Zumtobel: design the light

The new Zumtobel Light Centre in Bologna and Supersystem Integral, the new LED lighting

Isplora’s editorial staff was at the opening of the new Zumtobel Group Light Centre in Bologna. Located in a renovated historic villa, which previously housed Thorn Lighting, the center will provide a space to show the new products and working tools created by the supplier of lighting solutions Zumtobelgroup, as well as becoming a place for exchange, consultancy and training with regard to the products and main topics of the Austrian company’s lighting design. A reference point and a space for experimentation that follows the perspective traced by Zumtobel Group.

The opening of the new Light Centre in Bologna

The event, which was attended by many professionals, was the occasion to showcase the company’s latest products, the different solutions for indoor and outdoor lighting studied by Thorn and Zumtobel, as well as offering a teaching moment with the keynote speech by Consuline lighting designers Francesco Iannone and Serena Tellini and provided the opportunity to discuss topics and solutions of the future, where light will be increasingly connected to people’s wellness.

Opening of the new Zumtobel Light Centre in Bologna – photo by Isplora

As mentioned by Dario Bettiol, Head of Marketing Italy for Zumtobelgroup, “Shedding Light” has always been the goal and challenge of the Austrian company specialized in lighting solutions.

Karl Oberhollenzer, General Manager of Zumtobelgroup Italy, focused on the restyling of the former home of Thorn Lighting to turn it into the new Zumtobel Group Light Centre in Bologna. He then illustrated the history of the lighting company, from its foundation in 1950 in Dornbirn, Austria by Dr. Walter Zumtobel up to the takeover of the English company Tridonic in 1983, of Thorn Lighting in 2000, of acdc and Reiss in 2015. A growth and diversification process that lasted over half a century and led the Austrian Zumtobel to become a leading company in the field of lighting, an international group with offices all over the world, from China to Australia to the United States.

The final speech by Consuline lighting designers Francesco Iannone and Serena Tellini took stock of users’ new needs at home or at work in terms of lighting and the relationship between well-being and light. A new perspective which has led architecture design to increasingly take into account the aspects connected to the lighting of spaces, adapting it according to the needs and external conditions.

Furthermore, these aspects helped the Zumtobel Group look for solutions and lighting devices that could allow a better management and control of light with the possibility to change not only the intensity but also the color temperature, new shapes and technologies that dialog constantly with architecture, emotionally involving the user and “reading time”. The solution suggested by Iannone and Tellini follows the circadian rhythm, obtaining a synchronization of artificial light with the natural cycle of day and night, as well as with the habits and different needs of users.

The event then continued in the spaces dedicated to the new products of the Zumtobel Group and in the immersive spaces conceived to fully communicate its innovative solution for lighting design, both in terms of devices and light control and management.

The new SUPERSYSTEM Integral: LED lighting

Among the different solutions showcased we must mention SUPERSYSTEM Integral, the multi-functional LED lighting tool created by Zumtobel for different lighting needs and designed by the Austrian firm EOOS. The elements of the SUPERSYSTEM Integral collection combine a pure and integrated design with the utmost adaptability to the specific application and in general to architectural space.

SUPERSYSTEM Integral - photo courtesy of Zumtobelgroup Italy

The SUPERSYSTEM Integral concept is born from the poetic idea of stringently miniaturizing the spotlight heads, perfectly integrated into a continuous linear structure, recessed or track fitted, allowing both vertical and indirect lighting and vertical and accent lighting. 

Vertical and indirect lighting takes place through a combination of asymmetrical wallwashers and LEDlines that ensure uniform lighting, giving every room a pleasant atmosphere.

The LEDray, a device created for the workplace, provides ergonomic lighting for video display terminal workstations and counters. Some spotlights, integrated into the track, represent the added value of this system, perfect for enhancing the architecture of spaces.

SUPERSYSTEM Integral, detail – photo courtesy of Zumtobelgroup Italy

A system that, thanks to low luminance levels, the almost total absence of spill light, the perfect control of glare and the use of reflectors with rear light sources make this the perfect solution for different uses and the strictest regulatory standards.

Overall, SUPERSYSTEM Integral by Zumtobel represents a sustainable design solution that gives an important contribution in terms of efficiency and safeguard of resources, as well as offering the best lighting solutions to enhance spaces, materials, objects or works of art.

Technical data SUPERSYSTEM Integral

• 3-phase track, surface mounted or pendant;
• Invisible track for maximum integration when recessed;
• Single units for installation with no track;
• White, black, copper or polished aluminum finish;
• Materials: die cast aluminum, polycarbonate and aluminum-sputtered reflectors;
• Light distribution: pivotable light head, spot, projector, wide flood, homogeneous lighting of walls and indirect lighting;
• Luminous flux: up to 3000 lm;
• Luminous efficiency: up to 75 lm/W;
• Glare control: 45° angle;
• Color temperature: 2700 K, 3000 K or 4000 K;
• Color rendering: Ra >90;
• Service life: L90 at 50,000 hours.