Lighting concept for the city center of Bad Vilbel

Lighting concept for the city center of Bad Vilbel

Current completion of the lighting concept

The well-known mineral water town of BAD VILBEL is getting a lighting concept for its city center. The development of the content has been completed and a first rough version has now been handed over to the city administration. Final completion is planned for the end of the year and the concept will be officially presented at the beginning of the new year.

The Handbook serves as an important tool to engage citizens, business owners, investors and city representatives in the decision-making processes necessary to ensure a future “people and nature” friendly, innovative and sustainable lighting strategy for its unique historic city center and riverfront .

The city of BAD VILBEL is located in the south of the state of Hesse, in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main and is known for its mineral water springs. With the concept, which was implemented as part of the nationwide “Living Centers” program in Germany, the historic city receives an attractive, innovative and sustainable lighting concept to improve the evening ambience.

Contents:

    Staging the historical building structure in the appropriate architectural lighting scenarios.

    Improving citizens’ sense of security at night.

    Development of a light guidance system inspired by the unique motif of the city’s natural spring water.

    Development of identity-related “City Light Art” scenarios for the riverfront.

The lighting concept for Bad Vilbel is the seventh lighting master plan that we have developed for a city, a city district or a local center in recent years.

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Euthanasia Information and Memorial Site, Berlin

Euthanasia Information and Memorial Site, Berlin Tiergartenstrasse

Competition entry for the design competition Memorial and Information Site for the Victims of the National Socialist “Euthanasia” Murders at the site of the planning headquarters, Tiergartenstraße 4 in Berlin.

Based on the artistic core idea of creating a dialogue between the spatial expression for the commemoration of the victims, the sculptural “pool of tears” and the site of the perpetrators with the ground plan of the building Tiergartenstrasse 4, both a mental and emotional approach to the topic of “euthanasia” murders becomes possible.

Awarded by: City of Berlin, 2012

City Warehouse Jena with Hologram Façade

City Warehouse Jena with Hologram Façade

Architecture-light-artwork

After years of vacancy, the historic post-and-beam building of the city warehouse in Jena was brought back to life through the step-by-step implementation of the city warehouse concept developed by Ruairí O’Brien. The identity-creating overall concept for the revitalization of the monument connects inside and outside and past, present and future and creates an attractive upgrade of the inner-city living space.

Hologram facade Jena

According to O’Brien’s design, the city warehouse at Jena’s market square presents itself with a hologram façade and new roof, integrated into the existing market ensemble in terms of urban development. After years of vacancy, the historic post-and-beam building was brought back to life through the gradual implementation of the city warehouse concept developed by Ruairí O’Brien. The identity-creating overall concept for the revitalization of the monument links the past, present and future of the city and creates an attractive upgrade of the inner-city living space. The hologram conveys a holistic message that breaks new ground in the living preservation of monuments.
Services: Lph. 1-8 HOAI
Awards: Recognition for the façade award of the city of Jena, recognition “architektourpreis” Chamber of Architects Thuringia.

Hologram façade- Built urban identity

The hologram façade embodies the essence of the city of Jena, it is a tribute to its spiritual and economic identity. The façade as an independent aluminum-steel-glass construction placed in front of the listed building depicting a spatial expression of the city storage concept. The identity-creating “eye” of the building highlights the historically significant structure inside with translucent to transparent effect and protects the valuable center of the monument. The hologram façade of the city warehouse forms a tailor-made connection between contemporary architecture and the historic structure.

Beirut Memorial

Beirut Memorial “Pool of Remembrance”

Memorial for the victims of the gas explosion in 2020

International call to develop an architectural idea for a memorial in Beirut to mark the site of the tragic explosion in 2020.

“The need of people to face death, tragedies and losses has produced great art, music, poetry and architecture. Burial chambers, cemeteries, remembrance gardens and memorials reveal to us countless human stories. They reflect us, our time and our culture.
As part of the healing process, we must close the wounds and tend to the scars, to leave a mark for new beginnings. It’s very challenging to create a place where people can feel a transition, an access to spirituality or just to their own inner selves, a place where they can find peace, whether it’s through hope or acceptance.” Ruairí O’Brien, 2020

Design guide Bahnhofstrasse Berlin-Lichtenrade

Design Primer Bahnhofstrasse Berlin-Lichtenrade

Design Guidelines for the Active Centre, the Bahnhofstrasse Shopping Street

The design guideline is intended to contribute to an increase in the quality of stay and to the valorisation of the special features, e.g. the urban qualities in the active centre area. The Design Primer can serve as an advisory tool, which is aimed in particular at property owners and tradespeople, in order to contribute to improving the design quality of the properties and consequently of the entire AZ area.

