Downlights for efficient lighting design in offices: Gebr. Heinemann management building, Hamburg
Contemporary office lighting with ERCO lighting tools brings together efficiency with maximum visual comfort for variable work situations. In the recently expanded logistics centre of the internationally active distributor and airport retailer Gebr. Heinemann in Hamburg, the suitable illuminance values and optimum glare reduction of compact ERCO LED downlights help to create a pleasant working environment.
Founded by the brothers Carl and Heinrich Heinemann in 1879 as a small family-owned company, their business then developed over four generations to become one of the most significant distributors and retailers in the international travel market. Today Gebr. Heinemann supplies international airports, airlines, cruise ships and border stores in over 100 countries with a continuously expanding range of duty-free brand products consisting of perfumery, cosmetics, wines, spirits, confectionery and delicatessen foods. Around 500 employees control the company's distribution processes from their base in Hamburg-Allermöhe, and up to 700,000 picked merchandising units are handled daily in the distribution centre constructed in 2003 to be dispatched to wholesale customers around the world. The existing building has now been raised by a further office storey under the auspices of IFB consulting engineers & architects. Modern workstations for 46 employees have been created in a central area featuring an inserted gallery, and ideally illuminated with the latest ERCO LED lighting technology.
Compact 16W LED downlights with neutral white light colour and extra wide flood light distribution provide homogeneous general lighting in the undulating, suspended ceiling panels behind the fenestration of the Gebr. Heinemann headquarters.
Office lighting with ERCO: efficient LED technology with high visual comfort
Bright suspended ceiling panels dropping down in a wavelike shape to the lateral window fronts characterise the striking interior design of the new open-plan office. A second level with workstations on around 200 square metres was also integrated into the central zone of the office space, with conference and utility rooms incorporated below. The significantly different spatial heights of three to a maximum of seven metres posed a particular challenge for the lighting design, and it was here that ERCO was called for: the flexible downlight Compact enables various wattages from 8W to 40W and is therefore the ideal solution for differing spatial dimensions and room heights. With extra wide flood for efficient general lighting and oval flood for the energy-efficient illumination of traffic routes and desks, the Compact features various light distribution characteristics for wide-ranging, individual use in offices.
The high-performance ERCO lighting technology enables above-average luminaire spacing
“Oval flood elliptical light distribution has the major advantage compared to conventional rotationally symmetric light distribution that comparatively few recessed luminaires are needed even with low wattages such as 16W," said Swen Ebinger, responsible for electrical planning at Pinck Ingenieure Consulting GmbH. "The highly efficient ERCO lighting technology therefore enables an above-average spacing of luminaires which in turn cuts installation complexity and saves costs – it also achieves discreet, uniform ceiling appearances." Even where there was still a room height of almost seven metres below the suspended ceiling, the decision was taken following precise lighting calculations by PINCK to install the high-output light of 40W Compact LED downlights with neutral white light colour. Project engineer Swen Ebinger from PINCK stated: "Despite installing the ERCO downlights at great room heights, there is no glare at all thanks to outstanding optics reducing glare and guiding light precisely onto the target plane."
A second level with workstations on around 200 square metres was integrated into the central zone of the newly designed Heinemann open-plan office, with conference and utility rooms below.
The decision was taken for neutral white Compact LED downlights with oval flood light distribution for illuminating the corridor zone below the inserted gallery, with room height of approximately three metres. The axially symmetric light distribution is especially suitable for the linear general lighting of routes and traffic zones.
Compact LED downlights from ERCO – the attractive and economic alternative to fluorescent luminaires
The name Compact says it all – the combination of high visual comfort and low recess depth with the compact LED downlights is unique. Discreet point light sources in the suspended ceiling create an elegant overall appearance with a calm, uniform rhythm in the newly designed office storeys of the Gebr. Heinemann distribution centre in Hamburg-Allermöhe. The recessed luminaires always look identical but feature maximum flexibility thanks to the consistent ERCO luminaire system construction that ensures various construction sizes, lumen classes and light distribution characteristics with uniformly high LED quality across the product range. With high efficiency, good glare reduction and long lifespans, the compact downlights from ERCO provide an attractive and economic alternative to linear fluorescent luminaires and fluorescent lamps.
Differing room heights from three to a maximum of seven metres in the newly constructed office storey posed a particular challenge for the lighting design.
Despite installing the ERCO downlights at great room heights, there is no glare at all thanks to outstanding optics reducing glare
The high visual comfort of the 40W luminaires is apparent here for employees in the upper office area of the management building.
Highly efficient LED lighting technology from ERCO enables an above-average spacing of luminaires in the Gebr. Heinemann management building, which saves on installation complexity and costs and creates discreet, uniform ceiling appearances.
About the author:
Kristina Raderschad has run an editorial office in Cologne since 2005. A qualified interior designer (Dipl.-Ing.), her articles, reports and interviews on architecture and design are published worldwide – in magazines such as AD Architectural Digest, ATRIUM, ELLE DECORATION, HÄUSER, AIT or WALLPAPER*.