Company News • 20.10.2009

Coffee house with culture

Taking into account the requirements of the historical architecture, Ansorg succeeded in setting a tasteful scene with the lighting for Starbucks’ new address in Mönckebergstraße.

In 1913, the ornate building with the Doric columns was conceived by Fritz Schumacher as a ‘social monument’, and subsequently a public reading hall was accommodated there. The two-storey pavilion made of natural stone has been preserved unchanged up to the present day. Since July 2009 Starbucks and KulturPunkt Hamburg have been sharing the building. It is a contact point for all those wishing to obtain information about the Hanseatic city’s cultural programme or who would like to enjoy tasteful coffee culture.

The joint use was conceived in close co-operation with the Cultural Administration of the City of Hamburg, the Elbe Philharmonic Orchestra and Starbucks Coffee Germany.

Coffee to go - Light to stay
In April 2009 the conversion work started. Ansorg had already implemented a convincing lighting design for the Starbucks coffee house in Braunschweig that opened in March 2009, so that the order for Hamburg was a logical consequence and an appealing task at the same time.

In this ‘third place‘ between home and workplace a pleasant atmosphere plays an important part – also as regards light. On the ground floor, the gimbal-mounted recessed Cardo luminaires with variable reflectors provide the matching lighting, sun filters make a warm lighting mood possible. The historical coffered ceilings in the entry hall, the stairwell and the upper floor of the building were a challenge, for which the scene is directly set with the help of Pala up-lights.

At the same time, via the reflection they ensure that a basic brightness is provided, supported by the lighting effect of the decorative wall-mounted luminaires and standard lamps, the standard lamps producing cosy and pleasant islands of light in the centre of the room. Maxx bracket-mounted luminaires illuminate the numerous pictures on the walls. The WFL reflector ensures homogeneous illumination of the wall area.
A calm appearance was at the focus of design planning, supported by the use of luminaire families.

Consistent colour concept for a feeling of well-being
A special from Ansorg: the luminaire colour and the shade colour adapt to the interior design. With the help of the combinations structure white or black and shade cream or anthracite a response is given to a bright or dark room design. Altogether, the coherent colour concept for the room was an important sub-task, not only due to the adjustment to the interior or to the feel-good factor to be achieved, but also due to stipulations from Starbucks concerning corporate identity. This Hamburg address is meant to also show the company’s unmistakable handwriting.

Attractiveness and functionality at the same time
Despite the demand for aesthetic appeal and attractive atmosphere economy occupied first place. Simplified maintenance due to the small number of luminaire and lamp types and the reduction of the energy and maintenance costs took this requirement into account. With regard to the historical architecture and the holistic design planning, Ansorg has succeeded in achieving a healthy balance between attractiveness and functionality which points in new directions for the Starbucks coffee house concept. Here coffee culture and lighting culture go hand in glove.

Starbucks Coffee, Hamburg

Customer: Starbucks Coffee, Germany
Sector: Food
Floor area: 320 m²
Interior design: Starbucks Coffee, Seattle
Photographer: Boris Golz, Arnsberg
Lighting design: Ansorg GmbH, Mülheim
Products: Cardo, Maxx, Pala, Velo Supplemented by third-party products