International. Freiburg's new Town Hall, a 6-storey building set behind large sycamore trees, stands out for its impressive oval shape that can't help but inspire curiosity. Designed to be a benchmark in the field of energy efficiency, generating more energy than the building itself consumes, it has become the first positive energy administrative building in Germany.
In close collaboration with ingenhoven architects, Tropp Lighting Design and the Freiburg city authorities, Zumtobel was commissioned to develop the LED lighting solutions specially developed to meet the highest energy efficiency criteria while continuing the elegant and functional design that permeates the entire building.
The new City Council has allowed the regrouping in a single building of the more than 800 employees of the municipal administration, which were previously scattered throughout different parts of the city. On the first floor is the Public Services Center, the place destined to serve the citizen in all those procedures and consultations that have to be made to the city council. A spacious hall of an elegant white color and widely illuminated by two glass domes, which occupies the entire interior oval. In it is the interior central display and the four round islands intended for consultations.
With a diameter of around 10 meters, these "roundabouts" have a central cylinder that houses a discreet private area flanked by circular consultation areas. Above each of the stations hangs a delicate ring of illumination, suspended in the ceiling, highlighting these spaces as islands of light throughout the room. At the same time, this ring illuminates workspaces without the need for additional luminaires. Working together with the project planners and the manufacturer that developed the roundabouts as integrated furniture systems (Fries Innenausbau), Zumtobel was asked to present a lighting solution that faithfully followed the atmosphere of the space while complying with all regulatory requirements.
The creative aspects were as important as the specifications defined by the authorities of the City of Freiburg to offer extraordinary quality workplace lighting. A light without glare and without the uncomfortable vision of perceptible points of light has been achieved thanks to a multilayer luminaire structure that incorporates a diffuser and a microprismatic optics. The high colour rendering index (IRC> 90) guarantees the highest quality of light and the authenticity of colour. In addition, systems were set up so that lighting technology could be renewed and updated without having to renew the custom-made luminaire and its sophisticated optical unit.
