Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER forecourt at evening showing comprehensive lighting concept by Licht Kunst Licht using eight tailor-made 16-meter columns with integrated WE-EF FLC141 LED projectors creating soft brightness progression across 14,000-square-meter Willy-Brandt-Platz, emergency lighting combining wide-beam and medium-beam distributions meeting illuminance and uniformity requirements, architectural first impression for airport users and visitors demonstrating mastery of exceptional challenges through intelligent planning with professional partners

Airport Berlin Brandenburg

Tailor-made light columns for Willy-Brandt-Platz at the new BER airport

Willy-Brandt-Platz, in front of Terminal 1, is the architectural centre of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport. In 2015, the long construction period necessitated a new approach to the forecourt lighting due to changed requirements and regulations. The lighting design office, Licht Kunst Licht, developed an impressive concept – the approximately 14,000 square metres of the vast forecourt are fully illuminated, but without seeming sterile thanks to a soft progression in the levels of brightness. This is achieved by two rows of lighting, each consisting of four 16-metre-high light columns around the edges of the new forecourt.

Willy-Brandt-Platz forecourt in daylight showing vast 14,000-square-meter plaza with two rows of four custom 16-meter light columns flanking edges, Terminal 1 by gmp architects visible, differentiated lighting design with continuous illuminance decrease from accentuated traffic zones at edges toward center,Columns anchored like floodlight masts with flanges bolted to concrete foundations, 2015 redesign addressing changed requirements and regulations during extended BER construction period

A project of this size cannot be realised with "off the peg" products. The planners' idea of integrating the entire lighting technology into the slender columns also posed a challenge for WE-EF. The columns are made of a single piece of hot-dip galvanized steel tube and have been given a project-specific special coating in the colour "DB703 micaceous iron ore". The tube diameter of 300 mm has enough room for the compact FLC141 LED projectors, which are mounted in pairs and one above the other with special fastening pins in a tube cut-out. The openings have flush acrylic glass covers and are axially offset to allow the projectors to be optimally aligned. The top three cut-outs are used for general lighting, while the bottom two provide emergency lighting for the area that is used as an assembly point for the terminal in the event of an emergency.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport Terminal 1 architecture by gmp Hamburg showing contemporary facade design with Willy-Brandt-Platz custom 16-meter light columns visible, innovative lighting solution integrating entire technology into slender 300mm steel tubes housing paired WE-EF FLC141 LED projectors in axially-offset cut-outs with flush acrylic covers, project-specific special coating DB703 micaceous iron ore, demonstrating bespoke approach required for infrastructure project of this magnitude at Germany's capital city gateway

Different light distributions are used for the differentiated illumination of the forecourt. The traffic zones at the edge are accentuated and the illuminance decreases continuously towards the centre of the square. Furthermore, wide-beam optics illuminate the areas at the edges and very narrow-beam optics beam light over the square. The emergency lighting combines wide-beam and medium-beam light distributions to meet the requirements related to illuminance and uniformity.

Detail of Berlin Brandenburg Airport custom light column showing slender 300mm diameter hot-dip galvanized steel tube in DB703 micaceous iron ore coating with flush acrylic glass covers over cut-outs housing WE-EF FLC141 LED projectors, top three openings for general lighting and bottom two for emergency lighting serving as terminal assembly point, innovative tailor-made solution requiring on-site installation by WE-EF employees before column positioning, designed by Licht Kunst Licht

Berlin Brandenburg BER Willy-Brandt-Platz at sunset showing custom 16-meter light columns with integrated WE-EF FLC141 LED projectors mounted in pairs inside 300mm steel tube using special fastening pins, flush acrylic glass covers over axially-offset tube cut-outs allowing optimal projector alignment, differentiated illumination using wide-beam optics at edges and very-narrow-beam optics beaming across square, WES LandschaftsArchitektur Berlin landscape planning

During an on-site trialling procedure a lifting platform conveyed a tube section fitted with projectors to the planned mounting height as a mock-up to gain realistic visual impressions and measuring values. While the light columns were anchored in the normal way (like floodlight masts) with flanges bolted to concrete foundations, other logistical aspects were quite different to standard processes. For example, WE-EF employees fitted the projectors and the electrics in the light columns directly on site before they were subsequently installed in their respective positions. Although the lighting of Willy-Brandt-Platz is just one aspect of the whole BER project, it is the first impression for many users and visitors – and it shows how even exceptional challenges can be mastered with intelligent planning and professional partners.

Project Video

Credits

Project: Willy-Brandt-Platz, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg BER, 12529 Schönefeld Principal: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH, Berlin Architects: gmp, Hamburg Landscape planning: WES LandschaftsArchitektur Berlin Light planning: Light Kunst Light AG, Berlin Photos: Frieder Blickle for WE-EF

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