Outstanding glass craftsmanship in historic architecture, perfectly displayed with customised ERCO lighting
The Holmegaard Værk glass museum in Denmark
Denmark's most important and only surviving glassworks recently reopened as a centre for glass art within the historic architecture of the former Holmegaard factory, located south of Copenhagen. The lighting concept for the new cultural centre with exhibition areas and glass workshop aims, on the one hand, to bring the history of this important industrial site and its buildings to life. On the other, it enables the exhibits to be vividly displayed – by optimally emphasising their colours, shapes and materials in the ‘abandoned’ glassworks. A wide variety of mostly customised LED spotlights from ERCO respond to the special requirements for exhibition lighting within the complex system of highly differing spatial and daylight situations: in addition to low rooms completely without daylight, there are also hall-like rooms up to ten metres high with skylights and daylight entering from the side. Coloured light is also used to breathe life into the architecture and glass art.
Holmegaard is a piece of living industrial culture: up to 1,200 workers were employed until the official closure of Denmark's most important glassworks in 2008. Soon the region expressed a desire to preserve the buildings and re-function them as a museum. Funds have been raised for this ambitious project for years. As a result, the new Holmegaard Værk cultural centre opened its doors with exhibition spaces, a glass workshop, offices, a restaurant and a shop.
“ERCO fixtures were already in use at ‘Museum Sydøstdanmark's’ other locations. Today, a total of around 1,600 luminaires are installed in our exhibitions, half of which are at Holmegaard Værk. The factors of quality, durability and reliability of the maintenance-friendly ERCO LED luminaires were crucial in the decision to use them in all our locations – and all the way from exhibition areas and the offices to the workshop. The high flexibility that characterizes the system of spotlights and floodlights for track, together with the visual comfort, even in high rooms and different daylight situations, are also important for our selection. The choice of ERCO was therefore natural when we had to get started with Holmegaard Værk,” explains Carl-Henrik Hansen, the museum's technical manager.
The large exhibition hall, into which daylight enters through glazing on two sides and from above, was named after the glass craftsman Per Steen Hebsgaard. Here, selected works from his many years at Holmegaard are on display, during which he brought to life designs by major artists such as Per Kirkeby and Bjørn Nørgaard.
As part of the [ERCO individual](legacy://object/6770) service, a special variant of the [Parscan](legacy://object/1473) spotlight with a short mounting bracket was developed and, in combination with Stella spotlights modified with RBGW LED, was mounted on steel posts of varying heights in the hall. The [Stella](legacy://object/6639) spotlights create a cool contrasting light on the works or else accentuate them with warm colours such as amber.
A tailor-made special solution: Parscan spotlights on steel posts
The industrial architecture with raw walls, dust-covered furnaces and openly visible supporting structure below saw-tooth roofs was, as far as possible, not to be modified in the course of the conversion to a cultural centre – in the truest sense of the word. For this reason, and as part of the ERCO individual service, a special version of the Parscan spotlight with a short mounting bracket was developed. This luminaire was mounted for example in the glass workshop and in the large exhibition hall on steel posts of different heights, with ERCO track installed vertically within the posts.
The shortened mounting bracket is based on an aesthetic decision – the luminaires are thus closer to the post. The custom-made “light poles” of different heights are positioned wherever light is needed to guide visitors, to stage the architecture and display the exhibits. This made it possible to largely dispense with track below the historic roof structure. Only in the glass workshop, where museum visitors get a real-time insight into the traditional craft, do additional high-output track-mounted Parscan floodlights provide optimal light for the melting furnace workplaces.
Work (once again) in the old Holmegaard Værk glassworks: glassblowing demonstrations give visitors to the museum an impression of the traditional handicraft. A crew of experienced glass workers demonstrates the processes in a new, modern hotshop. High lumen-output [Parscan](legacy://object/1473) 48W floodlights on [track](legacy://object/104) provide optimal light for the challenging work at the furnace.
Coloured light breathes life into the industrial architecture and glass artworks
A black box was integrated into the former glassworks as a room-within-a-room structure completely without the incidence of daylight, in which changing exhibitions of fragile works of art made of glass or ceramics can be seen. To be able to align the lighting as flexibly as possible to the respective exhibits, a dense track system with spacing of only one metre was installed beneath the newly installed ceiling. The custom Parscan spotlight variant with short mounting bracket was used here as well.
