A five-star hotel in the heart of Helsinki – we were responsible for electrical design in the protected building

The luxurious NH Collection Helsinki Grand Hansa Hotel, based in a building owned by Ylva in the Kaivopiha block, opened its doors in May. Rejlers designed electrical, telecommunications and security solutions to meet the aesthetic and functional requirements of the luxury hotel in a historically significant protected building.

The major project involved converting the previous hotel, restaurant and office facilities in the building into a hotel with 224 rooms and approximately 24,000 m2 of floor area.

“The hotel is in a building consisting of three different properties. The project involved segregating the hotel from the other properties. One challenge for the electrical design was that the hotel’s electrification needed to be separated from the other parts of the properties while normal operations continued in them. This required the designers to investigate things carefully,” says Olli Saarinen, Construction Manager at Ylva.

The aesthetics of the premises play a key role in designing a luxury hotel. The wishes of interior designers and the hotel operator must be considered when designing the electrification.

“Rejlers has been able to design the electrical solutions necessitated by the hotel’s aesthetics. The large company has qualified experts in electrical design for such a site,” says Saarinen.

The building is protected, so the Helsinki City Museum has overseen the execution of the project.

“Rejlers has experience designing electrical solutions for protected buildings and, for example, ensuring that the electrical elements that remain visible, especially in customer-facing areas, are compatible with the visions of the architect and the museum’s representative,” says Anna Degerlund, Design Manager at Rejlers Construction.

The hotel project began in 2019 and was completed in the spring of 2024. In a project like this, spanning several years, things can change along the way.

“The hotel operator changed, and the interior and AV designs were updated during the project. The changes also affected the electrical designs and required us to have effective change management procedures. We also learned from this,” Degerlund says.

Designing the electrification for this unique property was a rewarding project for Rejlers’ specialists. Ylva is also satisfied with the partnership and outcomes. 

“Rejlers responded well to changes, and the project was completed successfully,” Saarinen says.