Private Villa P. Lighting Design

Light as the 4th Dimenson of Architecture

Place: Dortmund

Category: Private Residences

Due to the great importance of the medium of light for the client, a concept for the lighting architecture was developed in parallel with the architecture right from the start, thus defining a night-time appearance of the building in addition to the daytime architecture. The lighting concept is divided into the areas of daylight planning, artificial lighting planning and outdoor lighting planning.

The artificial light concept picks up the contrasting atmospheres on the ground floor and upper floor at the different times of the day and year and interprets them in nighttime architecture. The most important criteria for lighting are visual comfort, natural light colors, very high color rendering and flexible switching and dimming options. The luminaires, which are installed flush with the ceiling and are therefore very reduced, are free of glare and stray light and thus ensure very efficient, directed light. The large proportion of homogeneous vertical lighting on the few wall surfaces makes the room boundaries perceptible and creates a haven for the eye. At no point is the linear architecture cut through by disturbing cones of light.

The lighting concept was created in intensive sampling during the material selection process for the entire house in order to be sure that the colors and surface structures fit together perfectly in both daylight and artificial light and create a harmonious atmosphere in the light.

Like the furniture, the light in this private house is also "tailor-made". The luminaire housing could only be cast in the unfinished concrete of the ceiling once the sofa had been defined and the exact position for the dining room table found. The sofa is illuminated with directional spotlights with oval drawing lenses, so that no cones of light are discernible here either, but the sofa is precisely illuminated like a sculpture in the room.The lights are positioned in such a way that they are directed at the sofa from behind at an angle of 15° in order to provide perfect glare-free and shadow-free reading light guarantee.

The wall niche in the living room dissolves in the light from the only slightly smoldering brick wall. This niche is also the place for a candle fireplace, whose flickering warm light exudes a special coziness.

In addition to the vertical basic lighting, the lighting is very accentuated and geared to the furnishings and use. Work areas in the kitchen and the dining room table are illuminated with downlights in order to be able to cook without shadows and glare and to present the food perfectly in brilliant light. The light distribution around the dining table was calculated in such a way that soft and well shielded light with defined vertical components falls on the faces of the guests, because nothing is worse than looking into dark and shadowy faces during a lively conversation.

In the planning phase, the clients were already aware of all the places that should receive special accents through narrowly focused light cones. For example, there is a defined place for a bowl of oranges on the kitchen counter, which becomes a special eye-catcher thanks to the light accent and seems to glow from within. This combination of the flat wall lighting and the selected accents creates hierarchies of perception and exciting perspectives.

The importance of individual dimmability becomes apparent in the entrance area. The dark and light-absorbing wardrobe made of smoked oak can be illuminated more brightly than the white wall opposite. In concrete terms, each light in the house can be individually addressed and controlled, which means that very complex and individual light scenes can be created and changed again and again.

The central light object is the core of the staircase between the living and dining areas, which seems to glow from within. The room, which is up to six meters high, is illuminated by RGBW LED lens wallwashers. In this way, the full color spectrum of the light can be exploited. During the day, the appearance of a skylight with 7500K cool light can be simulated with this concept, in the evening a continuous sunset seems to pour out between the two wall panels with a color temperature of only 1,700K long after the real one. The color temperature can be selected automatically depending on the time of day and the outside temperature. A cool color temperature is selected when the outside temperature is high, and a very warm-toned light creates a cozy atmosphere in cold weather.

On the private upper floor, candles and object lights supplement the functional lighting with wallwashers and downlights and in combination create a comfortable quality of stay for the wellness and sleeping areas

Architecture: Heiderich Architekten
Photos: Copyright ERCO
Photografer: Thomas Mayer