Precision Profiles in the Havenhuis: LED Modules and LED Drivers for the Port Authority in Antwerp

A diamond or the hull of a crystal ship? For the new headquarters of the Antwerp Port Authority Zaha Hadid Architects have placed an expressive structure with a facetted façade on top of a listed former fire station. Lighting integrated in the ceiling provides a creative and precise response to the absence of right angles. At the heart of this special lighting system are LED Light Engines and LED Drivers from Tridonic.

(Tridonic/ LEDinside)

Old and new in contrast and unity

The extension for the Havenhuis, the headquarters of the Antwerp Port Authority, is reminiscent of a diamond or the hull of a ship. The sea and the sky are attractively reflected in its façade of plain and curved glass. The juxtaposition of the historic and the modern is fascinating, with the new structure hovering over the existing building which served for many years as a fire station. The dynamic nature of the glass structure contrasts with the rigid box shape of the building below it. In terms of their function, however, the existing building and the extension are seamlessly connected.

The central courtyard of the fire station has been covered by a glass roof and now acts as the lobby for the headquarters. The hall that once housed the fire trucks now accommodates a library. The communicative core of the building fluently spans the upper floors of the old structure and the lower floors of the new structure and includes a restaurant, meeting rooms and an auditorium. Covering five floors in the extension is a varied office landscape for around 500 employees.

Dynamic lines continue inside

Unconventional details such as free-form floor plans for walkways, offices and meeting zones, angled pillars and walls, and curved stairways, galleries and coving characterize the interior style of the new building. Many of the internal fittings have dynamic lines and even some of the desks are trapezoidal in shape.

The way light interacts with these special structural elements is particularly elegant. Strip lights integrated in the ceiling are used to emphasise contours or create regular graphic patterns based on existing building structures. A special solution had to be developed so that the light could serve as an easily recognizable analogy for the architecture. Multiline, the Belgian luminaire manufacturer, adapted one of its standard luminaires specifically for this project, making good use of Tridonic’s know-how in LED technology in the process.

“We have already been very pleased with the LED modules from Tridonic that we use in our standard products”, said Stijn Pittomvils, the man in charge of the project at Multiline. “It was therefore never in doubt that we would also use them for the special luminaires for the Havenhuis.”

(Video: Tridonic)

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