Kiinteistö Oy Turun Monitoimihalli, the company that manages the arena, requested quotes for the design and competitive tendering of the sound system and audio evacuation systems in spring 2016. The procurement included the renovation of the sound system and audio evacuation system, as well as a coherent control and management system and the required hoist mechanisms.
Granlund took on the design and competitive tendering of the challenging site in collaboration with PTCServices Oy, a company specialising in public procurement. The design was the responsibility of Markku Myllys, Valtteri Mastola and Jan-Olof Holm from Granlund’s AV Group as well as Pauliina Karinkanta from PTCServices Oy, with the help of Tapio Lahtinen.
The Gatorade Center is a major site – it is Finland’s second largest multifunction arena after Hartwall Arena, and the largest arena used by a team in the Finnish national ice hockey league (SM-liiga). The multifunction arena can accommodate an audience of approximately 12,000 for events such as ice hockey matches and concerts.
Challenging timetable
The project’s timetable was challenging, particularly as the project needed to be put out to an EU-wide competitive tendering process. The very first step was to prepare a project plan to describe the duties of Granlund, PTCS and the customer.
The timetable was tight, so the contractor agreement was signed after a planning and procurement process, which was completed with maximum efficiency, at the end of June, and the system was due to be taken into use on 1 September 2016. The installation time was restricted by a period of more than a week in August when the arena was being frozen. During this time, it was not possible to do any work above the playing surface.
Designing by specifying objectives
Granlund prepared designs by describing the customer’s functional requirements in the same way as for technical and performance requirements. As regards the arena’s speaker system, a minimum sound pressure level was determined for various frequency areas in the arena, along with standards of speech comprehensibility and maximum sound pressure deviation in different parts of the arena. To enable a fair comparison between the acoustic characteristics of the general and performance sound systems, an acoustic model of the arena was constructed, and the bidders placed their own implementation proposals into the model.
The project’s agreement documents were prepared in collaboration between Granlund, PTCS and the customer.
Procurement using the negotiated procedure
The procurement was carried out using a negotiated procedure so that the procurement process could be started up rapidly with lightweight designs, which were elaborated as the process progressed. The negotiated procedure also enabled several alternative implementation solutions and ideas, as well as good, mutually beneficial dialogue with the bidders.
The call for tenders documents also contained numerous mandatory requirements and criteria for which quality-related scores were granted in relation to the equipment’s features and functions. The bidders were compared with the help of scores awarded for the prices and quality-related criteria.
”The negotiated procedure was a functional solution for identifying the best alternative. We are now highly satisfied with our new sound system,” says Anu Kurkilahti-Haartemo, Managing Director of Turku-Areenat Oy.
Cooperation leads to a result
The project contractor was Studiotec Ltd, which used Audico Oy as a subcontractor. The contract proceeded according to the planned timetable, and the system was up and running by the deadline. An agreement was also made with the contractor on maintaining the systems.
”The parties involved have worked together very effectively throughout the project. Anu Kurkilahti-Haartemo, Managing Director of the customer company, handled the project along with AV Department Manager Markus Nurmi and Kari Rantala, the arena intendant,” says Myllys.
The Gatorade Center and the customer, Kiinteistö Oy Turun Monitoimihalli, are satisfied with the end result and the effective collaboration.
”Collaborating with top professionals in their fields – Granlund and PTCS – was a superb solution from our perspective. The flexible execution of the procurement process – in terms of both form and content – to a very tight timetable was assured thanks to them,” says Kurkilahti-Haartemo.
The project remained on schedule, and the end result met the objectives.
”Sound plays a very important role in creating a good overall customer experience. The sound is now of high quality and it can be heard consistently in all parts of the arena, just as it should in an international-standard venue. We are highly satisfied with the renovation, which was carried out to a fast timetable in the closed season,” says Tuomas Viljamaa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kiinteistö Oy Turun Monitoimihalli.
