Nichia Corporation and Future Lighting Solutions announce partnership
(Canada) - Japanese LED technology specialist and Canadian solid-state lighting solution provider reach new distribution agreement covering Americas and Europe.
Nichia Corporation, a pioneer in LED technology and Future Lighting Solutions (FLS), a leader in demand creation, marketing and distribution of solid-state lighting technologies, have announced a new distribution agreement covering the Americas and Europe.
“Nichia has long been the leader in the LED industry, and now we are partnered with the leading global solid-state lighting solutions provider. Collaborating with FLS is a major step for Nichia in the general lighting market. Nichia will continue to develop world leading LED products and can now market these to an even wider network of lighting providers, through FLS,” said Shinichi (Steve) Yuasa, CEO, Nichia Americas & Europe.
“Future Lighting Solutions is delighted to add Nichia to our line card with their broad product portfolio. We look forward to a long-term, successful partnership with Nichia, and are thrilled to now be positioned better than ever to offer our customers a broadened portfolio of solid-state lighting solutions,” said Jamie Singerman, Corporate Vice-President, Future Lighting Solutions.
www.nichia.com
www.futurelightingsolutions.com
Dame Zaha Hadid dies aged 65
(UK) - Iraqi-born architect, whose works include MAXXI: Italian National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome (2009) and London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games, passes after suffering sudden heart attack in Miami hospital.
It is with great sadness that Zaha Hadid Architects have confirmed that Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE died suddenly in Miami in the early hours of this morning. She had contracted bronchitis earlier this week and suffered a sudden heart attack while being treated in hospital.
Zaha Hadid was widely regarded to be the greatest female architect in the world today. Born in Baghdad in 1950, she studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before starting her architectural journey in 1972 at the Architectural Association in London.
By 1979 she had established her own practice in London – Zaha Hadid Architects – garnering a reputation across the world for her ground-breaking theoretical works including The Peak in Hong Kong (1983), the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin (1986) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales (1994).
Working with office partner Patrik Schumacher, her interest was in the interface between architecture, landscape, and geology; which her practice integrates with the use of innovative technologies often resulting in unexpected and dynamic architectural forms.
Zaha Hadid’s first major built commission, one that affirmed her international recognition, was the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany (1993); subsequent notable projects including the MAXXI: Italian National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome (2009), the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games (2011) and the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku (2013) illustrate her quest for complex, fluid space. Buildings such as the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003) and the Guangzhou Opera House in China (2010) have also been hailed as architecture that transforms our ideas of the future with visionary spatial concepts defined by advanced design, material and construction processes.
In 2004, Zaha Hadid became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She twice won the UK’s most prestigious architecture award, the RIBA Stirling Prize: in 2010 for the MAXXI Museum in Rome, a building for the staging of 21st century art, the distillation of years of experimentation, a mature piece of architecture conveying a calmness that belies the complexities of its form and organisation; and the Evelyn Grace Academy, a unique design, expertly inserted into an extremely tight site, that shows the students, staff and local residents they are valued and celebrates the school’s specialism throughout its fabric, with views of student participation at every turn.
Zaha Hadid’s other awards included the Republic of France’s Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Japan’s Praemium Imperiale and in 2012, Zaha Hadid was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She was made Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture.
She held various academic roles including the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois, School of Architecture. Hadid also taught studios at Columbia University, Yale University and the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
Zaha Hadid was recently awarded the RIBA’s 2016 Royal Gold Medal, the first woman to be awarded the prestigious honour in her own right. Sir Peter Cook wrote the following citation:
"In our current culture of ticking every box, surely Zaha Hadid succeeds, since (to quote the Royal Gold Medal criteria) she is someone “who has made a significant contribution to the theory or practice of architecture…. for a substantial body of work rather than for work which is currently fashionable.” Indeed her work, though full of form, style and unstoppable mannerism, possesses a quality that some of us might refer to as an impeccable ‘eye’: which we would claim is a fundamental in the consideration of special architecture and is rarely satisfied by mere ‘fashion’.
And surely her work is special. For three decades now, she has ventured where few would dare: if Paul Klee took a line for a walk, then Zaha took the surfaces that were driven by that line out for a virtual dance and then deftly folded them over and then took them out for a journey into space. In her earlier, ‘spiky’ period there was already a sense of vigour that she shared with her admired Russian Suprematists and Constructivists – attempting with them to capture that elusive dynamic of movement at the end of the machine age.
