The renovation of the Olympic Stadium required special solutions

The renovation of the Olympic Stadium has been a unique renovation and expansion project even in Finland, both in terms of scale and complexity.

The stadium based on functionalism of the 1930s, which was seen by the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, has been titled the most beautiful stadium in the world.

– The Olympic Stadium, built in the 1930s, is an iconic landmark, and it has been a great honor to be involved in its renovation, says Jari Lehtonen, Country Manager of ETS NORD Finland.

The demanding nature of the Stadium renovation project culminates in the need to renovate the old traditional site into a versatile event center that meets international standards and is expected to attract a million visitors a year. The building, built with 1930s technology, did not have the facilities required by modern technology, so special solutions in the implementation of ventilation were necessary. ETS NORD delivered its first new generation canopy to the professional kitchens of the Olympic Stadium. The facilities of the Olympic Stadium posed special challenges for the canopy solutions for professional kitchen ventilation.

“The new generation of module canopies allowed for special solutions that would have been impossible to implement with a traditional canopy structure,” Marcus Hintze says. – The basic solution was the same, but, for example, suspended ceilings of different levels were challenging. However, the solutions for the modular canopy supply air chambers could be adapted to the requirements of the cramped spaces of the Olympic Stadium.

ETS NORD’s new generation canopy ozone cleaning control system is designed for both group alarm and bus solutions. The ETS solution is suitable for all commonly used systems (I/O, Modbus and BACnet).

Are Oy’s project manager Otto Jäppinen,  who was involved in the project work, confirms that for reasons of hygiene, they specifically wanted an ozonator canopy for the professional kitchens of the Stadium. According to Jäppinen, the ozonator canopy facilitates maintenance and service because the air is efficiently cleaned of grease particles before entering the very labyrinthine ventilation ducts of the Stadium.

– The cooperation with ETS NORD went smoothly, as usual, and we received the necessary technical consultation, which was very valuable in view of how challenging the project was, Jäppinen says.

Already in 2018, the Olympic Stadium was chosen as the renovation site of the year. The project also received recognition when it was awarded the Finlandia Prize for Architecture 2020.