Report • 06.08.2013

Highlight with a view of the sky

Lighting solution by Zumtobel for spectacular new trade fair building

Thus, for the lighting of the lobbies, Zumtobel has developed a special-purpose...

The new building of Messe Basel is one of the most recent projects imple-mented by Herzog & de Meuron. The striking architecture fascinates trade fair visitors at first sight. The interior design is put in the right light using an efficient lighting solution by Zumtobel.

The new hall complex of MCH Messe Basel opened its doors in April. Apart from the staggered hall structures arranged on top of each other, the new building designed by the renowned Basle architects' studio Herzog & de Meuron impresses on account of two other architectural features: on the one hand with a facade consisting of interweaving aluminium bands, on the other hand with the City Lounge - a covered square in the centre of the building with a spectacular opening allowing a view of the sky. A generously glazed ground floor provides for the transparency of the space, mitigating the bulky effect of the three-storey hall complex. The particular architectural virtues required a customised lighting concept that was developed by the renowned Bartenbach Lighting Laboratory.

For the trade fair halls and the lobbies, the lighting designers have chosen a lighting solution by Zumtobel that scores high on account of its flexibility and energy efficiency. Thus, for the lighting of the lobbies, Zumtobel has developed a special-purpose luminaire that emphasises the architecture of the respective room to great effect. The LED light lines are installed in ceiling coves so that the indirect light follows the outlines of the room, creating a pleasant atmosphere. The light lines are fitted with warm or cool white LEDs. Moreover, RGB light lines are used for dynamic colour changes. In this way, a variety of lighting scenes can be created using a lighting management system.

Efficient lighting of the halls

The companies exhibiting theirproducts in the complex of trade fair halls are provided with an area of approx. 38,000 square metres. Zumtobel has equipped this area, too, with a sustainable lighting solution. For perfect lighting of the retail and presentation halls, as well as in the warehouse, the flexible Tecton continuous-row lighting system is used with fluorescent lamps. Tecton is a continu-ous-row lighting system integrating a batten luminaire, lamps and a reflector within its trunking. This allows for easy mounting and reduces installation and maintenance costs. All functions such as power supply, lighting control and connection to the emergency lighting system can be inte-grated into the trunking thanks to a built-in current conducting section. In the area of the escalators, the hall lighting is complemented by the » Panos Infinity LED downlight range, which boasts excel-lent lighting quality and particularly high efficiency. Zumtobel has additionally fitted the trade fair halls with the Puresign and Resclite LED luminaires combined with compact fluorescent lamps for emergencies.