Necessarily having to disperse effort through a studio production, rather than being a lone artist, she cottoned–on to the potential of the computer to turn space upon itself. Indeed there is an Urban Myth that suggests that the very early Apple Mac ‘boxes’ were still crude enough to plot the mathematically unlikely – and so Zaha with her mathematics background seized upon this and made those flying machine projections of the Hong Kong Peak project and the like. Meanwhile, with paintings and special small drawings Zaha continued to lead from the front. She has also been smart enough to pull in some formidable computational talent without being phased by its ways.
Thus the evolution of the ‘flowing’ rather than spikey architecture crept up upon us in stages, as did the scale of her commissions, but in most cases, they remained clear in identity and control. When you entered the Fire Station at Vitra, you were conscious of being inside one of those early drawings and yes, it could be done. Yet at perhaps its highest, those of us lucky enough to see the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku in the flesh, can surely never have been in such a dream-like space, with its totality, its enormous internal ramp and dart-like lights seeming to have come from a vocabulary that lies so far beyond the normal architecture that we assess or rationalize.
So we are presenting her with this Medal as a British Institution: and as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire: thus she might seem to be a member of our British Establishment. Yet in reality, many of our chattering classes and not a few fellow architects have treated her with characteristic faint praise, and when she heroically won the Cardiff Opera House competition, blocking the scheme. Or when we awarded her the RIBA Stirling Prize for the school in South London – her second win in a row - we, the jury, were loudly derided by a number of distinguished architects. Of course, in our culture of circumspection and modesty her work is certainly not modest, and she herself is the opposite of modest. Indeed her vociferous criticism of poor work or stupidity recalls the line-side comments of the tennis player John McEnroe. Yet this is surely characteristic of the seriousness with which she takes the whole business: sloppiness and waywardness pain her and she cannot play the comfy British game of platitudinous waffle that is the preferred cushion adopted by many people of achievement or power. Her methods and perhaps much of her psychology remain Mesopotamian and not a little scary: but certainly clear.
As a result, it is perhaps a little lonely there up at the top, surrounded now by some very considerable talent in the office, but feared somewhat and distanced from the young. Yet in private Zaha is gossipy and amusing, genuinely interested in the work of talented colleagues who do very different architecture such as Steven Holl, and she was the first to bring to London talent such as Lebbeus Woods or Stanley Saiotowitz. She is exceptionally loyal to her old friends: many of whom came from the Alvin Boyarsky period of the Architectural Association: which seems to remain as her comfort zone and golden period of friendship. Encouraged and promoted at an early age by Boyarsky, she has rewarded the AA with an unremitting loyalty and fondness for it.
The history of the Gold Medal must surely include many major figures who commanded a big ship and one ponders upon the operation involved that gets such strong concepts as the MAXXI in Rome – in which the power of organization is so clear - or the Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck where dynamic is at last captured – or the Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics where the lines diving boards were as fluid as the motion of the divers - made into reality. And she has done it time and time again in Vienna, Marseilles, Beijing and Guangzhou. Never has she been so prolific, so consistent. We realize that Kenzo Tange and Frank Lloyd Wright could not have drawn every line or checked every joint, yet Zaha shares with them the precious role of towering, distinctive and relentless influence upon all around her that sets the results apart from the norm. Such self-confidence is easily accepted in film-makers and football managers, but causes some architects to feel uncomfortable, maybe they’re secretly jealous of her unquestionable talent. Let’s face it, we might have awarded the medal to a worthy, comfortable character. We didn’t, we awarded it to Zaha: larger than life, bold as brass and certainly on the case.
Our Heroine.
How lucky we are to have her in London."
Details of Zaha Hadid’s memorial service will be announced shortly.
Messages of condolences can be sent to: pa@zaha-hadid.com
Media Architecture Biennale to visit Australia
(Australia) - Come June, Sydney's Chatswood will host leading experts in architectural digital technology for four days of conferences, seminars and symposia.
Come June 2016, the prestigious Media Architecture Biennale will project Sydney into the digital media spotlight. From 1 June, The Concourse in Sydney’s Chatswood will host the world’s leading experts in architectural digital technology for four days of conferences, seminars and symposia designed to discuss, assess and debate the impact of digital technology in the future design and development of smarter and more liveable cities. As in previous years, mondo*arc will be a media partner of this year's event.
Sydney, Australia: Design and urban planning experts from around the globe will transform The Concourse, on Sydney’s North Shore into a digital media technology hub, for the 5th international Media Architecture Biennale. From 1-4 June, architectural and design professionals, academics, state and federal government representatives and specialised experts in digital placemaking will host a series of workshops, symposia and events designed to explore the existing and future impact of digital technologies on urban planning within global cities.
