Home, sweet (and smart) home!
As we mentioned in our recent blog post, over the next year we will be bringing you a series of articles that show how iLOQ is taking center stage in today’s smart cities. This time we show how iLOQ is bringing a building from the early 20th century bang up-to-date with a 21st century smart-locking solution.
Mervi Kallio is a sports journalist, TV host, news anchor and moderator. She is a familiar face on Finnish television. But, for those of you from outside Finland that follow Formula 1, you will probably have noticed her in the grid lane on your channels. Her professionalism and knowledge have given her exclusive access to some of the biggest names in the sport. She gets interviews and access where others may not!
As part of the F1 circus, Mervi travels extensively. Having a calm and relaxed living environment is vital to compensate for her hectic schedule. And she has found this in her newly renovated apartment.
Mervi lives in an art nouveau building in Helsinki designed by Eliel Saarinen – a Finnish-American architect known for his work in the early years of the 20th century. Completed in 1918, the building was originally designed as a boarding house and later a cadet school. Finnish air force staff and the customs administration have also operated in the premises. The premises has now been converted into a total of 40 apartments.
A modern solution complements the classic architecture
The original architecture remains – arched windows and deep windowsills – but the renovation has very much modernized the living space and digital solutions have made the premises smarter.
Having been a moderator at many iLOQ events, Mervi is very familiar with our brand and the benefits of our solutions. She was delighted to find out that her new home would be secured by iLOQ’s battery-free digital locking solution. One key gives her access to the front door, the door to her apartment and to all the common facilities in the building which include the garage, gym, sauna, swimming pool and even the wine cellar!
She can sleep easily while she’s traveling safe in the knowledge that the building has the highest levels of security. iLOQ keys can’t be copied and if anyone’s key is lost or stolen, it is immediately blocked rendering it useless if anyone finds it. The solution is battery-free, so she never needs to worry about not getting access if the batteries in the locking cylinder have run out while she is away.
As well as being battery-free, iLOQ’s locks in apartment doors require no cabling. This ‘non-cable’ but modern, digital solution is easy to keep up to date making it a perfect fit, for example, for Mervi’s art nouveau building and also for other historical and protected (by museum authorities) premises.
“I really appreciate how iLOQ gives me a little piece of calm in my busy life. I only need one key, which makes moving around all the shared spaces in my building quick, easy and convenient. And it’s also a big comfort when I am travelling not to have to carry around a huge bunch of keys or worry about what would happen if I lost them – benefits I know that I share with another F1 fan of iLOQ – Kimi Räikkönen!” states Mervi Kallio.
