Lighting effects for the Złota 44 residential tower by Libeskind

20/05/2020 - Daniel Libeskind is the architect behind this residential skyscraper, which was added to the Warsaw skyline a few years ago. The Złota 44 tower, with its angular surfaces and distinctive curved glass walls reminiscent of wind-filled sails, is a homage by the Polish American starchitect to his native Poland.

 

The prestigious building stands 192 metres high and is an icon in the capital’s urban landscape. It houses 251 luxury apartments spread over 54 floors together with areas dedicated exclusively to residents’ leisure time. This gracious structure offers amenities to satisfy every need, creating a genuine community feel: from the 25-metre steel swimming pool and the children’s play area to the gym, cinema, and spa with a Turkish bath.

The sun’s trajectory was an important source of inspiration for the design concept, which makes the most of the available daylight at every level. The curtain wall, made up of glass and aluminium modules arranged in irregular patterns and inspired by the wings of the white eagle on Poland’s coat of arms, gives movement to the surfaces, reaching its apex in a single multi-storey penthouse.

 

At sunset, Rio 1 linear profiles, 12W/m 24Vdc RGB, from L&L Luce&Light come on. These have been set into the pavement in front of the entrance to the building using the appropriate outer casing, where they create connections of light between the structure’s indoor and outdoor spaces through their longitudinal positioning and use of diffuse lighting. The fixtures, chosen by Polish lighting designers Paweł Skulimowski and Grzegorz Wróbel, were installed so that they draw continuous lines at different angles to mirror the facade design, which features backlit metal panels fixed to the building’s glass surfaces. The dramatic light blades created in this way define and enrich the access area.

The Rio family is particularly suitable for use in public spaces because of its IK10 impact resistance, guaranteeing maximum resistance to impacts, and its Intelligent Protection System (IPS), which protects the lighting fixtures against water infiltration, polarity reversal, hot plugging, ESD and power surges.

 

Złota 44 has received numerous accolades, including three European Property Awards 2015 – the project emerged as the winner of the Best Apartment, Best Residential Development and Best Residential High-Rise Development categories for Poland.