“The Media Architecture Biennale 2016 brings together specialists who are passionate about reinventing urban communities and utilising public spaces to communicate. The official buzzword and theme for this year’s event is digital placemaking; the use of digital technology within a dedicated public urban space, designed specifically for the purpose of communicating with the public,” said Dr M. Hank Haeusler, General Chair of The Media Architecture Biennale 2016 (UNSW Australia).
Federation Square, in central Melbourne is currently Australia’s best example of digital placemaking; in 2014 it was named the 6th Best Public Square in the world by Landscape Architects Network. Matt Jones, General Manager of Program & Events at the iconic Australian outdoor gathering space, will be on hand at this year’s event to share knowledge from his own first-hand experience with digital placemaking.
Bringing together esteemed industry professionals, The Media Architecture Biennale 2016 is an exciting and innovative series of presentations and debates, and presents the latest research from around the globe and Australia. Conferences and symposia will be hosted by local and international leaders in the field, who will pivot discussions focused on the role of digital technology in mass communication and its function in bringing urban communities closer together.
Among the illustrious line-up of international guests attending will be Ethan Kent, Senior Vice President at Projects for Public Spaces (PPS) in New York City. Kent has over seventeen years experience at PPS, in that time he has travelled to more than 750 cities and 55 countries to advance the cause of digital placemaking and public space works to support placemaking organisations, projects and leadership around the world.
Kent has worked on over 200 public space projects including: Times Square in New York (USA), Kennedy Plaza in Providence (RI, USA), Garden Place (Hamilton, NZ) and Sub Centro Las Condes (Santiago Chile) and on public space creations in Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Auckland and more locally in Parramatta.
“We are very excited to host Kent at The Media Architecture Biennale 2016, we look forward to hearing his strategies and opinions regarding the future of digital placemaking and how we might implement some of those ideas in Australia,” said Dr Martin Tomitsch (The University of Sydney, General Chair of The Media Architecture Biennale 2016).
“Australia is one of the most highly urbanised cities in the world. With 69% of the population living in cities, urban planning is critical. Keeping urban communities engaged is essential to creating liveable cities, bringing people together in otherwise unused spaces is now a possibility and a reality with urban planning and digital placemaking,” said Dr.Tomitsch.
A very local Smart City case study comes courtesy of Mr Bruce Duyshart, Director of Meld Strategies, who recently developed a Smart City Masterplan for Parramatta (NSW) in collaboration with the City of Parramatta.
“Smart Cities can no longer afford to rest upon the way they have always done things. They need to look towards smarter, more collaborative, innovative and technologically superior ways of achieving outcomes that are relevant to their city and the strategic direction it needs to undertake. Faced with the increasing demands of a modern city and recognising the need for change, many Smart Cities narrow down the key benefits of adopting a new approach to three key areas: liveability, sustainability and economic prosperity. This is an exciting new era in both Smart City planning and Smart Building design and the Media Architecture Biennale is the perfect stage for this conversation,” said Duyshart.
Duyshart will be an integral of part of The Media Architecture Biennale 2016, his first hand experience in strategising, designing and implementing smart buildings and smart precincts will provide valuable insights into the progression of these topics in the industry and how the broader topic of Smart Cities is beginning to take hold.
The Media Architecture Biennale 2016 will deliver four days of insights and conversations with global professionals that seek to develop, enhance and improve digital media technology and drive communication within urban communities of the future. Today, more than ever, communications and digital media are increasingly important to the growth and development of smarter and more liveable cities.
The calendar of Media Architecture Biennale 2016 activities commences on 1 June and concludes 4 June, among the events are; Symposia, Workshops, Conference, Public Talks, Exhibition, Gala Dinner and an Awards Ceremony. A number of media architecture artworks will be displayed as part of the Vivid Lights program in various locations throughout Sydney. All events are open to industry and public through ticket sales. Industry professionals travelling to Sydney for the Biennale might take the opportunity to combine the visit with the DIS 2016 (Designing Interactive Systems) conference, which takes place in Brisbane, Queensland from 4-8 June. The Media Architecture Biennale 2016 is presented as part of the Vivid Ideas program at Vivid Sydney, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas.
The MAB16 is designed to be interactive, engaging and above all – informative.
For tickets visits the MAB website: www.mab16.org
Full Access Pass Pre-Sale: $390 Regular: $490 Student: $270
Workshop Pass (full day / half day) Location: Michael Crouch Innovation Centre (MCIC), University of NSW
Pre-Sale: $35 / $25 Regular: $45 / $35 Student: $20 / $10
Symposium Pass Location: Civic Pavilion, The Concourse, Chatswood
Pre-Sale: $70 Regular: $80 Student: $40 (limited to 40 tickets)
2-Day Conference Pass Location: Theatre, The Concourse, Chatswood
Pre-Sale: $190 Regular: $220 Student: $100
1-Day Conference Pass Location: Theatre, The Concourse, Chatswood
Pre-Sale: $110 Regular: $130 Student: $50
Gala Dinner Pass Location: Harbour Cruise, leaving from Darling Harbour
Pre-Sale: $200 Regular: $250 Student: $130
Keynote Pass Location: Theatre, The Concourse, Chatswood
Pre-Sale: $25 Regular: $30 Student: $15
The opening ceremony on 2 June and the Media Architecture Exhibition are free, open to the public events.
