Starlike Provides Community Gear for the Korundi House of Culture, Lapland

The Korundi House of Culture is a new cultural nexus in the Lapland capital of Rovaniemi. Formed from the old 1930s red brick building of the Rovaniemi mail-van depot, the building has been expanded with a box extension designed in weathered, patinated steel. The renovated original building is occupied by the Rovaniemi Art Museum, while the new extension houses a multipurpose 340-seat concert auditorium for the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and the varied program of events and concerts that the venue will host. In addition to the museum and concert hall, the building provides for the storage of artworks, meetings, offices and workrooms, as well as a café-restaurant and music shop for visitors.

The outside appearance of the Korundi House of Culture stands out in an inviting fashion from the barren functionalist architecture of the shopping malls of central Rovaniemi. The aesthetic of Korundi's addition was designed by architect Juhani Pallasmaa, who explains that "It speaks in a tangible and silent way of bygone days." Inside the auditorium, painter and graphic artist Professor Jorma Hautala turned the warm highlights of the walls into "color acoustics" that lend a rich atmosphere to the venue. The auditorium's acoustics were designed by Danish professor Henrik Møller in cooperation with Pallasmaa. All the materials, geometric shapes, dimensions and reflecting surfaces were carefully chosen, resulting in a naturally warm and translucently clear acoustic design. The acoustics achieve a meticulous balance of direct sound, short reflections, reverberation times, and high and low frequencies.

Design and installation of Korundi's auditorium sound system was handled by Vantaa-based Starlike Oy. Sami Rautio, of Starlike explained, "With the acoustics so carefully designed into the auditorium, it was important to have a sound system that was extremely natural and well balanced, and with the flexibility to sound equally good at all power levels. Accurate dispersion and coverage were also critical so that the amplified sound didn't alter the direct and reflected balance. To achieve such high standards we chose Community's premium iBOX series loudspeakers."

Left and right clusters each consist of two Community iHP1566, while the central cluster utilizes two iHP1266. Two 18" i118S subwoofers extend the low frequency power of the system, four iHP1266 loudspeakers provide movable fills and point effects, and twelve Community I/05 loudspeakers are used for surround sound. Power for all of the loudspeakers is delivered by Yamaha P-series amplifiers. The Yamaha DME24N was chosen for DSP and the mixer is a Yamaha LS9-16.

"For such a critical client we had to provide an outstanding system and I'm very pleased with the results we achieved," concluded Rautio.