- Martin Professional, Kollision and Transform Architects have refurbished the exterior of the Confederation of Danish Industry building in Copenhagen, which now boasts a façade highlighted by an ever-changing LED media surface for a more engaging presence.
The location of the building was the main reason for a media façade solution, as it sits in Copenhagen at Rådhuspladsen, where outdoor advertising has been an integral part of the area for more than 100 years.
Transform architect Lars Bendrup said, “This LED media façade was the next logical step. It’s an entirely new way of communicating through the language of light. Confederation of Danish Industry is showing a new face – one that reflects dynamism and change.”
The media façade incorporates 4,000 meters of Martin Professional’s VC-Strip in a customized outdoor solution, forming a harlequin pattern across the building on which a variety of graphic designs can be displayed. The LED strips are full-color RGB LED battens with each LED (over 90,000 in total) individually controllable in terms of color, brightness and intensity.
Content for the façade was created by Danish design firm Kollision, in cooperation with Transform, and allows the Confederation of Danish Industry to use the lighting fixtures as a dynamic interface between its brand, the building and the urban setting. The system gives the client’s internal communication department the freedom to transmit any look or expression they wish onto the facade. The player-system also includes an integrated weather service app controlling the brightness of the façade and be controlled and adjusted through a custom iPad app.
“It was good to work with Martin as they had the knowledge needed to integrate our LED lighting needs into this project,” Bendrup said. “This is perhaps the most ambitious media façade integration in Scandinavia and signals a change in the architectural landscape.”
Other areas of the Confederation of Danish Industry building have also been outfitted with new Martin Professional lighting systems, including the conference room, with 60 Martin moving head luminaires and Martin LED strips; the reception area with strings of LED dots; and five elevators at the main entrance, where each floor interactively sets its own light level and color temperature – a complete Martin reference, both inside and out.
