CONCEPTLICHT

The Hessian Radio Symphony Orchestra was so impressed by the quality of the lighting in the Kulturpalast Dresden that the broadcasting hall in the main building in Frankfurt had to be refurbished. However, only the lighting system was renovated and no further structural changes were made in the hall.
The existing lighting consisted of suspended light strips with direct / indirect radiating mirror louvre inserts for fluorescent lamps, downlights with halogen bulbs and halogen spotlights at the end of the profile to illuminate the wall. The wall and ceiling lighting were very uneven and caused obvious unrest. In addition, no clear delimitation of the different seating options was possible and annoying cracking noises kept occurring. The composition of the light components was not wrong, just inadequate in terms of radiation and quality.
The new concept was supposed to retain the tried and tested and familiar image, but raise the quality of light to the level desired by the orchestra. The level of illuminance in the podium area was increased from 500 to 1,000 lux and the color rendering index from 80 to 95 with a color temperature of 3,000 K. The newly developed luminaire support profile again takes up three components for floor, ceiling and wall and, like the ceiling, is made up of linear sections a polygon. Our aim was that there were no cones of light on the walls, that the folds of the ceiling would be illuminated more evenly and that the wall would be brightened less selectively - in other words, to create more visual calm.
The challenge was to plan the lighting for a total of five orchestral scenarios, from the string quartet to the Mahler line-up and a carnival scenario, so that there was a clear demarcation between the audience area with 300 lux and the podium. The more narrowly radiating direct components, together with an ingenious dimming circle, formed the prerequisite for adapting the variable light limit at the transition to the podium. In order to be able to exclude the cracking noises perceived as particularly annoying by the orchestra, all operating devices were relocated to the attic above. The organ lighting was replaced by special wallwashers, the radiation limit of which ends vertically in the direction of the hall, so that the choir pedestal and organ can be operated in a clearly delimited manner.
For the choir, downlights have been moved to the rear in the open slatted ceiling to improve the legibility of the music sheets. The lights were moved upwards and the angle of radiation was measured so that no highlights could be seen on the slats.