Lights and reflections

From far away, the building appears to float on water, with its light and dynamic, futuristic design structure. Located on Copenhagen’s waterfront and designed by the firm Foster + Partners, the new headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Ferring Pharmaceuticals faces the city of Malmö and the coast of Sweden, where the company was founded. With six stacked, cantilevered floors plus a canopy, set upon a cement base, the building is characterized by the strong presence of glass and a sophisticated interplay of solids and voids, lights and shadows. The overall image is a triangular architectural form “in motion”, enhanced by lighting solutions and by the self-shading of each floor with respect to the one below.

Linea Light Group supplied both the indoor and outdoor lighting solutions, made almost invisible thanks to their integration into the building structure. The natural light, which filters through the windows and the glass-paneled dome above the atrium, is supplemented by artificial light in an optimal manner. 

Ad hoc solutions depending on use were designed for the offices, laboratories and transit areas. The main challenge of the indoor areas was the complexity of installation, particularly for the recessed lighting solutions that had to be adopted due to the presence of a pre-existing, sound-absorbing laminated ceiling. In the end, the product itself is almost imperceivable – what emerges is simply the light. Among the various solutions selected were three versions of the linear Rollip profile, covering a total distance of 15 km, in addition to many custom-made and innovative solutions not available in the catalog, each aimed to render maximum visual comfort. For the exterior, Linea Light Group provided Shaker adjustable and Portik fixed floodlights, to give a sense of lightness to the imposing structure. The Portik lights were custom-made for the project and designed to hide drivers and power cables from sight to maintain esthetic cleanness. At night, the new headquarters illuminates the neighborhood as its lights reflect off the sea.