The lighting at the education centre of Lempäälä was upgraded during the summer break. Due to tight project schedule, the electrical contractor chose to order the luminaires directly from the factory to ensure fast delivery. In addition to classrooms, new lighting was installed in teachers’ workspaces.
Reliable luminaires for educational environments
The lighting renovation at the VIRTA Campus was needed because the existing fluorescent tube luminaires had reached the end of their service life. The aim was to improve both lighting conditions and energy efficiency while ensuring that the solution would continue to meet the needs of students, staff and teaching activities well into the future.
Jarno Hämäläinen works as Electrical Works Supervisor at Tampereen Tilapalvelut, the organisation responsible for maintaining and managing public properties in the Tampere region. According to him, many similar renovation projects are currently underway as older fluorescent lighting systems are being phased out.
“We have a lot of this kind of urgent renovation work. Fluorescent tubes that were removed from the market back in 2023 need to be replaced. When selecting new luminaires, we also evaluate the possibility of upgrading existing fittings, but that is not always a good option as components such as reflectors and plastic parts may no longer be suitable. In this case, upgrading would have been more expensive and would have made it more difficult to keep to the tight schedule, which is why we chose a complete luminaire replacement.”
The organisation had previously gained positive experience with Finnish-made SNEP® luminaires in schools and daycare facilities.
“We had already seen good results with SNEP® luminaires in educational environments, so it felt like a natural choice to use them here as well.”
Jarno Hämäläinen, Tampereen Tilapalvelut
Direct factory deliveries kept the project on schedule
The lighting design was completed in the spring, and Aro Systems Oy was selected as the electrical contractor. Installation work began immediately after the end of the study year, explains Site Manager Jarkko Nytorp.
“Delivery times through traditional wholesale channels would have been four to six weeks, but we needed the luminaires within approximately two weeks. That led us to look for an alternative. The SNEP® luminaires would actually have arrived from the factory even faster than we needed them, and I had to tell them not to send them quite yet!” tells Nytorp.
Reliable deliveries are particularly important for the customer. Jarno Nordling, Project Manager at Tampereen Tilapalvelut, notes that delivery delays have become a challenge with many suppliers in recent years. This can cause significant issues when renovation projects must be completed during the short holiday periods of educational institutions.
“We are very satisfied with the work carried out by Aro Systems. The project stayed on schedule and the end result is excellent,” Nordling summarises.
During the installation phase, Snep Lighting’s product development team visited the site, giving installers an opportunity to share feedback directly with the luminaire manufacturer.
“I really appreciate the smooth cooperation, both with the sales team and the product development team,” says Nytorp.
Comfortable lighting for every learning situation
Two luminaire models were installed in the classrooms of the campus’s D-wing: SNEP® Novem and SNEP® Puro. The Novem luminaires were mounted on tracks in the same way as the previous luminaires. Puro luminaires provide both direct and indirect lighting. Both luminaire types feature a white housing. In other areas of the campus, the lighting solution was complemented with SNEP® MODE P luminaires and TaVa panel luminaires.
Students and staff spend most of their day indoors, which makes high-quality lighting an important investment in wellbeing and comfort. According to Mari Palenius, Lecturer at Tredu, good lighting plays a key role in ergonomics.
“As you get older, you notice that your lighting needs are different from those of younger people.”
The classroom lighting at the VIRTA Campus is set to a baseline illuminance level of approximately 500-600 lux, in accordance with the European lighting standard SFS-EN 12464-1 for indoor workplaces. All classrooms are equipped with a DALI control system, allowing lighting levels to be adjusted according to need.
“The lighting adapts to available daylight. When there is plenty of natural light coming through the windows, the lighting can be dimmed, which also helps save energy,” explains Eemeli Oksanen, Regional Sales Manager for Western and Central Finland at Snep Lighting Oy.
For comfort and concentration, it is also important that the light does not have an excessively cool or bluish appearance, notes Palenius. While lighting standards do not specify a particular colour temperature for classrooms, the VIRTA Campus uses a 4,000 K neutral white light. This natural light colour supports concentration, alertness and overall comfort.
Computers are used extensively in the subjects taught by Palenius, including education and social sciences. Minimising screen reflections is therefore essential. This is achieved through the low-glare louvre optics used in the SNEP® Novem luminaires.
“It’s wonderful to have the lighting upgraded,” Palenius concludes.
| About the Virta campus The VIRTA Campus brings upper secondary and vocational education together under one roof. The vocational programmes educate future professionals in fields such as education, business, social and healthcare services, and security. The current campus complex was completed in 2017. However, education has been provided on the site, located on the shore of Lake Ahtialanjärvi, since 1923, when the Häme-Satakunta Handicraft Association established operations there. |