The Wave is a redesigned LEED gold office building in the center of Athens. It is situated along the busy main axis that links the historical center of the city to the Riviera and the port.
The intention from the early stages of the design was to seamlessly “weave” darkness with low light in a sustainable lighting concept that would respond to the fresh identity and architecture. A couple of years later subtle luminous movements reinterpret the façade in a barely noticeable rhythm as the sun sets on the city.
Bespoke low luminance lighting systems, designed specifically for the morphology of each fin, are accommodated in a dedicated cove. Each custom luminaire has a power of just 2W/m. However the lighting scheme is programmed at much lower values resulting in total operating façade lighting power of less than 0.6kW!
Our aim was to create a night sky conscious synergy between sustainability and aesthetics.
Sustainability Approach:
a. Subtle variations of monochromatic CRI90 step2 white light are working with darkness an not against it. A dark sky conscious design in an urban context.
b.Each bespoke luminaire has very short pixel pitch and full power at just 2W/m. However the lighting scheme is programmed at even less power through DMX dim to dark controls. The resulting total facade operating power is less than 0.6kW!
c. Instead of specifying encapsulated pixel led strip custom designed luminaires with special joining corners have been developed. This allowed for
i) Replaceable UV stable opal Diffusers below the clear safety glass for maintenance and color matching.
ii) Aluminum profiles with significant mass as heat sinks to extend LED life.
iii) In case of a failure only a part of a fixture needs to be replaced.
