Press Release Guidance System Porcelain Manufactory Fürstenberg

"Growing out of the ground, as it were"
The new guidance system for the castle courtyard of the FÜRSTENBERG porcelain manufactory

Unique craftsmanship and exclusive manufactory porcelain - this is what FÜRSTENBERG has stood for since 1747. Today, the traditional company from Lower Saxony sets new standards in porcelain production with premium collections. With the demand for passion, creativity, precision and empathy, the largest part of porcelain production is still based on manual work today. The new guidance system in the modernised and barrier-free castle courtyard should also do justice to this claim. As a window to the past, the information pillars and their content reflect the history of the castle and the manufactory.

Requirements

The planning and design by the Berlin office of Iglhaut + von Grote included daylight-illuminated monoglass columns as well as night-illuminated glass columns with the smallest possible depth. Particularly in the historical ambience of the medieval castle courtyard, sensitivity between history and modernity was required. The transparency of the stelae was to be so restrained that they would not be disruptive. Another special task was to reproduce the images in such a way that small filigree characters and high-resolution texts could be reproduced with pin-sharp clarity and easily read, despite the preservation of transparency.

The biggest challenge for the guidance system specialist meng from Birkenfeld, however, was the requirement - for some of the pillars - to achieve homogeneous illumination of the information areas without losing the defined transparency. At the same time, the appearance of these elements was not to be disturbed by conspicuous frames or too much depth. The glass panels were to "grow out of the ground", as it were, without visible screws or fixings.

Implementation

As a manufacturer, meng was able to score points with a construction depth of only 38 mm and a minimal edge of 13.5 mm. Nevertheless, high-intensity LEDs had to be integrated into the narrow edge profile in such a way that the punctual light feed did not have a disturbing or even dazzling effect.

But how do you make transparency shine?

Tempered glass, also known as Optiwhite glass, is very scratch-resistant, but offers significantly lower light conductivity than clear acrylic glass. Acrylic, on the other hand, has sensitive surfaces. Unfortunately, to the extent that white texts and satin surfaces shine out, so do fingerprints, scuff marks and scratches. Without protective gloves during processing or at the latest after installation in public areas, irreparable damage would be inevitable. The challenge and solution was a combination of three glass layers and two designed levels. These were introduced together with the planar light in such a way that the smallest texts could still be read.

Ultimately, the transparency was balanced in such a way that a reading level is defined and yet the building structures behind it remain recognisable.

The lightness with which the glass stelae now grow out of the ground, as it were, will delight many visitors to the modernised historic castle courtyard.

Informationstechnik Meng GmbH
Leit- und Informationssysteme
Rainer Meng, Geschäftsführer
Am Bahnhof 8, 55765 Birkenfeld
Tel +49 I 6782 I 9941 - 0
Fax +49 I 6782 I 9941 - 41
info@meng.de
www.meng.de

Press contact and image requests

Carmen Engel-Arndtz
Marketing
Tel. +49 (0)6782 - 99 41 40
carmen.engel-arndtz@meng.de