Casambi and Feilo Sylvania collaborate
(China) - Finnish wireless technologies specialist and Feilo Sylvania partner to provide luminaires with fully integrated wireless control and built-in bluetooth beacons.
At this year’s Light & Building, Feilo Sylvania and Casambi partnered to showcase the power, convenience and functionality of Bluetooth low energy-enabled lighting solutions and location based services via iBeacons integrated into luminaires. Taking the best-of-breed products from Feilo Sylvania and integrating Casambi technology creates fixtures that enable all capabilities of a full professional light control as well as Internet of Things services. Luminaires are not any more just single point solutions but have become intelligent devices that interact with their neighbours as part of the most modern Bluetooth mesh network technology providing ambient lighting as well as being internet service points.
Casambi and Feilo Sylvania have been working together for one and a half years, exploring, testing and getting the joint solution to market. The implementation allows not only full control of the luminaires including dimming, colour temperature and full RGB settings but also the mesh network enabling them to act together to form more complex scenes and offer new services.
Casambi has implemented beacon technology in its modules and Feilo Sylvania has worked with its customers to develop meaningful applications around this technology including indoor navigation and location-based messaging. For example, this makes it possible for retailers to send personalised discount vouchers to their customers based on their location in the store (and this works even when a mobile phone is on standby in a pocket) or, to help people navigate a museum and trigger multimedia content to play on their smartphone based on their location.
As the Bluetooth beacon technology comes already as a feature with the Feilo Sylvania luminaires, retailers have the option to roll-out a beacon network instantly on a national scale without any additional CAPEX investment. Retailers can trial the Beacon technology as a service paying a monthly fee and turn it off if it does not generate enough additional value.
Bastiaan de Groot, Director Lighting Control, Feilo Sylvania stated: “With five out of ten retailers currently experimenting with Bluetooth Beacons in their store, we believe the usage of Bluetooth Beacons will see an explosive growth over the next few years. By integrating beacon services in our luminaires with the Casambi technology, we are creating significant cost savings for our customers in terms of installation costs, battery replacement and the ability to distribute software updates. Feilo Sylvania is already engaging with key companies installing Beacon enabled luminaires in the United Kingdom.”
Timo Pakkala, CEO of Casambi Technologies, commented: “Working successfully with Feilo Sylvania enables a new broad base of business customers to enable and exploit new services, taking luminaires from lighting to the Internet of Things, thus becoming the basis for a whole range of new services. The great progress and positive interaction between both companies shows the strength of two worlds. We are committed to supporting and driving the industry towards its next evolutionary stage.”
www.feilosylvania.com
www.casambi.com
Fagerhult acquires LED Linear
(Sweden) - In €40 million deal, Swedish lighting manufacturer purchases 100% of LED Linear shares to strengthen position and add complementary product ranges.
In an effort to strengthen the Fagerhult Group’s position in the professional lighting market as well as adding leading complementary product ranges, Fagerhult has strategically acquired 100% of Germany-based LED Linear GmbH shares for an initial payment of €40 million. Furthermore, based on company performance, an additional €21 million could be paid until 2018. The acquisition is expected to have a positive effect on the earnings per share during 2016 as well as going forward.
The deal was announced in Frankfurt at the global lighting show Light + Building. Over the course of the last decade, Fagerhult has made ten strategic acquisitions. These include: Turkish lighting firm Arlight (2014), Finnish fixture manufacturer I-Valo (2013), UK industrial and transport lighting specialist Designplan (2011), retail lighting specialist LTS (2010), Spanish agent Fagerhult SL (2009), after-sales service company Commtech Commissioning Services (2009), Belgian architectural fitting maker Waco (2009), Australian lighting company Eagle Lighting (2007) and Irish lighting firm Project Lighting Equipment (2007).
LED Linear manufactures linear LED lighting fixtures, LED modules and other lighting fixture components primarily for the indoor and outdoor commercial sector. Typical application areas include commercial offices, retail, hospitality, infrastructure and high-end residential buildings. The company has successfully established a global sales presence with more than half of the net sales outside Europe, mainly in North America and Asia.
