Project Overview

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Renovation of the town centre in Niederkorn (Luxembourg) in accordance with the “shared space” principle

"Shared space" is a term used to describe a concept for inner cities that makes all road users equal. The master plan had to meet all the requirements of the “shared space” in terms of safety and at the same time make improvements to the civic centre district by using light.

Light for more consideration

The church of Saint Peter and Paul stands in the centre of Niederkorn. The churchyard slopes down towards the cemetery, bordered by the cemetery wall that encloses the area. The carriageway, footpaths and cycle paths have the same surface, there is no visible difference between them, signs are missing. Studies have demonstrated that road users behave more considerately towards each other when there are no fixed rules, from a sense of responsibility. This is why the goal of the lighting concept was to trace the traffic routes rather than to emphasise them; lighting was to be viewed more from a decorative than a technical aspect.

Safe paths

Recessed lights in the ground serve this role on the square in front of the church and illuminate the building and greenery. They form islands of light that create a balance between light and dark, without revealing the technical fittings for the lighting. The entrance to the church tower was treated as a special feature here. Thanks to the inviting stairway, people can now climb up the stairs without hesitation in what was previously a dark and gloomy place.

Intuitive connection

The church is illuminated by recessed ground lights, which are just in front of the façade. They accentuate distinctive features of the architecture, creating contrasts that bring the building to life at night. The cemetery building also shows up in the darkness and provides a reliable point for people to find their bearings. Against the evening sky, the wall of the cemetery appears as a glowing horizon that shows the churchyard and cemetery in a welcoming light.

Increased sense of comfort

Glare-free lighting of traffic routes is also part of master planning. The same colour temperature has been chosen for all light fittings in order to achieve a balance within the white light. As part of shared space measures, Niederkorn has benefited from a slowing of pace, which is reflected in the lighting. Buildings and pedestrians are clearly visible and appear in a soft light. A public place where people can meet, that improves community life and attracts people, day and night. Photos: Steve Troes Fotodesign
Project Overview

LIGHT IN MOTION

A light sculpture in the lift for Enovos, Luxembourg

The key business divisions at Enovos – wind power, hydropower, biomethane, solar energy and fossil fuels – were to be communicated on the lift and visualised using light for the glass lift shaft at the energy company.

Energy in the river of light

The five floors at Enovos’ main administrative offices in the Luxembourg town of Schlassgoard follow a defined colour scheme, which is reflected in the illumination of the lift in a dynamic and strongly symbolic manner.

A balance of elements

The ground floor refers to wind power, expressed in the colours of clouds – pale blue, white and grey. The first floor is characterised by water, represented in blue. The second floor is dedicated to the world of plants and the topic of biomethane, represented in green. On the third floor, yellow stands for solar power. Orange, as the colour of fire, refers to fossil fuels on the fourth floor.

Multifaceted transparency

The lift contains two glass baskets, a band of windows throughout accentuates the open-looking structure. The light sculpture is composed of 56 transverse LED light strips over the entire height of the shaft. Each strip measures 165 cm and consists of ten separately regulated segments, each 16.5 cm in length. This resolution of 56 x 10 pixels in the overall image ensures that videos can be played.

Nature as inspiration

The dynamic nature of the lift is also illustrated by moving images: on the ground floor using films of windmills (wind power), waves appear on the first floor (hydropower), leaves sway on the second floor (biomethane), on the third floor the sun rises (solar power) and flames flicker on the fourth floor (fire, fossil fuel).

Interactive journey

When the lift is summoned, a soft colour image appears. As soon as the lift starts moving, it triggers the video sequence for the requested floor, the speed of the video is matched to the lift’s speed. If both cabins are summoned at the same time, the film is shown for the last floor requested. Controls are managed via DMX, chromaticity and configuration can be adjusted on the premises.

