Shading project Munich Stadtbibliothek

Heat and light regulation

In the Articulated Arm and Drop Down Screens Theme in Z&R 1, the focus is understandably primarily on articulated arm and drop down screens. Drives and controls are featured prominently in the Drives and Controls theme in Z&R 7. But of course, the two themes are not separate. On the contrary, they are inseparable. To illustrate this, here is an awning project Nice realized in the Bavarian capital of Munich on behalf of the Münchner Stadtbibliothek. 

The Münchner Stadtbibliothek is the public library organization of the city of Munich. It includes more than thirty libraries, making it the largest public library organization in Germany. In addition to about three million books, periodicals and new media, it also manages the Monacensia literature and manuscript archive, a music library a children's and youth library a specialist philately library and a legal library. 

The headquarters of the Münchner Stadtbibliothek has been located in Munich's cultural center Gasteig since 1984. Other facilities include 22 district libraries, 7 hospital libraries and a number of library buses. 

Laim
One of the district libraries is located in the Munich district of Laim, on Fürstenrieder Straße, a five-kilometer-long, important inner-city connecting route in Munich. The street is named after the Fürstenried Castle, which lies at the southern end of Fürstenrieder Straße. Laim has had its own district library since 1937. The 30th anniversary in 2017 was marked by the Historical Society of Laim through a study of librarianship in Laim and an exhibition. 

By 1930 there was already a library, whose management was taken over by the Munich City Council in 1937. The year 1937 is thus in a sense the founding year of the Laimer district library. Since 1987, it has been housed in a district center built that year at Fürstenrieder Strasse 53. The result was a modern, spacious library with a floor area of over 700 square meters. Membership and lending numbers went up by leaps and bounds. Later developments include a reading garden (1998), children's library (2014) and 24/7 return facility (2014). 

Shading and light control
The four-story building that houses offices in addition to Laim's district library is a striking landmark in the district. The large amount of glass that characterizes the building gives it an open character and provides plenty of natural light inside. But the sunlight entering through the glass may also cause overheating and heating or light pollution. 

To protect the long full-length glass walls from direct incident sunlight and overheating, and to ensure the best lighting conditions inside the library under all weather conditions, the building's facades were equipped with an automated solar shading system. Thanks to close cooperation with a German sunshade manufacturer, three different forms of custom sunshades were produced and installed, namely drop screens, screens and markisolettes. 

What preceded the current district library From Laim.

More than one hundred Nice tube motors with electronic limit switches provide automatic control of the blinds system. This allows the blinds to be operated with one simple action, changing the shape and color of the entire building in an instant. 

The control system supplied by Nice for the sun blinds of the Laim district library was developed in close consultation with the client. It allows the blinds to be controlled centrally for the entire building, per floor or for a particular section of the building. This makes it easy to achieve a high level of comfort for users in the building, preventing heating and optimizing light conditions for people inside.   

Text: Thijs Pubben    Image: Nice
Featured image: Markisolettes are part of the library's shading system.