The project:
Completed in 1991, the Frankfurt Messeturm, also known as the "pencil", was designed by the German-American star architect Helmut Jahn and set new building standards at the time. A history that obliges! When renovation work began on the Art Deco building in 2019, a new lighting concept was developed alongside many other structural measures - by none other than Helmut Jahn himself. In his search for a partner, the lighting designer came across Hansen, which in turn immediately referred him to the cooperation with the Frankfurt light advertisers from Neon Zentgraf.
The task:
The first major challenge was to provide the four triangular oriels of the tower with illuminated fields, each at a distance of two storeys.
A follow-up order was to also renew the existing contour lighting of the spire after successful implementation, so that this could also benefit from a visual upgrade.
The implementation:
"Our goal was to set the scene for the external architecture more strongly with light surfaces on the façade, but at the same time to integrate the technology into the existing architecture as inconspicuously as possible," says Managing Director Klaus Zentgraf, summarising his company's claim in this project, "In this we benefited from the know-how of our partner Hansen and at the same time could rely on quality 'made in Germany'."
After all, the bar was set high in order to stand out on the one hand, but not to outshine the architecture in the truest sense of the word on the other! To demonstrate lighting technology and light colour under real conditions, a bay window was replicated and demonstrated on site. For this purpose, a consortium of construction workers met several times during the evening hours until the implementation was approved for the first order.
After that, things had to move quickly. Within just two weeks, all the light panels were installed by the Neon Zentgraf team. "Hansen supplied us just in time with excellent speed and quality. There were no delays whatsoever," Klaus Zentgraf enthuses. The top of the tower was also equipped with new LED technology as planned to create an attractive 3-D effect.
The technical details
In total, more than 5,000 metres of cables and 900 metres of cable duct were laid, 216 light cassettes installed and 1,200 connecting terminals fixed for the bay lighting alone. In addition, 108 ballasts were installed, divided into four control cabinets. The light cassettes were manufactured by Neon Zentgraf, their LED interiors came from Haselund.
Facade profiles mini profiles were used for the top of the tower.