Perfectly coordinated
Nimbus's excellent solutions for room acoustics and lighting impress in Berlin's new building for creative enterprises.



The concepts for acoustics and lighting from the Stuttgart-based Nimbus Group create a pleasant, high-class working atmosphere in the new Berlin editorial offices of the largest online platform for architects.
"FRIZZ23" in Friedrichstrasse in the centre of Berlin is an extraordinary building project: it is Germany's first co-housing building for culture-related enterprises. Deadline Architekten from Berlin designed the striking building with the dark wooden facade and projecting balconies. The building's new utilisation concept covers 4,700 square metres and encompasses various creative enterprises, small hotel lofts, educational facilities, catering, retail and housing. The editorial team from competitionline – Germany's leading online platform for architects – moved into the new build's centre block.
Rough industrial charm meets natural materials
The new, minimalistically designed editorial offices make an open, light-filled impression with their glass partitions, and walls and ceilings of exposed concrete. "People are really enthusiastic about the building's rough industrial charm with the high ceilings and the smooth concrete, screed and glass surfaces," explain Tanja Ptacek and Dirk Bonnkirch from competitionline, who each played a major role in supervising the move and designing the interior. Natural materials such as wood and felt create a haptic contrast to the blank, smooth concrete. Coloured curtains accentuate the rooms.
High-quality lighting and acoustics solutions for a creative team
Although staff in FRIZZ23 have a little less space than in the old editorial offices, the quality of the rooms has improved considerably. Working spaces have been created that promote communication among the publisher's employees. competitionline asked the Nimbus Group's interiors experts for advice when it came to lighting solutions and the acoustics situation. The client opted for innovative Nimbus Lighting Pads, which act simultaneously as both efficient sound absorbers and glare-free light sources. In cool shades of blue and grey, the round, suspended Pads with their haptically pleasing fleece surfaces harmonise perfectly with the design of the rooms, whereby the light source of the Lighting Pads remains almost invisible even when switched on. The small, high-performance LEDs integrated into the Pad only become visible upon closer inspection. They enable a very high luminous efficacy and are therefore predestined for deployment in offices.
Luminaires for a diverse range of uses
The lighting and acoustics concept is completed by other Nimbus luminaires with the same clear-cut, geometrical aesthetics as the Lighting Pads. The slim Force One LED floor-standing workplace luminaire blends in just as harmoniously with the office's industrial charm as the classically elegant Roxxane Office desk luminaire and the minimalistic, linear Modul L 196 suspended luminaire. The interior design and high-quality fittings create pleasant room acoustics and ideal lighting, thus making the new editorial office an ideal place for staff to work, confer and communicate.
Stuttgart, January 2021 / Reprint free of charge / File copy requested


1 Lighting Pads from Nimbus ensure pleasant room acoustics and lighting at competitionline, an architecture platform based in Berlin. Photo: Koy+Winkel

2 Exposed concrete and glass dominate the new floor of offices. Highlights are set by coloured curtain fabrics and furniture made of light-coloured wood. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

3 The Berlin-based publishing company made its editorial offices open and communication-friendly. Minimalistic Modul L 196 suspended luminaires from Nimbus provide standard-compliant workplace lighting. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

4 Roxxane Office desk luminaires support the workplace lighting. They are installed at the workplace itself and can be controlled to suit the user's individual needs. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

5 The Lighting Pads and Nimbus luminaires speak the same, minimalistic formal language and ensure holistic interior design. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

6 Integrated into the acoustic fleece, the light source of the Lighting Pads is almost invisible and completely glare-free. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

7 competitionline is one of the leading online platforms for architecture in Germany. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

8 The new editorial offices are situated in "FRIZZ23", a co-housing building for culture-related enterprises in the centre of Berlin. Photo: ©Koy+Winkel

9 The minimalistic Lighting Pads are both efficient sound absorbers and suspended luminaires with a brilliant lighting effect. Photo: Frank Ockert

10 The puristic design of the Roxxane Office desk luminaire is perfectly attuned to the requirements of office workplaces. Photo: Frank Ockert

11 The Force One floor-standing workplace luminaire impresses with its extremely slim formal idiom and lighting properties. Photo: Frank Ockert

12 The Modul L 196 suspended luminaire stands out with its absolute formal reduction. Photo: Frank Ockert




About the Nimbus Group
With its Nimbus Lighting and Rossoacoustic brands, the Nimbus Group belongs to the Häfele Group under the management of Sibylle Thierer, Jörg Schmid and Dietrich F. Brennenstuhl. The Nimbus Group's focus is on design innovation, room and furniture lighting, and integrated light-acoustics solutions. The Nimbus Group is located in Stuttgart and employs a staff of 111.
www.nimbus-group.com
About Häfele
Häfele is an internationally operating company headquartered in Nagold, Germany. The family firm was founded in 1923 and today provides furniture fittings, architectural hardware, electronic access control systems and LED light to the furniture industry, architects, planners, carpenters, cabinet makers and dealers in over 150 countries around the world. Häfele develops and manufactures in Germany and Hungary. With its 8,100 employees,38 subsidiaries and numerous dealerships, the Häfele Group achieved a turnover of 1.5 billion euros worldwide in fiscal year 2019 with exports accounting for 80% of sales.
https://www.haefele.de