Martin illuminates Ericsson German Headquarters

Ericsson contacted Thomas Tennagels of Lichtwerk in Düssseldorf about projecting an even color wash across their building, an eye-catching yet aesthetically pleasing paint of color that could set Ericsson’s building apart from the others in the area.

Thomas specified Martin Exterior 600s and installed 24 of the outdoor luminaires. All lighting was distributed through Martin GmbH. The luminaires were placed on specially designed steel poles (1.5-2.5 meters high) in front of the building and are easily accessible. To safeguard against vandalism, all cabling was covered in protective tubing and guided through the fixture base right into the poles.

Because of the fixtures’ visual placement, design and aesthetics of the fixtures themselves were extremely important. The Exterior 600´s elegant design matches with the Ericsson concept of compactness, design and functionality. An architect was employed to insure design continuity - even for the steel mounting poles. Exterior illumination in Germany is not just a matter of decision-making and fixture installation however. The approval process includes getting the go-ahead from the German Bauamt.

"In the beginning, a product of a different manufacturer stood for disposition, but was dropped for cost reasons," states Thomas Tennagels. "We finally went for a solution, which combines cost effectiveness with long lamp life and a wide variety of functions. We are using a software with multiple programming features, so that we can offer constantly varying color washes. A piece of software, which was developed by Lichtwerk allows the synchronization of the exterior lighting sequence with 2 planned data projectors. Remote access via ISDN or LAN allows for a diagnosis of these projectors (lamp status, operating hours, condition of fans, etc.). We wanted to offer an individual and outstanding media solution with the combination of the two programs."