The HVB Tower in Munich is a landmark rising up over the cityscape with its fascinating construction and look & feel. The listed building erected by architects Walther and Bea Betz has now been subjected to an energy-oriented refurbishment as well asextensive interior re-design in line with a HENN design. 

Since being commissioned in 1981 this office tower has undergoneseveral changes before it was declared a listed monument in 2006. In contrast with the façade the interior of the building was no longer retained in its original state and could therefore be completely re-vamped as part of the refurbishment. 

The offices of the 114m high HVB Tower are laid out as open-plan spaces for flexible workstations. The foyer is lit with 2 types of fittings only; linear luminaires that follow the passageways between the building complexes and emphasise the building’s structures and downlights that illuminate all of the other areas. Of decisive importance for lighting designer Michael Schmidt of Schmidt König Lichtplaner in Munich was to achieve a consistent and unobtrusive appearance of the downlights used despite the different lighting tasks they had to perform and their discreet integration. This was precisely why he opted for downlights from product families ALPHABET and TENTEC. The diversity of light emission characteristics provided downlight series permitted various functions to be performed and requirements to be fulfilled with identical diameters and a consistent look. In addition to this the slim rim of the f3 mounting system, which is only 2mm high, makes for unobtrusive integration into the ceiling.

The wattage of the downlights used varies from 10W in the passageways to 39W in the lectures zones. Rigid reflectors with a 40° or 60° beam spread angle are used alongside tiltable ALPHABET SPECTRA downlights with a 30° beam spread angle serving as directional fittings for accent lighting in the Food Court area. On top of this, the ALPHABET SPECTRA series of downlights ensures premium colour rendering with Ra98 and guarantees a uniform luminous colour of all luminaires over their entire lifecycle. In addition to this, TENTEC ZONO downlights were used for surface illumination as they combine highest visual comfort with maximum efficiency.

The extensive energy upgrade of the façade, the use of ecological construction materials and the consistent use of renewable energieshave turned the HVB Tower into a “green building” and it has already received a LEED-certification in Platinum. An important contribution to this was the automation of the luminaire control, planned by the engineering office Knab from Munich.


Project data

Architecture: HENN Architekturbüro, Munich
Lighting design: Schmidt König Lichtplaner, Munich
Electrical design: Ingenieurbüro Knab, Munich
Photography: HGEsch, Hennef


Luminaires:

ALPHABET SPECTRA
TENTEC ZONO