The VELUX Group in partnership with world-famous designer
In partnership with Ross Lovegrove, the internationally acknowledged proponent of Green Design, the VELUX Group presents a stylish and sophisticated new product that spreads natural light through the roof to otherwise electrically lit rooms.
The name of the award-winning daylight diffuser is "VELUX sun tunnel by Lovegrove". It represents yet another innovative way to bring daylight into buildings.
This is one of the few times, the VELUX Group has entered into a partnership with an external designer. But as a company focusing on creating better living environments with daylight and fresh air through the roof, it was a straightforward decision to team up with Ross Lovegrove. The VELUX Vision is to create sustainable living based on high energy efficiency, use of the sun as a renewable energy source and improving the indoor climate.
Lovegrove is renowned for his work with new materials and for employing the very latest technology. He is a also proponent of Green Design, otherwise termed environmentally conscious design. Previous products he developed for companies such as Louis Poulsen, Vitra, Peugeot, Apple Computers and Tag Heuer are known for their aesthetic appeal.
This is also the case with his newest product, VELUX sun tunnel by Lovegrove. In essence, it is a daylight lamp that uses the sun as a bulb. The new diffuser is an add-on product to VELUX sun tunnels, giving a beautiful light reflectance to the room while allowing the user to adjust the direction of the light.
"We chose to step out of our ordinary way of developing new products when we entered into a partnership with Ross Lovegrove as external designer on this assignment. We believe we have a strong fit and that Lovegrove complements our competencies. He has a high standing in the field of sustainable design and with our vision for creating sustainable living by using the sun and daylight, we have together created a new innovative way to bring daylight into people's homes," says Klaus Lorentzen, VELUX Group Vice President Product Development.
Bringing the outdoor daylight indoors
The VELUX Group first introduced sun tunnels in 2005 and has since then attained the position as European market leader in this field as well. VELUX sun tunnels are especially suitable for spaces where installation of roof windows is inappropriate or impossible and where electrical light would normally be the only other option. Sun tunnels funnel natural light indoors, to the benefit and well-being of the residents.
Since 2005, the VELUX Group has sold thousands of sun tunnels in 40 countries. With the new VELUX sun tunnel by Lovegrove, the VELUX Group expects to strengthen its market position even further.
"Maximum daylight and ventilation are preconditions for ensuring optimal indoor comfort and minimal energy consumption consistent with the standards of the future. In the EU today, we spend 90% of our time indoors, which is contributing to rising health problems. A sun tunnel offers a solution to this challenge by bringing the outdoor daylight environment indoors," says Klaus Lorentzen, VELUX Group Vice President Product Development.
Inspired by the concept of harnessing natural light and bringing its purity and uplifting qualities into the home, Ross Lovegrove has developed a design that he believes creates "a moment of enlightenment in the home" - a contemporary interface between the tunnel of light and the interior design of living spaces.
"When I was contacted by VELUX, I felt an immediate affinity with its products and way of thinking that I find human, technologically innovative and democratic," says Ross Lovegrove.
Already an award winning product
"I believe the design to be very pure and sincere in its accessibility by a broad spectrum of society. The VELUX sun tunnel itself is a wonderful product with perpetual lifetime values and so my design simply seeks to enhance these properties in an elegant and universal way."
VELUX sun tunnel by Lovegrove is already an award-winning product. Just recently, the product was awarded the special recognition of the "red dot design award – best of the best 2010" distinction for the highest design quality. With more than 4.250 entries this year from about 60 countries, the international "red dot design award" is the largest and most re-nowned design competition in the world. Furthermore, VELUX sun tunnel by Lovegrove was presented at the biggest international building exhibition, Batimat, in Paris in November 2009, where it won a design award. The award aims at providing recognition to companies who have launched products created in cooperation with designers.