Dynamic “Night Suns” for Bielefelder Jahnplatz
In the course of redesigning the Jahnplatz in Bielefeld, the lighting also played a central role. It was to ensure both security and a pleasant atmosphere and flood the square in a special light on important occasions. The lighting design studio ENVUE HOMBURG LICHT developed the concept for customised ewo lights.
25 "night suns" of different sizes are now hovering over the city’s central traffic junction—suspended from a cable system that is as complex as it is filigree. Every night sun is the result of a special handiwork process. The outer shell is made of multi-layer fibreglass (glass fibre) that has been elaborately painted to simulate the daylight through reflections.
The fibreglass shell is supported by an internal metal structure in which spot lenses with different symmetrical and asymmetrical light distributions are integrated: AG03 Symmetric Flood 50°, AH02 Symmetric Wide Flow and Asymmetric Side Throw. These ensure the accentuated and yet standard-compliant lighting of the Jahnplatz.
The indirect RGBW lighting of the fibreglass cover ensures the colourful and dynamic lighting of the Jahnplatz on important occasions, such as the Bielefeld Night Views, Christmas or the traditional local Leineweber Festival. With the intelligent control system from connexx, ewo's Smart Lighting brand from ewo, each light can be controlled individually. This creates purely functional lighting up to a pulsating simulation of colours with every imaginable lighting atmosphere.
“The result of these customer-specific, intelligent lighting fixtures is characterised by a harmonious and flowing colour transition from white to coloured light and wraps the Jahnplatz in a fascinating atmosphere. On the technical level, our innovative, interconnected hardware components and a user-friendly graphical interface are crucial, enabling immediate commands and thus reactions," says Michele Santuari, Head of ewo.digital.
Hannes Wohlgemuth, CEO of ewo, summarises the special features of the project as follows: “This project was particularly special for our team. In an interdisciplinary way, we were able to challenge the state of the art and offer satisfactory, integrated and future-oriented solutions. Beyond the planning phase, I am pleased that we can continue to support our customer with a support team during ongoing operations, even for smart lighting matters.”
The intelligent lighting infrastructure from connexx was also requested for other areas of the city. In order to streamline the lighting system, 75 nodexx were installed along the side streets of Jahnplatz in third-party technical lighting. These lights can now also be controlled in synchronisation with the night suns and integrated into light scenes. The city’s central on/off signal, which is used to control all of the city’s lighting, was integrated into the connexx control field system. This significantly streamlines and simplifies control and enables significant energy savings.
Sascha Homburg, the partner responsible for the project at ENVUE HOMBURG LICHT on the project: "The square has a high-density of different participants and diverse urban spaces: Motor vehicle traffic, cyclists, pedestrians, subway exits, waiting and public areas and temporary events. The challenge: Different requirements and expectations of the light in each case. Our suggestion was a creative, high-quality lighting theme, which formally summarises the existing individual light themes and solves all the lighting requirements on its own. The special lights for this project, which were then specially designed and developed for the square, each have their own light emission characteristics and their light intensity—so every night sun is unique in itself. 25 lights in total give the square a finely tuned functional light depending on its usage areas.
The indirect lighting of the ring-shaped structure creates a special night image at Jahnplatz in Bielefeld: Floating rings of light bridge the important urban axis between the new and old town!"
Product: ewoIndividual with nodexx smart modules Lighting
Designer: ENVUE HOMBURG LICHT
Year: 2021-2023
Photography: Nikolai Benner