“LED Linear has world class linear LED lighting products, a cutting-edge integrated manufacturing capability and award winning products and brand. The company has consistently delivered very strong financial performance with an organic growth of over 40% in 2015. LED Linear have an excellent track record of innovation, delivering a range of leading linear architectural lighting solutions. I am very pleased that Dr. Michael Kramer and Mr. Carsten Schaffarz will remain as Managing Directors of the company and continue to build on the strong platform that they and the LED Linear team have built,” commented Johan Hjertonsson, CEO Fagerhult Group.
“Over the last ten years we have built a worldwide recognized brand in the specification grade lighting business. This achievement is based on the hard and passionate work of our employees and the loyal support of our stakeholders. We are proud to be part of the Fagerhult Group effective today, since it offers amazing opportunities to our company, joint ventures and employees to further grow our business within the group and under the LED Linear Brand,” said Dr. Michael Kramer, Managing Director of LED Linear.
In the year ending December 2015, the company had 110 employees, sales of approximately €21 million and a profitability rate significantly above that of the Fagerhult Group. As part of the transaction, the joint venture partners in LED Linear USA and LED Linear India have the option to sell their shares to Fagerhult. At the current ownership stake in the JV’s, if they were all consolidated, the total sales for the year ending December 2015 would be €26 million. The transaction is financed with new credit facilities with Canaccord Genuity acting as exclusive financial adviser to LED Linear.
www.fagerhult.com
www.led-linear.com
Cundall Light4 expands lighting design offering to Asia
(UK) - Following success of UK department, Cundall Light4 appoints Oscar Lee to lead new lighting design discipline in Asia.
Cundall has announced the expansion of its lighting design offering - Light4 - into the Asian market with the opening of a new department, headed by Oscar Lee. Lee will be based in the Hong Kong office from which it will deliver projects across the Asia region.
Lee has a number of years experience in lighting design and has recently completed a sabbatical to pursue a Master’s degree in Lighting Design and LED Technology at Politecnico di Milano in Italy.
Cundall Light4 consists of an experienced and proactive team who each bring a unique element to the field of lighting design and technology. From interior designers to light artists to modellers, the team has the ability to realise every element of lighting design and co-ordinate with other architecture and engineering disciplines.
The groups ethos is about looking forward at new design trends and technologies and using that knowledge to improve the lit environments they create. Light4 focus on landscape lighting design, interior lighting design, designing for daylight and lighting control design in the workplace, hotel, retail and public realm sectors.
Cundall has been established in Asia for over eight years, providing building services engineering and sustainable design and this year sees the launch of lighting design. The success of their lighting designers department in the UK, has seen many innovative projects being successfully delivered, winning and been shortlisted for a number of lighting awards. Following this success, Cundall has made a strategic decision to expand this offering to the Asian market, to add value to their existing clients and secure further work.
Andrew Bissell, Global Head of Light4, said: “Oscar’s appointment is an important addition to Cundall bringing a new dimension to the lighting team. His experience and innovative approach to lighting design will be a great asset to the Asian and Global team.”
Oscar Lee, Asia lead for Light4, said: “My time working with the Light4 team has been an amazing learning experience, I now feel part of the global lighting design team. With the IT infrastructure Cundall has, I can easily continue this relationship from Hong Kong, allowing me to deliver the best service to our Asian clients.”
Lights in Alingsås returns
(Sweden) - Scandinavian light festival teases upcoming theme, lighting designer line-up and media partnership with mondo*arc.
Swedish-based light art festival has announced the workshop heads who will be involved with the 2016 event, along with its theme and media partnership with mondo*arc.
The designers whose light installations will brighten up Alingsås this autumn are: Chiara Carucci, Italy, Carissa Brockway, USA, Debra Gilmore, USA, Erik Hagström, Sweden, Ignacio Valero, Spain, Jytte Basler, Germany, Sabine (Maria Celia) De Schutter, Belgium and Tad Trylski, England. All of whom are known in the international world of lighting and in their own fields.
Following an initial meeting with representatives from Alingsås municipality, IALD (International Association of Lighting Designers), Alingsås Energy and the project organisers of the festival, the mission was settled to think about the theme of this year's festival and the route of the light trail.
The whole project team explored Alingsås, taking the chance to soak up the local atmosphere and visited the town's attractive cafés and restaurants. Behind closed doors, the designers presented their ideas to each other and talked about how sound and light could be integrated to create the best possible effects for visitors.
The theme for the lighting installations will be based on the UN's seventeen sustainable development goals. During the recent initial meeting, discussions tackled the question of how this year's designers shall approach their assignment, creating light installations that attract visitors while maintaining high creative standards. The debate will continue for some time before the final decisions are reached.
