Market Square “Alte Baumwolle” Floeha, Germany

Architectural Lighting Design for Day and Night

Architecture, Light and Spatial Design – A New Civic Heart for Flöha

At Flöha’s “Alte Baumwolle”, a former cotton mill is becoming a new town centre. After two decades of decay, outstanding industrial architecture and new public spaces come together to create a market square with a distinctive identity. Our day-and-night lighting concept supports this transformation, connecting buildings, public space and urban life.

The design embodies our three complementary disciplines: architecture, light and Spatial Design. We see light as an integral part of shaping space: it reveals architectural qualities, strengthens connections within the urban setting and creates places where people enjoy spending time. Precise, functional illumination and artistic accents combine to form an integrated urban work of art, experienced by day and by night.

Four layers of light shape the square. Custom-designed lighting masts provide precise, standards-compliant illumination, reveal the texture of the historic cobblestones and give the space rhythm and depth. In daylight, they also serve as distinctive design elements. Carefully controlled optics keep functional light away from façades, windows and planting.

As evening becomes night, changing lighting scenes connect the market square with the surrounding mill buildings. Lighting for the water features and seating areas helps define the space and invites people to meet, sit and stay. Small artistic interventions enrich everyday life with moments of surprise and poetry.

By day, sunlight becomes part of the design. Reflection, transmission and colour create changing patterns across the square’s surfaces. They move with the sun, disappear and return with the seasons. The interplay of light, material and space invites people to rediscover a familiar place.

Lighting for the new restaurant and glasshouse will complete the composition: old and new, architecture and public space, day and night – connected through light.

For us, “Contemporary Heritage” begins with the decision to preserve and revitalise existing buildings and spaces. Contemporary design complements this heritage, revealing new qualities and opening up new uses. At the Alte Baumwolle, light supports this transformation, making the market square welcoming and safe throughout the year.

Our principle is simple: light where we need it, darkness where we do not. Precise optics protect homes from intrusive light. Planted areas remain dark as refuges for insects and other wildlife. Lighting follows activity: from 100% in the early evening to 75% later in the evening and 25% late at night, when decorative lighting is also switched off.

Sustainability also encompasses social interaction and a sense of belonging. A market square that becomes the town’s “living room” – a place to meet, play, sit and talk – has lasting value. Architecture, light and Spatial Design work together to create a public space that people enjoy, use and care about.