MINIMANI STANDS OUT THROUGH DESIGN AND AUTHENTICITY
The hypermarket chain Minimani’s latest store in Rovaniemi, Lapland, attracts customers with modern interior design using authentic materials. Warm northern wood creates a peaceful atmosphere in the central part of the hypermarket.
Photographs: Veljekset Vaara
The Minimani family business understands the important competitive edge that interior design can give a hypermarket. When the new retail space was planned for Rovaniemi, the goal was to create a Lappish identity in a distinctive and modern way. Genuine materials were used, and special attention was paid to lighting and the use of colour.
REACHING GOALS TOGETHER IN GOOD SPIRITS
The realisation of new interior design ideas is not always an easy process: open-mindedness is required of both the client and those carrying out the work. Keeping the common goal in mind and proceeding boldly were crucial to the success of this endeavour. The collaboration worked extremely well between Minimani property manager Pekka Haapanen, interior designer Tuula Ylinenpää and Pauli Lemettinen of Insinööritoimisto Seinäjoki Rakennustekniikka, the main contractor for the project.
Another important contributor was Veljekset Vaara customer relationship manager Janne Vaara, who personally ensured the success of the tinting of the fire-protected wood cladding supplied by the company.
Hypermarket customers have been impressed with the clear layout, which facilitates service, the beautiful wood cladding, stylish lamps and signs, as well as the dark shelves that nicely highlight the products.
FIRE-PROTECTED WOOD CLADDING TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE
Northern wood was used to enhance the interior decoration in many ways. The most visible of these is the curved and bevelled wood batten cladding surrounding the information desk, for which a perfect solution was found in Veljekset Vaara’s product range: fine-sawn 20x95 exterior cladding board, the surface of which was grooved before industrial fire retardant was applied.
The implementation had to meet the requirements of the B-s1, d0 fire class, be easy to install, and warm in colour but with the natural character of the wood still clearly visible. All this was carried out as planned.
“The battened surface is a pleasant and understated eye-catcher. We chose the NT DECO warm orange shade NTD134, which was used on the wall of the information desk, because it is exactly the same tone as Minimani’s brand colour. It fits the space perfectly”.
Tuula Ylinenpää, managing director
Ylinenpää Oy Interior Design Office
The wood cladding on the lower ceiling of the main entrance, provided by Veljekset Vaara, is also fire-protected according to requirements B-s1, d0 in the same shade as the wall of the information desk. Other wooden structures used include the pergola structure of the restaurant opposite the information desk and the battened elements in front of the toilets and the service counters, which carry the C-s2, d1 fire classification.
FIRE-PROTECTED WOOD AND CHOICE OF TONES
As far as possible, Veljekset Vaara processes wood grown in the north. At the moment, the most important product groups are exterior cladding products and preforms for logs.
Demand for fire-protected exterior cladding products is growing at the same rate as the increase in the use of wood construction in public places. Vaara's B-s1, d0-compliant translucent fire retardant treatment process with Nordtreat products has already been certified in cooperation with Nordtreat a few years ago.
Veljekset Vaara’s range will expand to include products such as side-glued and finger-extended exterior cladding products, glulam wood beams and glulam pillars, as well as preforms for non-settling logs”, says sales director Jukka Vaara.
Nordtreat’s translucent fire protection leaves the wood’s own fibrous patterns visible. This ensures that the end result is as natural as possible. Tuula Ylinenpää says she ordered the NT DECO colour sample pack already a couple of years ago. She was pleased with the wide range of shades and the fact that the samples include the same shade of colour in both a fine-sawn and a planed wood sample. This makes comparison easier.
More information:
Minimani
Ylinenpää Oy Interior Design Office
Insinööritoimisto Seinäjoen Rakennustekniikka
Veljekset Vaara
