions possible.
Surprised by horns
In addition to concert halls, offices, lobbies, and other spaces, Halton also provided supply air equipment for musicians’ practice rooms. These spaces are also acoustically sensitive, and the terminal equipment must not resonate with the sound of the instruments. This is where Halton’s team was surprised.
“After the building was completed, it turned out that the outer parts of the chilled beams we supplied resonated with the sound of the brass horns. Although the resonance was barely noticeable, the musicians’ sensitive ears detected it. We returned to the lab. Ultimately, the problem was resolved when we added stiffening strips and a mass mat to the chilled beam, which dampened the resonance.”
Another example of how Halton’s team customized products to fit the Music Hall involved altering the appearance of the chilled beams to align better with architect Marko Kivistö’s plans. The standard product, the chilled beam CCE, transformed into a new offering in Halton’s range: the chilled beam MMT (Model Musiikkitalo), named after the music hall.
Wide selection of air devices
“As always, the best results are achieved when solutions are thought out together with the customer. Musiikkitalo is a magnificent building, and we are proud to have been able to participate in creating a unique cultural destination,” says Sakari Hägg.
In addition to the products mentioned above, Halton supplied the Musiikkitalo with a wide variety of diffusers, supply air devices, grilles, valves, and flow controllers.
Located in the heart of Helsinki, the Music Hall hosts over 1,000 events each year, including concerts ranging from classical to jazz and rock, as well as corporate and private events. One of its specialties is the world’s largest modern organ. The Music Hall was inaugurated in 2011.
