The lighting specialist Siteco, having recently made breaking news with coloured illumination for the Allianz Arena, deployed superlative lighting technology for the bavarian parliament's new plenar hall. Both daylight technology as well as essential artificial light components come from the lighting specialist Siteco Lighting Systems from Traunreut in Upper Bavaria.

The plenar hall of the Maximilianeum has been refurbished over a period of 15 months, and was re-opened on the 13.12.05 by the parliamentary president, Alois Glück. The inner of the new plenar hall has been drastically altered and can now meet the contemporary and functional demands of a modern assembly hall. It convinces all round with more space, more light, more colour and more flexibility. A maximum of modern technology was incorporated in the interior, according to the popular bavarian phrase 'laptop and leather shorts'.

A wholly different meaning was allocated to the lighting design. Whereas before the refurbishment, daylight within the plenar hall was basically of minor importance, it has now become the main theme. The lighting concept from architects Volker Staab and the lighting consultants Licht Kunst Licht from Berlin planned the plenar hall as a daylit space with glazed roofing over its entirety. To make sure that daylight does not also stand for warmth and annoying direct sunlight, Siteco integrated a highly effective prismatic daylight system into the 470 m² of glazing. It reflects away the direct 'hot' sunlight and therefore avoids glare effects and a disturbance of the interior climate. The intensive zenith light and the incoming 'cool' light from other directions is directed into the interior space, creating optimal viewing conditions.

Parliamentary sessions can now take place without danger of excess heat from outside and with perfectly illuminated conditions. The space, fitted out with leather and wood, benefits from an optimal colour rendition. At the same time the dynamics of an ever changing sky can be perceived. On clear days, the blue-white sky of Bavaria can be seen through the glazed roof, with sunset the evening tones of red and at night the celestial elements set upon a background of black.

Depending on the intensity of daylight, infinately variable atificial sources of light create optimal lighting conditions. Over 400 asymmetrical distribution luminaires (DUS wallwashers) from Siteco have been installed between the glass roof and the translucent intermediate ceiling below it. Each luminaire has 2 independently controllable lamps, allowing the space to be illuminated with different colour tones and brightness levels. The use of state-of-the-art lighting technology in the areas of lamps, reflector technology, ballasts and control system results in the best possible matching of daylight and artificial light.

The lighting solution in the new plenar hall recognises the differing degrees of daylight and artificial light and uses this information as a design element. The light creates zones of space and differing scenes can be staged. The parliament members are all agreed: the balanced mix of artificial light and daylight makes the hall flexible and lively. The consultants have developed an integrative solution that makes the luminaires dynamic and the daylight calculable. The optimisation of maximum light incidence and solar protection with consideration of optical comfort allows not only major economic savings (shorter luminaire operating times, improvement in lamp life etc.) but also optimal viewing conditions.