Provocative, radical and energising design.
Philips Headquarters Netherlands by LAVA
George Street Sydney by FJMT featuring AR-MA
Melbourne by Travis Walton Architecture + Interior Design
of Melbourne Arts West by ARM Architects and Architectus
Place by Fiona Lynch Interior Design Office
House of Culture & Movement by MVRDV and ADEPT
Headquarters Melbourne by Unispace
Restaurant by Joyce Wang Design Studio
Perth by Geyer
For the new HQ of Philips Lighting in the Netherlands, globetrotting architecture office LAVA was asked not only to provide innovative workspaces and an impressive reception area for receiving guests, but also to demonstrate the use of lighting to improve people’s lives.
“How light affects humans and how we can use it to create better living spaces,” says LAVA director Alexander Rieck, was therefore the inspiration behind the design, which revolves around a 3,250 square-metre atrium dominated by an installation known as the ‘Light Tree’. “We thought about the experience of light. Light is only visible when it reflects on something, so we developed a multifaceted three-dimensional Light Tree ceiling with the qualities of light reflection, diffusion, and emission,” Rieck explains.
“The ceiling installation has roots in recent research by the Fraunhofer Institute on the effects of lighting on people,” adds LAVA senior architect, Nuno Galvão. “In Nature, the sun gives us a sense of time,” he explains. “Working in an office means that people miss the subtle changes in light during the day. As research links levels of comfort and attentiveness to the human perception of such variations in our environment, we designed the Light Tree to filter and reflect the natural light from the atrium side windows and skylights.” In addition to magnifying the effect of daylight, the installation features warm light fixtures placed so as to emulate natural sunlight during darker days typical in northen Europe. These are programmed to embody the varying light effects of different seasons. The installation consists of 1,500 panels suggesting leaves on a tree, with a reflective surface on the back of each panel amplifying daylight and creating a play of light and shadow. Some 500 panels feature self-emitting Philips Ecophon Soundlight; a material combining LED lighting with integral sound absorption in a single system. After abundant preparation, including numerous co-creative meetings with the board and actual users of the space, the final Light Tree took just three weeks to assemble on site.
The atrium (formerly the courtyard of the 1950s building) combines a number of social amenities from a coffee bar to meeting rooms. Glass partition walls ensure that the effects of the installation are felt throughout the adjacent work environments, while wooden floors add warmth and tactility to the space. A core of naturally varying light thus illuminates and enlivens the HQ.
“In our office, we take pride in pushing the boundaries of knowledge and practice,” say Rieck. “We like to start with a theoretical approach and bring it to an architectural context.
This project was one of those moments when we realised that we managed to make that a reality for everyone to experience.”
How can non-physical design elements such as ‘light’ bring people together? Philips by LAVA uses “intelligent lights” in a parametric designed ‘tree’ to boost communication, creativity, interchange and wellbeing for staff and visitors.
“As research links levels of comfort and attentiveness to the human perception of such variations in our environment, we designed the Light Tree to filter and reflect natural light from the atrium side windows and skylights.” Nuno Galvão.