A black box was integrated into the former glassworks as a room-within-a-room structure completely without the incidence of daylight, in which changing exhibitions of fragile works of art can be seen. To be able to align the lighting as flexibly as possible to the respective exhibits, a dense track system (with spacing of only one metre) was installed beneath the newly installed ceiling.
The custom version of the [Parscan](legacy://object/1473) spotlight with short mounting bracket was used here as well, in addition to [Stella](legacy://object/6639) spotlights modified with RBGW LED. Not only the number of luminaires, but also their alignment, luminous intensity, distribution and the light colour of the Stella can be flexibly adapted via [Casambi Bluetooth](legacy://object/6998) to the exhibitions in the space which change every three to six months.
High-output [Parscan](legacy://object/1473) spotlights as well as [Stella](legacy://object/6639) spotlights modified with RBGW LED create powerful, efficient and precise accent lighting, in some cases also with coloured light: not only the exhibits themselves, but also the surroundings such as floor areas and steps, were designed by the lighting designer with use of coloured light, incorporating sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic contrasts.
In the photos: The exhibition ‘The Chosen Ones’ presents works by artist and ceramist Louise Hindsgavl (February to October 2023).
Stella spotlights modified with RBGW LED are a further essential special solution: the lighting designer responsible for the lighting concept of the new cultural centre, Iben Winther Orton from Lightscapes ApS, wanted a high-output RGBW luminaire also controllable via Casambi Bluetooth. The Stella spotlights developed as part of the ERCO individual service can be adapted across the entire colour spectrum to the specific materials and colour scheme of the exhibits.
On a gigantic, approximately 34 metre-long table, glass objects from Holmegaard are displayed on the one side with ceramic objects by Kähler on the other, which have been part of Danish table culture for almost 200 years. [Optec](legacy://object/125) spotlights on [track](legacy://object/104) with narrow spot (approx. 8°) and spot (approx. 15°) distribution accentuate the objects.
“In the Holmegaard Værk lighting design, the colour composition depends on the individual exhibitions, whereby contrasting or complementary colours are used to highlight the colour of the works themselves,” explains the lighting designer. “To breathe a sense life into glass and ceramics it has to be remembered that the amount of light these materials can absorb is individual. If the lighting reaches this point, the object appears brilliant and attractive, if it is below it the material stays lifeless, and if the lighting exceeds this point the material is perceived as flat.” Not only the exhibits themselves, but also the surroundings – such as floor areas and steps – were designed by the lighting designer with partly subtle, partly dramatic contrasts via the use of coloured light.
Iben Winther Orton, Lightscapes ApS
Floor-to-ceiling shelving 40 metres wide and an impressive seven metres in height accommodate more than 40,000 objects from over 200 years of glass history. One of the largest and most important collections of its kind in Scandinavia, it contains unique pieces, not only from Holmegaard, but also from the Kastrup and Odense glassworks.
Highly diverse spatial situations with varying amounts of daylight
Some areas in the exhibition are bathed in cool ‘glass green’, others in warm amber. This is also the case in the room with a gigantic shelf, some seven metres in height, housing more than 40,000 glass objects. Parscan spotlights and Stella spotlights converted to RBGW provide powerful, efficient and precise accent lighting. Adjustment to changing daylight situations is via Casambi Bluetooth. “The powerful, heterogeneous lighting concept with strong, partly coloured light accents underlines the diverse spatial and daylight situations, but also the different functions of the areas in the former glassworks,” states lighting designer Iben Winther Orton. “The most homogeneous, uniform illumination possible with use of wallwashers, as aimed for by many museums today, would not have done justice to the complexity of Holmegaard Værk.”
Compar linear pendant luminaires with oval wide flood distribution (approx. 60° x 80°) create dimmable glare-free lighting with high visual comfort above the desks in the first floor offices and meeting rooms. The black anti-glare louvre of the pendant downlights enables the luminaire to blend with the material and colour of the ceiling.
Shop lighting with Optec COB LED 36W spotlights.
[Beamer](legacy://object/7940) projectors controlled via DALI illuminate the facade with warm white light (3000K).
