Heidelberg Congress Center

New building for a congress and event center

The Heidelberg Congress Center, HCC, is a prominent new event center in the vibrant new Bahnstadt district, not far from Heidelberg’s main train station. With its facade made of Neckartäler sandstone, generous glass facades, and around 26,600 m² of usable space, it offers flexible rooms for conferences, cultural events, and business. Sustainability is key: The building meets the passive house standard, is DGNB Gold certified, and has a photovoltaic system. The lighting supports the claim to be an impressive and distinctive landmark in its design and technical execution.

The lighting design emphasizes the memorable architecture with over 400 hand-blown real glass ceiling lights in the foyers, developed specifically for the project. The luminaire bodies, which are loosely scattered across the foyer ceilings, look like fragile, brilliantly shining air bubbles that found their footing on the ceiling during their airy flight upwards. They dominate as “physically present” objects and visually “blend out” the other ceiling fixtures, pushing them into the background. Additional special project lights are used in the large and small event halls. Technically, the HCC relies on high-quality LEDs with variably adjustable color temperature and a 16-bit DMX-based control system that enables fast, precise, and synchronized light changes.

Property: Convention center
Builder: City of Heidelberg
Architect: Degelo Architects
User: HKK – Heidelberger Kultur- und Kongressgesellschaft
Photos: Christian Buck, Achim Birnbaum
Location: Heidelberg
Completion: 2024
Services: Light planning and consultation, concept development, implementation planning, construction supervision, lighting scene definition, lighting adjustment and luminaire development