In 2014 the Lights in Alingsås festival made a three-year agreement with international organisation IALD, which has its head office in Chicago. The agreement stipulates that, every year, IALD will provide suggestions as to which lighting designers will be asked to contribute to the festival. This has meant a strengthening of the international perspective of the festival, which has contributed to the enhanced position of Lights in Alingsås as an international arena and as a place for individuals to develop their skills.
“Now we can see the effect of the new agreement with IALD. Their extensive contacts with lighting designers have raised the level of this autumn's festival even higher,’’ said Kjell Hult, development manager at Alingsås municipality.
As well as this, Lights in Alingsås has recently concluded an international agreement with mondo*arc.
“We are extremely proud that mondo*arc is interested in the Lights in Alingsås festival, and of course we want to learn how this new development will allow us to attract even more public attention,’’ said Anna Davidsson, business strategist at Alingsås municipality.
Representatives from both mondo*arc and IALD will attend the autumn workshop, where the light installations will be created with the help of approximately 65 international students.
The eight international lighting designers who have been awarded the job of lighting up the town of Alingsås during the Lights in Alingsås festival have been announced.
Lights in Alingsås runs from 30 September to 6 November 2016.
www.lightsinalingsas.se
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lightsinalingsas
Instagram: instagram.com/lightsinalingsas
Lumenpulse acquires Fluxwerx Illumination
(Canada) - For total initial consideration of $60 million, acquisition of Canada-based LED luminaire manufacturer creates opportunity for cross-technology synergies.
Lumenpulse Inc. - a manufacturer of high performance, specification-grade LED lighting solutions - has announced that it has acquired Fluxwerx Illumination Inc. - a privately owned, fast-growing, pure-play specification-grade LED lighting solutions provider based in British Columbia, Canada - for a total initial consideration of $60 million.
Fluxwerx is a manufacturer of innovative, high-performance, LED luminaires for the general lighting of commercial and institutional spaces, such as office, education and healthcare. Founded in 2011, Fluxwerx has quickly established itself as an LED lighting solution provider, with a distinctive product offering and innovative proprietary anidolic optics technology.
For fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, total revenue was $25.2 million compared to $9.6 million for the prior year. The company's trailing-twelve-month total revenue for the period ended February 29, 2016 was approximately $27.8 million with a reported EBITDA of approximately $5.4 million. Annualising the Company’s most recent three-month performance prior to close, revenues were approximately $34 million. Going forward, it is expected that the EBITDA margin contribution of Fluxwerx will reflect incremental investments in the business to support its integration and growth. Management expects this transaction to be accretive on an earnings-per-share basis in the upcoming fiscal year beginning May 1st 2016.
“The merging of our organisations represents a major milestone that we believe will be transformational for the Lumenpulse Group, creating one of the most exciting and innovative companies in the LED lighting industry,” said François-Xavier Souvay, President and CEO of Lumenpulse.
“Fluxwerx has achieved impressive growth and market adoption by combining minimalist product design with an innovative, proprietary anidolic optical technology. In fact, they will be launching three new product lines late March. We see a great opportunity for cross-technology synergies that will provide a remarkable value proposition for our clients. We will also benefit from Fluxwerx’s experienced management team, which shares our vision of becoming a world leader in the LED lighting market,” concluded Souvay.
“We have the utmost respect for what Lumenpulse has achieved over past few years. The company, through a combination of innovative technologies, its extensive product portfolio and strategic acquisitions has become a clear market leader and we are looking forward to joining forces as shareholders of Lumenpulse and active members of the executive team,” said Tim Berman, President of Fluxwerx.
The initial consideration paid by Lumenpulse consists of an upfront cash payment of $36 million, the issuance of Lumenpulse shares for an aggregate amount of $20 million (based on a price of $15.78 per share) and a cash holdback of $4 million to be paid approximately one year after closing. The upfront cash payment was financed with available liquidities.
The transaction is subject to post-closing adjustments and to an earn-out payment of up to $25 million, payable in cash or shares at the option of Lumenpulse, based on a linear formula which combines revenue and Adjusted EBITDA targets for Fiscal 2017. The revenue component of the earn-out payment, is based on a range between $43.8 million and $55 million, subject to the achievement of a minimum Adjusted EBITDA.
The Lumenpulse shares issued to Fluxwerx’s management team at closing will be subject to contractual lock-up restrictions as to 100% of such shares for the first year following closing and as to 50% for the second year.
Light+Building to present Design Plus competition winners
(Germany) - With winner's ceremony held on 13 March at special area (Hall 1.2, Stand A51), 'Design Plus powered by Light+Building' competition honours products by exhibitors and students.
