Lighting of Senate Square

Senaatintori is one of Finland’s most valuable urban spaces and a popular tourist photography destination. It has a significant national history, and large institutions meet around the square: the state, the church, and the university. The buildings around Senate Square also form a unified empire-style entity. At the square’s edge, you can find the oldest building in the inner city, the Sederholm House, completed in 1757.

The extensive design work began with the lighting master plan

Renovating the lighting of Senate Square has been a significant and long project, as the area of ​​planning and implementation is the entire area around Senate Square. The previous lighting in the area was from the 1980s, and it no longer served current needs and was technically in poor condition.

It was suspected that implementing the lighting of different sites as separate projects by multiple operators would lead to a mixed result, so the lighting projects in the area were combined. The preparation of the lighting plan for the Senate Square started in 2013 with cooperation with various parties of the City of Helsinki, entities that manage and use properties on the edges of the square, and the Museum Agency.

The general lighting plan was completed in 2014, and the more detailed lighting plan for the area in 2017. The City of Helsinki, Senate Properties, and Helsinki University Properties are the orderers of the new lighting. The Helsinki Church is renewing the lighting of the Cathedral.

The Senate Square appears in a new light

With the help of the new lighting, the City View is a balanced and recognizable entity during the dusk of the square area.

In addition to the street and square lighting, the new lighting of Senate square includes the facade lighting of the surrounding buildings. In addition, the lighting method based on the wall lanterns of the properties on Katariinankatu and Sofiankatu, and Torikorttelit on the Aleksanterinkatu side has been adapted to its historical context by applying modern technology.

The lighting is implemented using modern and energy-efficient LED lamps. Senaatintori’s new mood-lit ensemble is built from the new light poles and the facade lighting of the buildings, which can be easily controlled for different light situations. The lighting can be easily converted to both everyday and festive lighting with different intensities.

The lighting of the statue of Alexander II in the middle of the square has also been modernized in cooperation with the Helsinki City Art Museum and the city museum as a whole.