Since 1992, the Bonn Art Museum has presented its extensive collection in an impressive building on the Museum Mile. The building is an outstanding example of new German museum architecture and lends the institution in the former capital city a radiance that is noted both in Germany and internationally.
The 140 BEGA recessed wall luminaires with fluorescent lamps on the interior and the recessed wall luminaires on the exterior that were selected for the building when it was built underwent an energy modernisation and technical conversion after 32 years of reliable service. With energy-efficient and even more powerful LED lamps, the luminaires were made fit for many more decades of use, thanks to the BEGA Continued Life Programme.
The leading architect for the art museum, Axel Schultes, required that the original design and luminaire type be preserved during the modernisation.
The lamps were replaced in blocks while the museum remained open. Originally, fluorescent lamps were used in each of the luminaires. BEGA developed tailor-made LED conversion kits for the luminaires, which could replace the former conventional lamps without needing to remove the luminaires and significantly reduce their connected wattage.
The lighting concept remained intact and will in future benefit from even more precise and energy-efficient light distribution. In addition to standard variants, special requests were implemented as well – such as reduced light output near information screens.
The open architecture and sensitive lighting, which was designed by Axel Schultes for the former architectural firm BJSS, dominated the competition surrounding the concept for the Bonn Art Museum in the 1980s. The floor plan is based on a combination of a square, triangle and circle. The clear design language with playful components perfectly complements the expressiveness of the collection.
“Living daylight was the aim from the outset,” explains Axel Schultes on his website. “Light pours in like water through a sieve, flooding all the surfaces of the rooms.” The “Domus Lux – House of Light” was fitted with optimal lighting for its time 32 years ago. The replacement of the lamps due to new energy requirements will not damage the overall concept.
The BEGA luminaires continue to blend in as an architectural feature and path-lighting tool. And if yet another modernisation is required in decades to come, BEGA will still be able to supply the necessary components to keep the luminaires in place.
Viitteet
Client City of Bonn (Germany)
Architecture Axel Schultes, Berlin