Signal effect

On the inside opposite the LED strips, a mirror is fitted that multiplies the light optically and results in an altered sense of space. The roughly five-metre high light sculpture is activated permanently and appears like a beacon installation pointing the way and can be seen from far around. Photos: Tom Gundelwein
Project Overview

THE CASINO AS A PLACE FOR SPECIAL EXPERIENCES

Lighting design for the Casino 2000 in Luxembourg

A dynamic lighting concept was drawn up for a new function room at Casino 2000 in Mondorf-les-Bains (Bad Mondorf) in Luxembourg. Its aim was to entertain visitors with myriad visual impressions.

Anziehungsmagnet

Das CASINO 2000 zählt zu einem der meistbesuchten Ausflugsziele in Luxemburg. Es wurde 1983 eröffnet, 2011 kam der 1300 Quadratmeter große Veranstaltungssaal „Chapito" hinzu. Zu diesem multifunktional genutzten Raum gehören ein Spielbereich mit Bühne und die Galerie mit 500 Quadratmetern für Ausstellungen oder Präsentationen.

Abtauchen in eine andere Welt

Um den Casino-Besuchern eine außergewöhnliche Atmosphäre zu bieten, die sie bei klassischen Spielen, bei Shows und auch kulinarisch angenehm begleitet, beruht das Lichtkonzept auf farborientierter LED-Technik.

Effektvoll kombiniert

Die Deckengestaltung vereint dynamisch gesteuerte Lichtvouten mit Downlights für die Allgemeinbeleuchtung. Das LED-System der Vouten arbeitet hauptsächlich mit diffuser Optik. Dank konfektionierter Metallhalter für die LED-Leisten wird das Licht bei niedriger Raumhöhe und leicht rauem Putz schattenfrei aufprojiziert und indirekt reflektiert. Für die Beleuchtung der Verkehrsflächen sorgen LED-Downlights, weitere Downlights mit engen Lichtkegeln liefern Akzentlicht für Kunst oder aktuelle Plakate.

Ideal in Szene gesetzt

Ein modulares LED-Lichtsystem auf RGB-Basis ermöglicht flächiges Licht, etwa für die hinterleuchteten Theken der Bars und den Tresen in der Kassenzone. Highlights sind die hinterleuchteten, runden Regale mit jeweils nach unten und oben strahlenden LED-Elementen.

Bühne frei für Profi-Lösungen

Eine besondere Herausforderung stellte die homogene Ausleuchtung der 350 cm hohen Vorhänge im „Chapito" dar. Sie sind von oben farbig beleuchtet, sowohl mit breit als auch eng strahlendem Licht (120° und 70° Lichtkegel). Diese Asymmetrie gewährleistet die gleichmäßige Verteilung des Lichts.

Einwandfreie Regieführung

Vier speziell entwickelte Lampengrößen sind innerhalb eines 330mm-Rasters einzeln ansteuerbar, um das Licht im Casino individuell zu gliedern. Die Steuerung schließt den Tagesverlauf mit ein und erlaubt vier Stimmungswelten: „Frühling“ in Weiß, Gelb, Grün und Cyan, „Sommer“ in Gelb, Rot und Orange, „Herbst“ in Gelb, Orange, Rot bis hin zu Blau und Cyan, Blau und Weiß stehen für „Winter“. Über die Allgemeinbeleuchtung lässt sich die Farbintensität anpassen.

Fotos: Tom Gundelwein
Project Overview

LIGHT À LA CARTE

ATMOSPHERIC SETTING THAT CHANGES WITH THE SEASONS FOR JOHAN LAFER’S GOURMET RESTAURANT “LE VAL D’OR” 

Star chef Johann Lafer runs the exclusive “Le Val d’Or” restaurant in the 1000-year-old “Stromburg” castle in the Hunsruck. As part of a new concept focussing on the seasons, a lighting plan was designed that would support the quarterly changes visually by using ‘lighting scores’ and video projections.

