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New Children's Hospital

Helsinki, Finland

Helvar lighting control enhances wellbeing and encourages play and imagination at Helsinki’s New Children’s Hospital

 Located in Meilahti, Helsinki, the New Children’s Hospital is designed for children who demand specialized medical care, offering small patients’ world-class treatment. The hospital opened its doors in September 2018 and was built for the children and their families, with parents being welcome around the clock. Patients range from premature babies up to children aged 15 years old. 
 The hospital was designed with patients in mind, using lighting, art, music, pictures, and literature to create a healing and inspiring environment for children. Tove Jansson’s Moomin books philosophy was used as an inspiration for the hospital design and the lighting chosen was selected to complement this. The atmosphere created by the light and the Moomin theme open children’s minds to explore different experiences. Each of the eight floors has its own colour code and story that takes you to the beach, through the jungle, forest, valley, to the mountains and towards the stars in space. “This was a big project for Helvar, there were many different needs to consider, with special consideration for patient comfort and healing. The end result was definitely a proud moment and it was great that Helvar could assist with the design and implementation” says Jukka Riikkula, Sales Director, Helvar Oy Ab. 
 Much of the specialty lighting embodies the Moomin world and its storytelling. Above the nursing stations are cloud-like opal luminaires designed to appeal to the young patients, taking their thoughts away from the hospital, and creating a less clinical environment. 
The hospital utilizes Human Centric Lighting which supports natural circadian rhythms and improves concentration. Human-oriented lighting controls the intensity of light and shade according to the needs of the end user. 70 Imagine routers and a range of solutions from the Helvar Digidim range (controllers, relays, sensors, multisensors, and panels) were installed within the hospital. A key aim for the hospital was to implement energy-efficient lighting. During the day, the hospital’s corridors are set for 70% light output and in the evening the light output is lowered in a time-controlled manner. There are motion detectors in the hallways that raise the light output to ‘normal’ level if someone is walking down the hall at night. Lighting automation brings big energy savings and is a convenient solution. “Light control saves energy tremendously. The human eye would not notice so much if the light output is full or at 70%. Light sources achieve a longer lifetime when used at 70% instead of at full power”, explains Riikkula. 
With iPad-controlled lights, the children can paint their own pattern onto the round-shaped luminaires from a tablet and add their favorite music to it, all of which encourage play, imagination, learning and happiness. The children can adjust the lighting in their room using a tablet to create special light colour shades. “In patient rooms, children have the opportunity to choose the lighting scenes that suit their needs, helping to keep them calm and delivering a pleasant ambience during their stay” says Riikkula. 
"The New Children’s Hospital really helps take a child’s mind away from the hospital experience- the lighting, sounds, and colourful paintings all help a child feel relaxed and stay in their own world of play and imagination. This is so important for their wellbeing which aids in speeding up recovering time" - Jukka Riikkula, Sales Director, Helvar Oy Ab
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Helsinki, Finland
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