Serene luxury in the Finnish hills

The Panorama Landscape presents a unique getaway experience in the Finnish hills, with ten suites for 1-2 guests, a forest spa featuring five natural spring water pools and three saunas, and the Havu Kitchen and Bar led by ‘chef of the year’ Kim Mustonen, which can accommodate up to 80 people.

CEO Harri Jokela aimed to establish a 'dream destination' in the Tahkovuori resort, where guests could relish tranquillity and serenity. "Our hotel's concept revolves around providing a comprehensive sensory experience, and that's precisely what our customers have praised us for, with many expressing that they have never encountered such an experience elsewhere," Jokela explained.

Together with the architect, we aimed to evoke a sense of childhood nostalgia here. That feeling when you went to the beach sauna in grandma's car in the freezing cold – and we’ve successfully achieved that sentiment.”

Comfort and convenience at the touch of a button

Complementing the atmosphere of luxury and serenity at the hotel are ABB’s intelligent building automation solutions that allow the property environment to be easily adapted to residents’ needs through user-friendly touchscreens, while also reducing energy consumption from lighting, heating, and cooling systems.

The worldwide standard for home and building automation, KNX, enables all devices to communicate with one another via a single bus cable, streamlining all electrical functions that are connected for easier management and control. The operational flexibility of an ABB i-bus® KNX electrical installation includes components ranging from lighting, shutter, and temperature control to energy management. Installing a KNX system can lead to a reduction in energy consumption from lighting and room heating control by up to 40 percent¹.

[1] “Energy saving potential using modern electrical installations”, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Becker, 2008

A once-in-a-lifetime project

KNX effectively controls the lighting, heating, and ventilation of the Lähde Forest Spa array of amenities, including three saunas, five pools, a bar and lounge, the Wolf (24 m2), Bear (34 m2) and Moose (49 m2) landscape suites, and the flagship Havu Kitchen & Bar, along with hotel offices at the Panorama Landscape.

At the heart of the project was the understanding of modern customer needs and the delivery of a highly functional package. Pekka Aho, responsible for the electrical design and KNX integration at the Panorama Landscape, saw this as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to create an atmosphere of opulent luxury using the latest technological advancements.

Controlling the indoor and outdoor environments

The ABB i-bus® KNX system not only enhances the comfort and convenience of interior spaces for guests and hotel operators, but it also demonstrates its adaptability and effectiveness in challenging outdoor conditions. Aho highlighted the system’s success during the past winter in the Tahko hills. “During the project planning phase, we thought a lot about the dimensioning of the snow melting in the outdoor spaces,” he explained. “On the upper slopes of Tahko, the snow flurries can be quite large, and this is exactly what happened last winter – the snow situation was challenging.”

Despite the heavy snowfall, the ABB i-bus® KNX system ensured that the hotel’s walkways remained warm and safe, whatever the weather – operating fully automatically.