LED lighting design for cultural hub in Austria

An inspiring architectural multipurpose facility with a translucent lighting design characterises the completed cultural and congress centre in the Austrian city of Feldkirch.

Montforthaus, a venue for concerts, trade fairs, congresses and symposiums, opened its doors at the beginning of the year after a five-year planning and construction period to transform the original building.

The overall lighting design was created by design studio BELZNER HOLMES/LIGHT DESIGN ENGINEERING (LDE), while Zumtobel was commissioned to provide a customised lighting solution.

Image credit: ©Zumtobel. Photograph: David Matthiessen.

The design

A transparent facade and a glass dome in the main foyer lets an abundance of daylight enter the building’s large hall. The architects for the project, Hascher Jehle Architektur and Mitiska Wäger Architekten, opted for a lighting strategy that can be adjusted to suit various occasions and meet the high demands of the facility.

The main innovative feature of the lighting design is the ability to dim the LED luminaires down to 0% without flickering, which ensures HD quality for TV broadcasts from the building. LDE and Zumtobel also collaborated to design lighting based on the modular PANOS infinity LED downlight range.

Lighting solution

The MFH-PANOS custom solution features continuous dimming from 100 to 0%. Compared to previous standard products, MFH-PANOS is able to clear the last hurdle of 10 to 0% with a soft transition without flickering. The downlight range can be adjusted for a variety of lighting scenes, with the colour temperature changing from warm to cool white. The ratio of cool and warm white light can be controlled individually via separate DMX or DALI channels. According to the required reaction rate, the installed downlights of 28, 30 or 40 W are equipped with DALI or DMX control, making it possible to address each luminaire individually.

Image credit: ©Zumtobel. Photograph: David Matthiessen.

In total, more than 2500 Zumtobel luminaires were installed in Montforthaus, including 750 MFH-PANOS custom luminaires in various versions. Overall, 18 luminaire types by Zumtobel were installed in the entire Montforthaus, including LIGHT FIELDS evolution in the stairwell, ONDARIA at the coffee shop and CRAFT, which provided task light for stage lighting.

Top image credit: ©Zumtobel.