Genelec loudspeaker were recently installed at the OLVI Foundation Brewery Museum, which is Finland’s only brewery museum. Based in the town of Iisalmi – also the home of Genelec – the museum deployed the audio systems for a new immersive installation entitled The Spirit of OLVI and throughout all its other spaces.
Built into a custom-designed five-sided space, the The Spirit of OLVI invites visitors into a multi-sensory experience that uses light, image, vibration, and spatial sound to explore the 145-year history of Finland’s last major independent brewery.
Genelec’s Smart IP models, including the 4420, 4430, and 4436 pendant loudspeakers, feature prominently. In the immersive space, which offers a 180-degree visual experience across the asymmetrical display surface, project integrator 4business also installed five AIW26 in-wall loudspeakers at the centre of each screen segment, supported by eight 4430s distributed across the sides, rear and ceiling, and an array of four 5041 in-wall subwoofers behind the screens.
Four Clark Synthesis tactile transducers synced to the soundtrack were hidden beneath the floor, adding a physical dimension to what people are hearing.
Outside the immersive room, the raw materials exhibit features six Genelec 4420 Smart IP loudspeakers and two 7350 studio subwoofers, designed to reproduce atmospheric audio evoking the textures and smells of brewing ingredients. In the cellar area, another four 4420s are designed to deliver “a surreal soundscape – as if you’re hearing the fermentation process from inside the barrel”.
Perhaps the most technically complex section is the Symphony of the Machines, a kinetic audiovisual installation built from recordings of OLVI’s factory equipment. Eight 4420 loudspeakers and two 7350 subwoofers form a surround system that is designed to gives rhythmic life to the clanks, clicks, and hiss of the brewery’s industrial side.
Janne Lankinen, COO of Finnish integrator 4business, led the technical design of the museum alongside creative partners OiOi Collective. He said: “From the start, this was a very collaborative process. OiOi developed the script, the visual concepts, and soundscapes, while we looked after the technical infrastructure.”
Lankinen, himself a native of Iisalmi, added: “For me, the decision was easy. Genelec is based just a few kilometres away, their sound quality is world-class, and their reliability is something we’ve trusted for years. And because we largely used Genelec’s Smart IP active loudspeakers for this project, we could power everything over a single network cable – no external amps, no extra signal or power cabling. That really helped streamline the installation and future-proof the system.”
Rather than rely on pre-existing spatial audio formats, each room in the museum was scored and mixed independently, with discrete playback channels for each loudspeaker. “We’re not using Atmos or anything like that,” Lankinen noted. “This is custom multichannel audio for each space. The 4business team built the playback systems to handle all of that, and made sure it was intuitive to use.”
The entire system must run unattended throughout the day. “Thanks to modern technology and automation, more and more smaller museums are now unmanned,” remarked Lankinen. “In the morning, the restaurant staff power everything up with a single touch on a control screen. Visitors then select their experience via a touchscreen, whether it’s a film or a brewery tour, and the system automatically adjusts all volume levels, content, and even the lighting. It’s completely hands-off.”
For the OLVI Foundation, the result has transformed an outdated museum. Mervi Toivainen, executive director, the OLVI Foundation, concluded: “We had a thirty-year-old exhibition in a space that people found dark and gloomy. This new version invites you in. The space is modern, but not cold – it feels alive. We’ve had great feedback, and people often stay much longer than they expected.”
