A leading advisor in communications, leadership, marketing, insight and stakeholder relations, Miltton has recently transformed an old red brick factory building into its new headquarters in Helsinki.

High-quality audio-visual technology naturally plays a key role in the new Miltton House, with systems integration specialist Digisähkö Oy charged with designing and installing the A/V systems, and electing to use Genelec loudspeakers throughout.

Because Miltton House was designed as a meeting place and an inspiration hub, as well as a workplace for Miltton’s talent and its stakeholders, high-quality A/V systems were a priority from the outset.

‘The investment in Miltton House represents the next phase in Miltton’s growth story,’ explains Camilla Linniemi, Partner & Director at Miltton Group. ‘The ways of working are under constant change, and the best ideas happen when people connect in a meaningful way.’

To this end, in the early stages of the project, Miltton engaged acoustic consultant and A/V designer Akukon to come up with an initial design, which was then developed and refined by Digisähkö as the project progressed. ‘Akukon had specified that the speakers should be separate, high-quality active loudspeakers, so as far as we were concerned, Genelec was the obvious choice,’ says Digisähkö CEO, Jani Hirvonen. ‘The brand is synonymous with quality and matched all of Miltton’s criteria concerning sustainability. It was a very easy decision.’

Digisähkö installed a total of 50 loudspeakers from Genelec’s 4000 Series installation range throughout the building – 42 compact 4020 loudspeakers equip Miltton’s wide variety of meeting and conference rooms; two more powerful 4030s grace the company’s entrance lobby, while a pair of the heavy-hitting 4040s are reserved for the demo room. ‘The 4000 Series loudspeakers make life very easy for us as an integrator,’ confirms Hirvonen. ‘They are extremely aesthetic, so they blend well into every environment; they are active loudspeakers, and so very easy to install; there is a good range of mounting accessories; and of course, they sound fantastic with incredible clarity and detail, even at low levels.’

However, there was one area where Miltton had very specific – and high-level – requirements, and that was for their 350sq-m event space in the heart of the building, known as Tori. Designed for events of up to 500 people, the space is easily adaptable for the style of the occasion – from cocktail parties to seminars – with seating for up to 300 people. The audio system needed to be similarly versatile with the ability to cater for everything from a DJ or live band to seminar material.

‘The requirement was clearly for a high-output, high-fidelity sound system with connections for a DJ mixer, which is a very different animal from a conference room system,’ notes Hirvonen. ‘We asked Henri Ulmanen at Genelec to come up with a design that would combine flawless audio quality with sufficient power and coverage to fill the space with no hot spots or dead zones.’

Ulmanen decided on a main system of two S360 smart active loudspeakers supported by two 7380 subwoofers for low end reinforcement, supplemented by four 4040 loudspeakers (two per side) as delay/side fill. ‘I decided on the S360s because of their excellent, neutral reproduction and a long-throw capability that delivers reference-quality accuracy at listening distances of over 10m,’ explains Ulmanen. ‘Combined with the 7380 subs, they are an excellent solution for any environment looking for premium-quality high-SPL vocal and music reproduction in a compact form factor.

‘Another important element was the fact that, as a smart active loudspeaker, we can use our GLM software to configure and optimize the S360s to compensate for any detrimental room influences,’ he continues. ‘The Tori event space has a pretty industrial feel with concrete floors and lots of floor-to-ceiling windows, so this was very helpful in ironing out anomalies, especially when the room is being used at full capacity.’

All of the A/V systems and the Helvar Dali lighting throughout the building are controlled by the Control4 automation system, via individual touch screens in each of the meeting rooms and the Tori event space for easy operation. Digisähkö implemented the integration between the systems as well as the installation of all of the A/V technology.

‘We’re very proud of this installation and Miltton is thrilled with the results,’ says Hirvonen. ‘They wanted a modern, high-quality, sustainable A/V solution that is versatile, easy to operate, and reflects their values as a company. Genelec ticked all the boxes and integrates perfectly into the total solution. It’s a great success all round.’

More: www.genelec.com