Article Creative and User-Friendly Lighting Concept
In Journal of Architecture and Planning, January 2025
Page 146 - 149
Away from traffic noise and daily hustle, the "Gummibärchen" daycare center in Mittenwalde offers a protected environment for around sixty children, ranging from one year old to school age. For the lighting design firm Studio De Schutter, the focus of this project was the development of a tailored and, above all, user-friendly lighting environment.
However, the challenge was not only to align the needs and imagination of the children with the technical requirements and develop a functional and aesthetically pleasing lighting solution – the limited budget also had to be adhered to.
In the implementation of the project, the lighting designers relied on a balanced combination of natural and artificial light. Special attention was given to lighting the walls to emphasize the spatial dimensions.
Simple and widely used recessed lights provide efficient basic lighting with a thoughtful yet playful arrangement. In planning the artificial lighting, particular care was taken to ensure glare-free illumination from all angles – even from the perspective of the youngest.
Instead of a uniform general lighting system, Studio De Schutter created different retreat areas, characterized by calming indirect lighting and surprising light effects.
The skylights in the playroom are highlighted by circular lights and are controlled separately from the recessed lights to respond efficiently to daylight and lighting needs. This area serves multiple functions as an arrival space, cloakroom, and free play area.
The heart of the building is the yellow movement room with the distinctive gable roof: the nursery and group rooms are grouped around it. A long ceiling light, centrally mounted in the gable, provides the light source in a color temperature of 4000K. It gives the movement room a unique atmosphere, which both resembles daylight during the day and creates an impressive effect at night. For all other rooms, the lighting designers chose a warmer color temperature of 3000K to create a cozy atmosphere.
The group rooms along the facade offer direct access to the surrounding outdoor space. Here, playfully arranged lights and pendant lamps create the right lighting effect. By consciously avoiding figurative representations and skillfully arranging the lights, the imagination of the children is stimulated.
Particularly simple geometric shapes like circles and lines, as well as special "light hacks," contribute to creating an inspiring and creative environment. These involve project-specific customizations using standard components that are cost-effective without sacrificing creativity.
For example, diffuse surface-mounted lights were mounted on colored fiberboard panels to play with the recurring motif of the circle in the project. In the bathrooms of the group rooms, the lighting designers incorporated dichroic filters into the skylights, which cause the color of the incoming light to change throughout the day from a cool blue to a soft pink.
The general lighting control of the daycare center is designed to be straightforward. Only in the sleeping nooks and the movement room is the control mostly manual. All lights were grouped into switch groups to allow easy creation of various lighting moods. This enables users of all ages to adjust the lighting according to their needs and preferences without dealing with complicated technology.
The lighting design for the daycare center in Mittenwalde demonstrates that high-quality solutions do not necessarily have to incur high costs. Studio De Schutter exemplifies how thoughtful and creative lighting design can be implemented in an economically efficient way while also significantly contributing to positively influencing the learning environment and well-being of children.
Article Creative and User-Friendly Lighting Concept
In Journal of Architecture and Planning, January 2025
Page 146 - 149
Away from traffic noise and daily hustle and bustle, the "Gummibärchen" daycare center in Mittenwalde offers a protected environment for around sixty children, ranging from one year old to school age. For the lighting design firm Studio De Schutter, the focus of this project was the development of a tailored and, above all, user-friendly lighting environment.
However, the challenge was not only to align the needs and imagination of the children with the technical requirements and develop a functional and aesthetically pleasing lighting solution – the limited budget also had to be adhered to.
In the implementation of the project, the lighting designers relied on a balanced combination of natural and artificial light. Special attention was given to lighting the walls to emphasize the spatial dimensions.
Simple and widely used recessed lights provide efficient basic lighting with a thoughtful yet playful arrangement. In planning the artificial lighting, particular care was taken to ensure glare-free illumination from all angles – even from the perspective of the youngest.
Instead of a uniform general lighting system, Studio De Schutter created different retreat areas, characterized by calming indirect lighting and surprising light effects.
The skylights in the playroom are highlighted by circular lights and are controlled separately from the recessed lights to respond efficiently to daylight and lighting needs. This area serves multiple functions as an arrival space, cloakroom, and free play area.
The heart of the building is the yellow movement room with the distinctive gable roof: the nursery and group rooms are grouped around it. A long ceiling light, centrally mounted in the gable, provides the light source in a color temperature of 4000K. It gives the movement room a unique atmosphere, which both resembles daylight during the day and creates an impressive effect at night. For all other rooms, the lighting designers chose a warmer color temperature of 3000K to create a cozy atmosphere.
The group rooms along the facade offer direct access to the surrounding outdoor space. Here, playfully arranged lights and pendant lamps create the right lighting effect. By consciously avoiding figurative representations and skillfully arranging the lights, the imagination of the children is stimulated.
Particularly simple geometric shapes like circles and lines, as well as special "light hacks," contribute to creating an inspiring and creative environment. These involve project-specific customizations using standard components that are cost-effective without sacrificing creativity.
For example, diffuse surface-mounted lights were mounted on colored fiberboard panels to play with the recurring motif of the circle in the project. In the bathrooms of the group rooms, the lighting designers incorporated dichroic filters into the skylights, which cause the color of the incoming light to change throughout the day from a cool blue to a soft pink.
The general lighting control of the daycare center is designed to be straightforward. Only in the sleeping nooks and the movement room is the control mostly manual. All lights were grouped into switch groups to allow easy creation of various lighting moods. This enables users of all ages to adjust the lighting according to their needs and preferences without dealing with complicated technology.
The lighting design for the daycare center in Mittenwalde demonstrates that high-quality solutions do not necessarily have to incur high costs. Studio De Schutter exemplifies how thoughtful and creative lighting design can be implemented in an economically efficient way while also significantly contributing to positively influencing the learning environment and well-being of children.