Client
TriWiCon – Municipal Enterprise for Trade Fairs, Conferences and Tourism

Architecture
Ferdinand Heide Architects, Frankfurt am Main

Landscape planning
Adler & Olesch Landscape Architects Ltd

Photos
Frieder Blickle, Thomas Ott

Completion
2018

Project Team DAY & LIGHT
Stefan Vetter
Frank Vetter

The development of the lighting concept arose from a joint planning process and close collaboration with the architects and building services engineers. The general objectives of creating comfortable room lighting for the users, as well as supporting the natural appearance and character of the architecture, were consistently implemented in the lighting design process.

The lighting system was planned as an integral part of the architecture. All luminaires are mounted in ceilings and along edges. They illuminate surfaces, create contrasts, define the space and follow the rhythm of the architecture. The luminaire bodies remain unobtrusive to avoid disturbing brightness and glare.

Visitors to the RMCC are welcomed into light-filled foyers. During the day, the fully glazed facades and skylights allow ample natural light into the entrance halls – sunlight is permitted as a revitalising element to make the passage of time clearly perceptible within the interior.

Light identity and exterior appearance

The bright, friendly feeling of the space continues even in the evening: the interplay of the wooden surfaces with the wall illumination from warm white light ensures that the character of the room is also perceptible from the outside. This highlights the transparency of the building. The pillars of the colonnades, illuminated with a neutral white light colour, create a contrast in material and colour. This makes them clearly definable as a distinct layer and a permeable shell. The appearance of the façade is mirrored in the water features on the plaza. Lawned areas provide a geometric division of the plaza, which is subtly emphasised in the evening by edge lighting.
The special combination of light colour, material, transparency and form of the building, together with the design of the square on Friedrich-Ebert-Allee, create an address with a distinctive identity.

Flexible lighting technology

Due to the varying requirements of the event centre, lighting systems have been installed to support the multifunctional use of the Congress Centre. All luminaires are dimmable in accordance with the room division and use. Particularly in the halls and breakout rooms, differentiated lighting systems allow for different lighting moods, depending on the usage requirements: linear luminaires create glare-free, diffuse general lighting – downlights create brilliance, plasticity and contrast. This allows any lighting mood to be created for conferences, media events or a celebratory atmosphere.

Economic viability, efficiency, sustainability

With the aim of achieving DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) Platinum certification, the lighting has been designed for high efficiency and sustainability. The building is equipped exclusively with LED luminaires, which have low energy and maintenance requirements, as well as a long service life. Energy demand is further reduced through daylight-dependent and presence-dependent control.