At the beginning of 2009, Unilever Germany moved into its new headquarters in Hamburg‘s “Hafencity” (port city), one of the most exciting urban-development projects in Europe. Located between the “Elbphilharmonie” concert hall and the shipping terminal, the new headquarters is oriented to the grid pattern of the surrounding roads and offers an unobstructed view of the river Elbe. Public facilities such as exhibition rooms, a café und a restaurant are centres of attraction for visitors. Within the building, they can enjoy the open, inviting atmosphere of the spacious atrium and, in the process, gain some insight into the inner workings of Unilever. Designed and planned by Behnisch Architekten, the building is based on an innovative energy concept and has over 35,000 sqm of space for around 1,000 employees. The lighting for the entire building all comes from the Nimbus Group and is exclusively in the form of LED.next luminaires. In addition to Modul Q luminaires for office areas and corridors, as well as special luminaires for foyers, over 1,250 Office Air LED luminaires are being used for efficient and ergonomic workstation lighting. With its consistent light quality and pioneering innovativeness, the LED.next technology is an important component of the overall sustainability concept.

LED lighting is no longer merely an alternative to conventional lighting, but a contemporary and highly efficient solution for all lighting applications. Nimbus LED.next luminaires have decisive advantages to offer compared to conventional lamps: A high light output and a pleasant warm, white light are complemented by low energy consumption and high efficiency. With their extremely compact design, safe 24 V and low temperature, Nimbus LED.next luminaires are no source of danger to children and can be easily mounted almost anywhere. Requiring no maintenance and having an extremely long lifetime of up to 50,000 hours, LED luminaires can be installed in a wide variety of situations. Areas with high ceilings, mounting positions with difficult access and unconventional mounting situations all become interesting places for installing lighting while costs are kept low.

Every lighting situation demands individual and efficient solutions. By means of the widespread distribution of numerous 0.3 W LED systems, Nimbus is able to achieve even and glare-free illumination.
The LED.next product family gives customers the choice a large number of lighting possibilities.
Thanks to their special light characteristic with outer-edge illumination, the ceiling luminaires from the Modul Q series are particularly suitable for efficient general lighting in corridors, working or living areas. Modul L, Line C, Line Z and Office Air LED provide efficient lighting for working surfaces.
The near-ground luminaires in the Zen and Mike series are available for staircases and for targeted floor illumination, whereas all of our Aqua models can be used for damp areas and outdoors.

The Nimbus LED.next luminaires are the result of integral product development; all technical and formal design aspects are funnelled into the development.
Clear design and minimised use of style elements unite lighting technology, optics, intelligent electronics and thermal management at the highest possible level. The LED.next, a highly efficient and durable „lamp“, forms the trendsetting basis. Optimized thermal management maximises the fixture efficiency, and the high precision alignment of the dimples is the key to glare-free and efficient lighting.
The LED-bearing PCBs are specified in a complex development process and manufactured by our technology partners exclusively for our products. Consideration of the future deployment of the LED luminaire and of the lighting job to be done are major factors influencing the development process.

With the Modul Q and Modul L series as well as with the L 120, a matt acrylic glass panel with precisely positioned conical indentations directs the light to where it is needed without causing glare. Light distribution in Modul Q luminaires is typically 95 % downlighting and 5 % lateral lighting, thereby achieving effective outer-edge lighting on the ceiling. Different versions with wide or narrow beams can be chosen, depending on the lighting job involved. Optical lenses define a more intensely directed light emission angle in narrow-beam luminaires. The Modul L 63 features conical indentations inclined an additional 10° outward from the middle which generate much wider beams, making it ideally suited for use in corridors, for example. The Modul Q V6 Spot is the first luminaire to feature newly developed optics which produce a very narrow beam.

Nimbus guarantees top and constant quality in terms of luminous colour and brightness of the individual LED.next elements by means of careful grouping and selection according to colour temperature and luminous flux (binning). The LEDs used in a LED.next luminaire are therefore identical in terms of brightness and colour: with no colour cast or brightness fault. The colour temperature is around 3000 K and its warm light gives the same cosy feeling as light bulbs did in days gone by. Nimbus LED.next luminaires are not subject to flickering, and cold starts are no problem: They reach maximum brightness as soon as they are switched on. The spectral range of the LED.next elements excludes harmful UV and IR radiation, so that there are no concerns about using them as museum or shop-window lighting. A further plus is that the light from Nimbus LED.next luminaires does not attract insects.

The constant development in LED.next technology is being shown a trendsetting new direction due to advances in miniaturization in circuits and control systems. Unlike with conventional light fittings, LEDs and control PCBs form a functional unit. This so-called PCB layout is designed individually during the development phase of each LED.next luminaire, so that it perfectly fits the application for which it is intended. The next generation of LED.next luminaires will combine ease-of-use with even greater energy savings. This becomes evident with the new Office Air LED 45/99 watt: the new PDLS.next presence detector and ambient light sensor ensures maximum energy-saving and an even higher level of lighting comfort. And all that with a power consumption of just 45 watt in the Efficiency Mode and a stand-by consumption of less than 0.5 watt!

The unique fastening system of Modul Q luminaires using magnetic supports ensures that our luminaires remain firmly fixed in position even if the ceiling is slightly uneven, while offering easy installation and adjustability. Having such a shallow installation depth and being so simple to mount, Nimbus LED.next luminaires can be installed in any kind of room conditions imaginable. As they are so light and their heat development so minimal, they can even be installed in materials which hitherto would not have seemed suitable. Having such a long lifetime and requiring no maintenance, they are predestined for use in places where access is difficult. Their shallow installation depth helps preserve valuable height in rooms with suspended ceilings and does not take up room which can be used for installing furniture. The change to LED.next luminaires in older buildings presents no problems and can be done without making changes to the electrical planning. We have luminaires for direct mounting, for cavity mounting and for mounting in existing standard mounting boxes. The converter for a Modul Q luminaire then disappears completely in the mounting box. Nimbus LED.next luminaires can also be just as easily integrated in existing EIB/KNX and DALI systems.

The Modul Q 36 IQ is the world‘s first LED ceiling-mounted luminaire with integrated presence detector and ambient light sensor function (PDLS) in ultra-flat design.
The PDL sensors were discretely integrated into the luminaire. For the first time ever PDLS control electronics were directly and completely integrated into the luminaire – and that with an available height of only 13 mm.
The electronic control can be used to set various dimming conditions and timing sequences. The IQ luminaires allow simple master-slave luminaire networks with no other expensive control devices. The communication within the IQ luminaires runs via a two-wire connection independent of the network. In the efficiency mode, the IQ luminaires lighting intensity can be limited to 30% or 50% for example, without any noticeable change in subjective light perception. Especially in places where people are on the move (corridors/staircases), these intelligent luminaires offer enormous potential energy savings without compromising safety.

IQ technology functions (further functions can be realised on request):

-The luminaire switches itself off when there is sufficient ambient light