Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP
Today, space efficiency is one of the key competitive factors for the design of buildings and rooms. Therefore, tailor-made solutions are required in room design, especially if different usage scenarios are planned for one area of the room. This applies to office and educational rooms as well as to conference areas in hotels. Mobile partition walls have proved effective for flexible, adequate room partitioning. New technologies have now led to slim wall systems that also meet esthetic demands, for example transparent elements with filigree frame constructions and integrated switchable blinds for privacy protection.
Based on this, additional functions have now been developed and integrated into the mobile partition walls. Within the framework of a joint development project with the University of Applied Sciences in Constance and the company Franz Nüsing in Münster, the aspects light and lighting and the audio-visual presentation were selected among many other possibilities and prototypically tested.
Today, the lighting functions of mobile partition wall elements benefit from high performance and affordable LEDs. However, sophisticated optics are still required to illuminate large glass wall elements. An LED line array with a special reflector was chosen so that no modification of the space between the panes was necessary. The large homogeneity of the illuminated surface of the mobile glass wall component is impressive and can be designed in different colors if required. The “audio-visual presentation” function also uses state-of-the-art technology. Very flat screens now fit easily into the space between the panes of mobile glass walls. Having the right format, they can be installed there safely and conveniently. Continuous thermal measurements have shown that special cooling is not required. The obligatory remote control, wireless signal feed and electrical power supply, already existing to operate the electric wall motor, ensure unrestricted mobility. In order to finally achieve a good sound coming out of the wall, either slim loudspeakers can be integrated into the wall frame, or the glass panes can be used as loudspeakers with electro-dynamic vibration exciters. These new functions of mobile partition walls open up new ways of variable room use and an attractive interior design.