The award-winning products of the exhibitors and students will be on show in an exhibition at the ‘Design Plus powered by Light + Building’ special area (Hall 1.2, Stand A51) during Light+Building 2016 from 13 to 18 March. The winners will be presented with their awards during a ceremony at the fair. Additionally, all award-winning products will be detailed in a special magazine to be published on the occasion of the fair.
The ‘Design Plus powered by Light + Building’ competition stands for the great innovativeness and future-oriented design of exhibitors of Light+Building and spotlights the sustainability and convenience offered by their products. The award is a seal of quality for products that combine future orientation, innovative design and energy-efficient technology.
On the basis of the judging criteria – technology, ecology and design – an international and independent jury of experts gave the Design Plus Award 2016 to 25 products, four of which were also selected for the ‘Best of’ award. Altogether, 129 companies from 25 countries entered 214 products for the competition. Design Plus is not only a valuable distinction for manufacturers and designers. It is also an indication of innovativeness and outstanding product quality for the consumer.
Additionally, 88 students and young graduates of product and industrial design or architecture and interior architecture entered their visionary concepts and solutions for the competition. Thirteen were chosen for the Design Plus Award with ‘Best of’ awards going to three of them. For young designers, the award represents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to the sector and make contact with manufacturing companies.
The competition is held by Messe Frankfurt in cooperation with the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung), the centre of excellence for design in Frankfurt. The ceremony will be held at the special area on the first day of the fair, 13 March.
For further information about Light + Building and photographs of the award winning products visit www.light-building.com/design-plus
Light+Building 2016: what to expect
(Germany) - Amongst 2,589 exhibitors, leading international brands present their latest products for lighting technology.
With only days to go, Light+Building 2016 is to host a comprehensive list of leading international brands who have presented their latest products for lighting and building-services technology. Following its motto: ‘Where modern spaces come to life: digital – individual – networked’ Light+Building is the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building services technology and the market and meeting place for all international market leaders.
Altogether, 2,589 exhibitors from all over the world will be making presentations in Frankfurt am Main from 13 to 18 March 2016. Light + Building is distinguished by the combination of lighting and building-services technology – with a spectrum of products unrivalled in terms of depth and breadth. The industry will be showing intelligent solutions, future-oriented technology and the latest design trends on 248,500 square metres of exhibition space in 22 halls. At the same time, a varied and interesting complementary programme of events will reflect the most important subjects from the fields of lighting, electrical engineering and home and building automation.
The motto covers the latest trends in the luminaires market, the influence of light on people, networked safety and security, intelligent home and building automation and efficient energy management. With these trend themes, the trade fair is in tune with the times and provides an up-to-the-minute information platform.
Renowned companies such as Artemide, Bankamp, Bega, Brand van Egmont, Erco, Faustig, Flos, iGuzzini, Ingo Maurer, LG, Louis Poulsen, Lumileds, Nimbus, Osram, Philips, Samsung, Schréder, Tobias Grau, Trilux, Vibia Lighting and Zumtobel, are indicative of the extensive range of lighting products to be seen at Light+Building.
Around 1,650 exhibitors will present the complete spectrum of products for the lighting segment: manufacturers show their latest technical luminaires and lamps, as well as street lighting and outdoor luminaires for public areas. Also to be seen are technical, design-oriented luminaires and decorative light fittings for the home and business premises in all styles and price categories. Rounding off this part of the fair are lighting components.
Digitalisation is an increasingly important factor in the lighting sector, too. With well thought-out and networked lighting control systems, it is possible to adjust different components, such as light colour and dimming, individually. Human centric lighting, i.e., the impact of light on people’s performance and sense of well-being, is also a trend theme in this field. The integration of lighting into the architectural plans is becoming more and more important when it comes to new buildings: the trend is towards individual stylistic elements in lighting design. Parallel to this, designer luminaires and technical luminaires that serve as independent objects continue to be important and are being further developed.
The focal points at Light + Building 2016 are digital building, the smart powered building, building information modelling (BIM) and safety and security technology. The electrical engineering and home and building automation segments play a vital role in the construction and operation of intelligent and networked buildings. Building-services technology and automation systems with innovative measuring and control are an important aspect of integrative systems technology. Other product groups in this field include electrical installation and network technology, design-oriented electrical installations and building-systems technology, photovoltaics, facility management and contracting.
Join Lamp Lighting for #DearLight at #LB16, and share your love of light…
(Spain) - Inspired by Hold to Light postcards of 1900s, Light Collective will lead series of workshops on Lamp Lighting stand (3.1 C21).
