The Klimahaus 8° Ost is situated on the longitude 8° East. Based on a mix of science, entertainment, and "edutainment", it represents selected climate zones along this longitude, around our globe. With a length of 125 meters, and with its totally glazed facade, the building is a key land-mark of the city of Bremerhaven. Instead of bringing the inner structure out with light, the skin has been used as canvas, to underline the free form of this ambitious and successful project by the internationally renowned lighting designer Gerd Pfarré www.lichtplanung.com.
The facade lighting concept was composed with 1900 individually adressed, cold-white LEDs, for a total wattage of 2.6 KW – significantly less than the client expected. On a facade surface of approx. 7.700 sqm, the result is 0,33 W/sqm. It’s the quality of light, not the quantity that counts! Bollards with 35W metal-halides illuminate the surrounding surfaces, to avoid reflection glare in the building skin, and to optimize visual comfort for visitors and pedestrians.
Various scenes, developed according to the Klimahaus concept, have been created to reflect the themes of the project. In the "swell" scene, one of four pre-programmed sequences, LEDs softly simulate the movement of the oceans. Other animations simulate sparkling stars at night, falling rain, and whirling winds. All sequences are moving calmly, ending up in the dotted 8° longitude that surrounds the building, before the next scene begins. The typical set up fort he mise en scène during evening hours, for example, provides that all LEDs are switched on with 80% power, and the 8° longitude is switched on.
The pedestrian glass swivel bridge is part of the lighting project, with the exception of the blue top lights belonging to lighting poles and designed for an earlier project. Illuminated only by fluorescents integrated in the bottom, the bridge lights the public aereas underneath, too. The inner view shows how white dots, printed on the glass, reflect the light coming out of the floor. Mock-ups were made to test the appropiate translucency of the glass panels. The lighting is inviting and enhancing the structure.
The historical bridge visible on North of the Klimahaus has been illuminated with LED technology as well, three years ago. Unfortunately, the designers had no possibility to avoid the harsh lighting of the mast on top of the adjacent hotel.
Our very special thanks to Markus Tollhopf, the author of all photographs here published
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