With the design primer, proposals for measures for a coordinated design of the façades were developed, which should serve the owners as a guideline for action in the redesign of their façades. For Bahnhofstraße and especially the ground floor zones, the retail location, possible ways were shown, for example, how façades with their structuring/design elements can fit into the built environment. The design primer uses exemplary illustrations to make the design aspects comprehensible and offers advice for conversions or an energetic refurbishment of the buildings.

Essential components:

  • Analysis of the situation on site: Brief description of the building history of the street and creation of a façade typology with examples of suitable façade designs and those in need of repair
  • Derivation of design recommendations for façades, especially the ground floor (structure, advertising, structuring elements, colouring)
  • Recommendations for the energetic renovation of façades and for implementation
  • Preparation of the design primer as a brochure.

Light Sculpture for the Schwerin Market Place

Light Sculpture for the Schwerin Market Place

micro light sculpture 01

The micro light sculpture in Schwerin was the first in a series of light sculptures that architect and artist Ruairí O’ Brien purposefully developed using simple means, simple materials and simple construction as a tribute to the art of architecture, to the effect of light on people, space and time.

Light sculpture for the Schwerin market place, consisting of 3 equal, variably combinable modular parts, which in the present composition form a cube space and a focal point to the light theme with quiet action character. During the day it takes the function of a shadow caster, in the evening that of a light machine. In a subtle way, it reflects the chronology of the daily routine and the dramaturgy of life, ergonomically illustrating the relationship between micro and macro scale.

Modern Working Worlds – Lighting Concept for Office / Office Area

Modern Working Environments – Lighting Concept for Office / Office Area IT-Department

Office areas, meeting rooms

In accordance with our client’s high demands for an attractive working environment for the company’s employees, our lighting concept combines great functionality with attractive design. For each area of the open-plan office floor, an individual lighting concept was developed, which optimally supports the individual use of the rooms, from computer workstations, meeting rooms, informal areas, to individual offices.

The lighting of the entire company area changes depending on the amount of daylight, i.e. the luminous flux of the luminaires is coupled with the daylight through sensors and the color temperature transforms depending on the time of day (Human Centric Lighting).

The visualization of the planning shows a light scene in darkness. Light lines indicate the course of the corridor and elegantly “floating” office luminaires mark the individual work groups. With their indirect light and the large-area illumination of the ceiling, the room is visually widened and the biological lighting effect is supported.


Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse-Five, Messe Dresden

Memorial wall and information light sculpture

The artistically designed information light sculpture / memorial wall “Slaughterhouse Five” is visited annually by tourists from all over the world.
In the basement of the former slaughterhouse, the American author Kurt Vonnegut – like his protagonist Billy Pilgrim – survived the Allied forces bombing of Dresden on February 13, 1945 as a prisoner of war. The multimedia literary sculpture allows the viewer to experience the metamorphosis of the city of Dresden.
Through the artful superimposition of drawings, paintings, photographs, and city map excerpts, embedded in a complex grid of wood and Plexiglas, various temporal levels of the city’s history and at the same time the collage-like nature of the novel become visible. Lit from behind, the structure appears sculptural incorporating light and shadow as part of a larger picture.

Frankfurt Riedberg 2

Housing Estate Containing 18 Single-family Houses

In Frankfurt’s Riedberg district, a lively, urban neighborhood is being developed with a university, schools / kindergartens and very good transport links to the city center of Frankfurt am Main.

For an investor, we planned 12 single-family houses as semi-detached houses and 6 detached single-family houses using the design-and-build method.

The house type has 2.5 floors, a staggered roof with an attractive sun terrace on the upper floor, a basement and is built from sand-lime bricks in a solid construction. Due to the floor-to-ceiling windows, all rooms are flooded with light. Inside, the house type offers clear simple floor plans with an optimal division of the premises. The modern urban single-family house type is tailored to the market of modern urban residential architecture.

Lighting Concept Bahnhofstrasse Lichtenrade, Berlin

Lighting Concept Bahnhofstraße Lichtenrade, Berlin

Lighting masterplan for the active center, the district center, the shopping street

The planning of the public lighting for the traffic areas (street) and secondary areas (pedestrian and recreational areas) is an essential part of our lighting concept for Bahnhofstraße Lichtenrade. The street and sidewalk lighting is coordinated with the superordinate lighting concept of the city of Berlin.

In addition to the use of light as a design tool to improve the appearance of public spaces and to increase the quality of stay in Bahnhofstraße, the lighting always serves first to ensure traffic safety. By providing uniform illuminance, emphasizing conflict zones and avoiding disturbing light (glare), safety for road users is increased and the quality of stay in the urban space is supported. The subspaces (microspaces) defined in the lighting master plan can optimally fulfill their function of structuring the public space, increasing attraction and dwell time even in the dark half of the day or year. Consideration was also given to the future redesign of the commercial street and the lowest possible maintenance and energy costs while optimally fulfilling the lighting task.