Light and dark contrasts bring science to life – Gütsel Online

Velux: Light and Dark Contrasts Bring Science to Life

• Renovation and expansion of the world-famous center of scientific expertise in Denmark

Hamburg, January 2022

As part of the renovation, the #Experimentarium in # Denmark has been extensively expanded to create space for 16 new and interactive galleries. Two spacious lobbies were also created in the process. The architects from Cebra outfitted their rooftop areas with Velux Modular Skylights in order to provide the common areas there with natural daylight while at the same time ensuring a pleasant indoor climate for the visitors of the #Science Center with fresh air.

Science and technology for touch and experience: This is what the Experimental Museum offers at the Science Museum in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. A place where young and old should come together to spark interest in science and technology and raise awareness of scientific research. The current building from the turn of the last century belonged to the brewery of a famous brand of Danish beer. The Old Packing Hall has been used as a museum since the early 1990s. During an extensive renovation, the Experimentarium was expanded with an extension and the exhibition space doubled. Starting with a grand foyer, conference room, lecture halls, café, rooftop terrace, staff rooms and new exhibition areas.

Natural daylight provides an extraordinary experience

During the renovation, two large atriums were integrated into the building, now creating a strong visual contrast between the bright public areas and stairwells as well as the darkened exhibition rooms. To get plenty of daylight and gentle temperature regulation through the supply of fresh air, Cebra Architects decided to install twelve lobby light strips out of a total of 159 Velux Modular Skylights on the lobby decks. Lars Gemynthe Gylling of Cebra Architects focuses on their merits: “Not only does daylight in the atrium improve the orientation through the exhibition rooms, it also creates high-quality work areas for employees.” Kim Gladstone Herleaf, CEO of Experimentarium emphasized: “The quality of daylight in the atrium rooms is excellent. Both our visitors and our employees benefit from this. Even inward-facing offices receive plenty of bright natural daylight.”

The units are connected to each other by drainage channels and supported by beams on site. These holders also serve as a sub-structure for assembling the daylight units. 24 Velux Modular Skylights are openable ventilation units that form an integral part of a building’s ventilation system. During installation work, the architects realized that more ventilation units were needed. This demonstrates the power of a modular, off-the-shelf Velux system with standard sizes and standard assembly. Fixed units already installed can later be replaced with ventilation units that can be opened. These also ensure that legally required smoke is quickly extracted and opened in the event of a fire so that smoke can escape through the roof.

# The highlight is the newly created entrance area of ​​the building complex, which catches the eye and is a copper clad spiral staircase in the middle. It makes its way up four floors, reminiscent of a finely separated apple peel. When installing # stairs with a gross weight of 160 tons, another feature of Velux Modular Skylights appeared. The impressive copper staircase was one of the last building elements to be lowered through the lobby ceiling. The roof should then be closed as quickly as possible. This was easily possible thanks to the short assembly times of the off-the-shelf Velux Modular Skylights. If #sunlight falls through today’s light strips, the stunning installation in the middle of the hallway looks even more impressive due to the light reflecting off the copper. The effect is further enhanced by the perforated aluminum clad walls.

Renovation shows that attractive rooms can also be created with repairs and additions. Generous daylight incidence across the roofs of the atria is essential for this.

More information about the # product range within www.veluxcommercial.de??