A showcase for light

Last September, we opened a new facility at our headquarters in Eindhoven the Netherlands that shows the potential and power of light in a way that has never been done before. This Lighting Application Center will welcome architects, designers, end users and industry partners from around the world.

Axonometric showing visitors’ initial route into the LAC, and the distribution of specialised spaces.

As part of our recent move to the High Tech Campus on the edge of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, we commissioned a new Lighting Application Center (LAC), designed to be an integral part of the headquarters building. The same architect, LAVA, Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, worked on both projects. Alexander Rieck, who heads up the office in Stuttgart, Germany, is in charge of the project. He explained, ‘If an architect or a planner visiting the LAC bumps into people by chance, that is an advantage. The location becomes unique for everybody.‘

All visitors to the building, whether to the offices or to the LAC, pass through the atrium which means, as Rieck comments, ‘It had to be very strong architecturally. The main tool that we had to do this with was light.’

At the centre of the atrium is a tree with a huge light sculpture that consists of some 600 panels suspended from the ceiling. A reflective surface on the back of each panel creates a play of light and shadow. On the front, one third are LED controlled panels and the others are special acoustic ceiling panels that give out light.

From the atrium, visitors can choose one of two routes - to the offices or to the LAC. Visitors to the LAC go on one of several journeys depending on their particular interests. There is an initial gathering space and an area showcasing the wonder of light, then a number of dedicated areas demonstrating retail, office and industrial uses. These were given to a number of different talented designers, bringing in a range of different thinking that no single team could have achieved.

LAVA retained responsibility for the entrance corridor and the initial gathering space, working with local design firm Inbo, which was responsible for all execution and on-site supervision, as well as designing two of the individual spaces.

The installation, named dot.vote, was made possible by the collaboration of students, instructors, and partnering companies. Philips Color Kinetics provided the LED fixtures, iColor Flex SLX, for the display, adding to the existing partnership between Northeastern and Philips Color Kinetics. This relationship stems from Northeastern’s co-op programme, in which students work full-time for six-month cycles at the Philips Color Kinetics headquarters in Burlington, MA as part of their education.

Luminous 14:
Discussing with light