by Julia Bluth, 09.03.2012
The Durlum company is one of the most successful manufacturers of innovative and energy-efficient ceiling and lighting systems worldwide. Founded in the 1960s by Fritz Reuter and Heinrich Dame in Schopfheim, Baden, the traditional family business has evolved over time into a global company with production facilities throughout Europe and Asia. We spoke to Peter Reuter, one of the sons of the founding father and managing director of Durlum, about working in a global family business, green thinking and the journey to daylight.
Mr. Reuter, you run Durlum together with your brother Matthias - what is it like working in such a large family business, and what has your father given you along the way?
Certainly, working in a family business is not much different from working in other businesses. The nice thing about working with my brother is, of course, the basic trust that you share with a family member. Our company is now much larger and more international than it was in my father's day - the product range and the state of the art have evolved. Nevertheless, there is certainly an entrepreneurial mindset that remains unchanged then as now. Reliability and innovative thinking are probably among the values that our father passed on to us.
Durlum works very closely with research, how did the collaboration with the Bartenbach lighting laboratory in Austria come about?
We have known each other for many years, but the collaboration came from projects. We also work a lot with other lighting designers and rely on innovative lighting designers to prove our skills. Normally we meet through tenders, which for example the Lichtlabor Bartenbach awards.We then try to transform the not always everyday specifications into an economical concept for the client.
In 2006, you received the Innovation Award for Architecture and Technology for a joint project with Lichtlabor Bartenbach, the conversion of Terminal 3 at Changi Airport in Singapore into the world's largest daylight terminal. Are there any other such major joint projects in the pipeline?
There are a lot of large projects going on at the moment. In principle, the lighting designer - in the case of Singapore Airport, it was the Bartenbach Lighting Laboratory - involves manufacturers in an advisory capacity in order to meet the often complex requirements of the client and the project. At the time, we already had a company in Hong Kong and were known on the Asian market more as a ceiling manufacturer. In Singapore, we came into the project as a follow-up to the planning. It was a very innovative project in which a lot of metal in the surface was combined with daylighting techniques - in this respect, we were actually predestined for the technical implementation. In Asia, it was groundbreaking to be able to actually operate a terminal of this size during the day without external light.
You have been awarded the Innovation Prize many times, along with many other awards. Do you have a project that is particularly close to your heart?
The biggest projects are also always the most beautiful. I think the project in Singapore is very close to my heart because I supervised it myself. Perhaps it was even one of the most important for us on the Asian market, to prove that we are quite capable of transporting technology from Europe to Asia - and not just the other way around. We have already done many beautiful projects, but the technical novelty is always the most fascinating.
Since 2007, you have had a production site in Gurgaon, India. How is the Asian market developing?
Very, very positive! Since we have been operating in India, we have had very good experiences in the market. We manufacture parts ourselves in India and the acceptance of companies that do the work not only on an agent basis is much greater. The development prospects there are of course different from ours, but there are many buildings that serve infrastructure - such as airports or train stations - large projects that are in international competition. We have a very lively exchange with our Indian and Asian colleagues, who are incredibly fit constructively.
What advice would you give to up-and-coming designers who want to work successfully in lighting design?
Difficult to say, because we come very much from the technical direction. For us, the use of new and efficient lighting systems is important. And I'm not just talking about LED. I think designers nowadays have to deal with new techniques in order to meet the demands of the clients.
And what do you expect from a designer who wants to work with you?
I think what we expect is, above all, technically innovative solutions. That doesn't exclude design, of course, but design that doesn't include them is not acceptable to us. It's certainly not appropriate to make a blanket judgment, but the important question is: What can you do today that you couldn't have done five years ago? This segment of new developments is very fast-moving at the moment.
You are already one of the leading companies when it comes to sustainable and progressive lighting design - where else will the journey take you?
To daylight! You are already able to use much more natural light these days without using artificial lighting. We have developed many products in recent years that direct light into rooms and I think such systems have an acceptance not only for energy reasons, but are also appreciated especially by the people who sit in the rooms and enjoy daylight instead of artificial light. The trend in architecture is to take the green idea further in building design. It can't be closing the blinds and turning on the lights in broad daylight. Unfortunately, the client's focus on lighting design often doesn't begin until the building is finished. By then, it's actually too late. Lighting design should begin when the building is still on the drawing board. Nevertheless, today's building owners are already taking a much more critical approach to the subject. They don't just leave it to a planner, but want to know for themselves how to build energy-efficiently and sustainably.
Thank you very much for the interview.
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