A Sense Of Arrival
Hannover Airport Control Tower
The control tower of any airport is inevitably a landmark as it will always be the tallest structure in what must necessarily be a very low-rise environment. The control tower will always have an interrupted 360 degree view of the runways and the apron. Conversely and for the same reasons, the tower itself is an interesting object visible from afar and close.
Therein lay the opportunity to make a feature of it at night. The air navigation service provider in Germany is DFS (Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH).
DFS manage all air traffic movements in the airspace under their control, firstly from radar control centers distributed throughout the country, and secondly by the air traffic controllers in the airport control towers.
They manage what happens on the apron, on the runways and in the surrounding airspace. These tower controllers ensure the smooth conduct of traffic at the aerodrome. They coordinate the aircraft which are taxing, taking off and landing by radiotelephony. They inform pilots about the departure procedures and issue take-off clearances.
Tower controllers always have direct visual contact with the aircraft. At night and in conditions of low visibility, such as fog, they are supported by ground radar.Â
DFS operates all buildings and facilities required for these tasks under its own responsibility. DFS took the decision to illuminate the Hanover control tower as a statement providing a sense of arrival for passengers and an opportunity to create some corporate branding by using blue light which is the company colour of DFS. In Hanover, the very distinctive tower should always be illuminated in the company colour; blue.
We know that the building structure would be difficult to illuminate, even more so when you are limited in the number of luminaires to be used. A detailed site inspection was conducted by Illumination Physics’ Europe Manager Martin Opolka.
The conclusions were obvious – there were two key components for the illumination of this structure. Custom light fixtures using only blue LEDs would be built for maximum performance and efficiency.
1. The vertical
The height of the tower must be illuminated and the most efficient way to achieve this was to use a cluster of upward pointed wash lights with very narrow optics and glare shields to prevent the unwanted spill of light. In order to accurately illuminate the vertical structure, three of Illumination Physics IP Circular Wash Light series luminaires would be required; each aimed at a third of the height of the tower. The mono colour LED version would give the most precise results.
2. The crown of the tower
The control room is comprised of a distinctive octagonal structure. Eight windows overlook an eight-sided balcony. To give emphasis to this signature shaped polygon, direct view linear light fixtures would be the key to outline the structure. The fixtures would be required in blue only and in custom lengths to match the dimensions of the balcony facets. To avoid glare, the direct fixtures were mounted on the underside of the balcony and customized to aim 15 degrees below the horizon.

 The IP Linear Series – Pixel Bar DC was the ideal base product for this application and at only 14 watts per meter it was highly efficient.