Inspired by the Hold to Light postcards from the 1900s, creative combo Sharon Stammers and Martin Lupton of Light Collective will lead a series of workshops on the Lamp Lighting stand (3.1 C21) that will evolve every day from 4pm to 6pm to create a collective illuminated love letter to light, affectionately called #DearLight. Lamp Lighting’s favourite answers will then be chosen to form a book that will be made later in the year.
Carla Kissler Communication, PR & Events Manager, comments: “Lamp Lighting love the freshness Sharon and Martin bring to lighting, so we invite you to have fun, to share some of the finest ham and wine that Spain produces with them, the Lamp Lighting Team, and with your friends and colleagues from the lighting design community. There are so many answers that should be part of #DearLight and we want to immortalise yours!”
During the week, Lamp Lighting will also officially present the five members of the jury for the Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards 2017 who will also be taking part in #DearLight. They are Kaoru Mende, Gustavo Avilés, Colin Ball, Anna Sbokou and Rafael Gallego.
All visitors to Light+Building are encouraged to come to the workshops and to join in the fun.
darc awards 2016 to launch at Light+Building with BYBEAU’s Dimple
(UK) - Following success of inaugural darc awards last year, darc awards 2016 will launch at Light+Building together with official launch of BYBEAU's Dimple that won 2015 darc awards best decorative lighting product.
The darc awards and BYBEAU have teamed up to create a launch event for both brands on BYBEAU / Climar’s stand (4.2 E50) at Light+Building at 6pm on Tuesday March 15th.
The Dimple chandelier winning the 2015 darc award for the best decorative lighting product was a major turning point for BYBEAU, an international design studio specialising in high end lighting installations and product design.
Beau McClellan, the artist and designer who gives his name to the company whilst assuming its creative direction, was particularly pleased with the award as this extraordinary luminaire was voted on by international lighting designers as their favourite decorative lighting product.
“I was absolutely delighted to win the darc award – it's always great to receive confirmation you are on the right track, especially from darc who truly understand our world of lighting, even more so because it was voted on by independent lighting designers all over the world. We make our art for our audience, so something like this feels like a little ovation. The general response after receiving the award has been immense."
Indeed, the positive reaction to winning the darc award has given BYBEAU the momentum to participate in Light+Building and officially launch the Dimple collection at the show. The Dimple Installation at Light+Building will only reveal itself when a viewer remains still. The installation will be comprised of over 400 mirrored units that surround the viewer in a unique sensory environment. By taking a moment of stillness amid the chaos Dimple will start to interact with you – and the longer you stay motionless the more it will reveal. The project is an exercise in creating a feeling of sentience, with a character and even a voice of its own; a playful, reactive entity expressing itself through light and sound. The debut will mark a new approach to lighting design. Dimple reaches out, invites you to see through it, anything is possible.
BYBEAU's stand will also be the perfect platform for the official launch of the 2016 darc awards. Whilst darc and mondo*arc are already exhibiting at the show (at 4.1 FOY16), the chance to co-host an event with a darc awards winner was too good an opportunity to miss for the darc awards director, Paul James. “When Beau approached us to do something together at Light+Building, I had no hesitation in accepting. It made perfect sense to officially launch the 2016 darc awards at the show and, to do it with a previous winner has great synergy. We're looking forward to the immersive experience. It will be spectacular.”
The Dimple unit was always designed as an integration of light into art rather than art into lighting; a unique sensory expression that harmonises with natural light in the day - only to burst into life by night. Light is such a great communicator; so natural and innate. Reactive and sympathetic, it can inform and express our moods and emotions; seeming to have a life if its own.
Of course, awards are all well and good but without commercial success, the process is meaningless. This hasn't been a problem for BYBEAU as the projects have rolled in since the victory. One of the first was a high end residential project in the Algarve, Portugal. A new plug and play RGBW chip was specially designed to give total control over each unit - the possibilities limited only by imagination. The client has true interactivity; with different moods and ambiences reactive to a range of stimuli. Different temperatures and movements are interpreted and expressed by Dimple to create an art installation of unlimited variability.
The piece was designed to be functional as a more traditional chandelier working with different temperatures of white light, easily dimmable to play with the intensity of the mirror coating. Careful consideration was involved in integrating this piece into the client’s lifestyle, the intention to provide complete control of ambience and mood as quickly and intuitively as possible. Pausing to manipulate technology only serves to distract away from the interactivity of the piece.
When switched on, the pioneering two-way mirror-coated finish unveils an extra interior hand-blown glass ball. A playful expression of the whimsy of imagination; transitioning throughout the day, a magical twist to any ambiance - Dimple is meant to be used and enjoyed, duality all part of its charm and intention.
www.meetdimple.com
www.darcawards.com
The Dimple / darc awards launch event will take place on the BYBEAU / Climar stand (4.2 E50) at 6pm on March 15th.
