Pforzheim City Library

The center of the city library is formed by the foyer with its “reading eye”. This double ring of luminous ceiling and skylight combines daylight with an artificial light source. The different library levels are oriented around this open central hall.

Related projects

    • Bucerius Artforum

      Project

      Next to Hamburg's City Hall is a special kind of art museum: The Bucerius Kunst Forum does not have its own collection. It hosts temporary exhibits of loaned artworks and thus requires completely flexible lighting. The museum was advised for many years by Harry Mayer on all aspects involving light. He wished that the special spotlights be retained in the new rooms. So we integrated spots into recessed light channels alongside the luminous ceiling panels. We designed the light channels to have full access to the spotlights so that they can be optimally adjusted. A specially designed extruded aluminum sheath integrates the mounting positions for the luminous ceiling panels making it possible to achieve very fine and precise details. A 3-D spatial analysis has found that it is possible to perfectly illuminate every artform and arrangement.

      Building type
      Mu­se­um, Cul­ture
      Location
      Europe, Germany, Hamburg
      Project time frame
      2020
    • Hall 12 Frankfurt Fair

      Project

      Hall 12 is a new building and the Frankfurt Fair's most modern exhibition hall. It is surrounded by restaurants and a corridor connecting all of the halls. The lighting combines the different atmospheres that need to make an impact, even during the day.

      Building type
      Cul­ture
      Location
      Europe, Germany, Frankfurt am Main
      Project time frame
      2015 — 2017
    • House of One

      Project

      On the foundations of the old Petri Church in Berlin, a new sacred building is being built that will unite the three monotheistic world religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam under one roof. It will be a house of encounter, for people of different religions to get to know each other and exchange ideas. Three sacred rooms are arranged around a central domed room. Above this, the building opens up to the city with a loggia and offers views over Berlin.

      For the imposing dome room in the centre of the building, we developed a discreet wall luminaire with several lighting components. This allows us to illuminate the entire room as well as the dome in a balanced way with just a few luminaires. A universal luminaire in the same aesthetics, also developed by us, provides uniform illumination of the circulation areas throughout the building. In the sacred rooms, skylights optimised by us with different characteristics create an appropriate room atmosphere with daylight. At night, this is taken over by the precisely planned room lighting consisting of simple pendant and surface-mounted luminaires.

      Building type
      Mon­u­ment, Cul­ture, Sys­tem De­vel­op­ment
      Location
      Europe, Germany, Berlin
      Project time frame
      2019 — 2021
    • Liljevalchs+

      Project

      Liljevalchs+ in Stockholm (architect: Wingårdhs) is the extension on the renowned Liljevalchs Museum for Contemporary Art.
      The interplay between daylight and artificial light with the pronounced roofline design posed a particular challenge. The 170-square-meter roof sits atop the building above the two large exhibit halls like a crown with its 166 exposed concrete skylights.
      The aim of our lighting design was to achieve the required high flexibility to light the exhibits while, depending on angle and position in the room, concealing the busbars and spotlights. Due to the skylights' height and geometry, direct sunlight is blocked out in the exhibit halls when the sun is low. We intensively analyzed the positions of the luminaires using simulations and 1:1 model tests (see graphics), so as not to disturb the clarity of the skylights' form.
      In the absence of daylight, the exhibit halls are lit flexibly using spots on busbars and in the more level rooms using an additional linear lighting system that sits parallel to the walls. In the café and museum shop, backlit cloth panels hang under the ceiling.
      Liljevalchs+ is the culmination of a holistic approach and close collaboration between all participants, in which every aspect concerning light in its complex relationship to architecture could be addressed.

      Building type
      Mon­u­ment, Cul­ture, Mu­se­um
      Location
      Europe, Sweden, Stockholm
      Project time frame
      2014 — 2020
    • UAE Pavilion EXPO 2020

      Project

      As the host, the UAE's pavilion is one of the main buildings at the EXPO and one of great significance.
      The design is inspired by a falcon with upward soaring wings, which are fitted with photovoltaics. During the day they are closed and the solar cells tilt toward the sky and at night they open up and display illuminated inner surfaces.
      The entire pavilion is monochrome white and is given structure through light. The free-form ceiling of the vast interior is made legible by the double-curved lines of light and captures the iconographic character of the interior space.
      The adjoining rooms are very complex ranging from underground parking garages, VVIP rooms and underground entrances to a tunnel connecting the pavilion directly with the Royal Pavilion. Not only did the lighting designers illuminate the interior spaces, but also the building's exterior, the gardens and all of the adjacent areas. The details for the installation were extraordinarily intricate and the highest priority was placed on the invisibility of the luminaires.
      Santiago Calatrava wanted only light and structure without any lighting fixtures whatsoever.

      Building type
      Cul­ture
      Location
      Asia, United Arab Emirates, Dubai
      Project time frame
      2016 — 2021