ILLUMINATION FOR FINE DINING

Johann Lafer welcomes lovers of gourmet cuisine to the “Val d’Or” restaurant. A native of the Austrian state of Styria, he sets store by regional and seasonal products and embraces this philosophy wholeheartedly. Guests experience this as they savour the culinary delights and enjoy their meal in surroundings where the interior design takes on the colours of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The role of the lighting is to create an atmospheric setting with changing coloured lighting schemes that provide visual accompaniment to the taste experience.

LIGHTS ON WITH PLUG & PLAY

Swivelling ceiling spots ensure perfect illumination and faithful colour rendering for the food and drinks. They were designed as a bespoke light and provide flexible white lighting in the room and over the tables. The LED plugin spotlights, which can be dimmed and regulated, are installed as needed using miniature sockets in the ceiling. The connections are concealed by magnetic aluminium caps that match the colour of the ceiling.

SEASONAL PLAY OF COLOURS

The changing coloured lighting operates with LED technology via cornices, wall and cabinet lights. The ceiling and wall surfaces in the restaurant are illuminated in a different colour depending on the season. Both the wall lamps and the 1cm-wide glass display cabinet lights are custom designs.

LIGHT CONJURES UP ASSOCIATIONS

Projections on the ceiling complete the lighting design. They are activated in the evening and are generated via a data projector in the glass display cabinets. The seasons are depicted symbolically using colours and motifs: spring is pale green, pink and white, summer is red, black and white, autumn is rust-red, green and brown and winter is silver, black and white.

SUBTLE TRANSITION

The lighting schemes create an ambience for day and for night; the transition is gradual and is only perceived unconsciously. The white light from the wall lamps gives a cooler light of 5000 K in the daytime; in the evening the light is a warmer 2200 K. A special app is used to retrieve the four pre-set ‘lighting scores’ for the seasons and music; the brightness of the white and coloured light can be adjusted.

Fotos: Oliver & Tobias Link
Project Overview

Shopping Center

Lighting installation for ECE’s shopping malls – “Europa Galerie” in Saarbrücken and “Nova Eventis” in Leipzig

The goal at both shopping centres was to improve the quality of people’s stay through use of architectural light. Energy-efficient and stimulating lighting that encourages visitors to stay longer, resulting in higher sales.

Europa Galerie

ECE opened the shopping centre in October 2010. The plan for the artificial lighting was to merge the new gallery harmoniously with the old building, which used to house the mine management offices and is listed as a site of historical interest. Light joints in the floor and cornices on the ceiling mark the separation between the two complexes and create a connection between old and new.

Magical centre of attraction

The 25,000 m2 sales surface area is given rhythm with lights that project wide and narrow beams and draw shoppers’ attention. Ambient lighting in the form of downlights provides colour temperatures of between 3000 and 4200 K and, depending on the time of day, supports the transition between inside and outside. Where natural light is lacking, extensive illuminated ceilings brighten these areas. The illuminated façade of the old building is a focal point: gobo projections bathe it uniformly in light. This bespoke product had already proved itself at Nova Eventis.

Nova Eventis

After refurbishment, the ‘event mall’ celebrated its re-opening in September 2006 as an exciting place of discovery with a 76,000 m2 sales area. The lighting concept was intended to communicate this approach visually. The theme for the two-storey shopping area was “four seasons”. Alternating colour scores appear, projected from light cornices, dynamic colour ceilings and four illuminated pylons.

Unknown dimensions

The main entrance is reached through the car park in front, through the installation called “The Living Seas”. A floor-to-ceiling arch sculpture welcomes shoppers with interactive light and sound installations and puts them in the mood for their visit to the cathedral of consumption. This backdrop was rated “Outstanding“ at the DP3D awards in 2006 and was nominated for the German Design Prize in 2007. The lighting concept focussed in particular on the design of the exterior. Framed projections accentuate the façade, the pool of water acts as an interactive stage and a globe of light continues the theme of water teasingly. According to ECE, the use of the very latest in lighting technology, which was frequently employed in the projects by way of bespoke lights, saves around 20% of the energy costs in the new buildings. Photos: ECE Europagalerie Saarbrücken, Tom Gundelwein, Oliver & Tobias Link