Unique luminaires skilfully showcase the building’s architecture
Strong and striking architecture, with human occupants and users at its heart: Florence Mani, Maxime Aubrey and the team at Biel-based Bart & Buchhofer Architekten AG take this approach to come up with solutions that surprise time and time again. This was the case in Estavayer-le-Lac, Fribourg, where a new building was created on the site of the historic Sacré-Cœur and became home to a primary school with around 250 students in 2021.

"For us, architecture is the search for something extra special. Good architecture should do more, not cost more," say the architects. With this in mind, they opted for special luminaires produced to their specifications for the lighting. This allowed light to create the optimal balance between aesthetics and functionality within the spaces.

A partnership on the same wavelength
In implementing the project, the architects relied on Tulux’s many years of expertise in custom lighting production. The result was a highly constructive partnership that made it possible to accurately build on their clear specifications. For Florence Mani, new development project leader, the Tulux AG team is a highly co-operative and motivated partner. “We asked Tulux to assess every single step of development for feasibility.”

The process of creating the luminaire involved finding a form that was suitable for different applications, as a ceiling-mounted luminaire in hallways and under the arcade, but also as a pendant luminaire in stairwells. Whether they were placed in inner hallways or outer arcades, the ceiling-mounted luminaires had to look as if they had come from the same place. The specific details associated with an outdoor luminaire, such as the different IP protection class, cannot show any aesthetic differences. Maxime Aubry, architect and designer of the luminaire, opted for an imposing acrylic glass cone with a bronze-coloured aluminium stand which he lovingly christened “Sanchez”.

Over the course of the intensive partnership, it quickly became clear that the size and therefore weight of the custom-made conical luminaire was the first hurdle to overcome in the implementation. As Tulux has its own production and plastic processing facilities at its Tuggen (SZ) site, the experts were able to quickly develop a suitable procedure for shaping the 900 mm tall, 550 mm wide acrylic glass cone. It was also particularly important to the architects that the pendant luminaires were easy to install in the stairwell and convenient to maintain. This was achieved with a height-adjustable loop screw, which was developed specifically for the “Sanchez” model.