IP44.de GmbH & Co. KG

Outside lights by IP44.de – putting every architecture in the right light

IP44.de is a leading provider of top quality, innovative outside lights. Since it was founded in 1993, the company has dedicated itself to the challenge of establishing the hitherto neglected outside areas as the setting for special lighting design. This is the philosophy with which IP44.de designs and develops outside lights that combine the most sophisticated quality demands in terms of design language, materiality, energy efficiency and advanced technology. The product range of wall, ceiling, bollard and floor luminaires has been growing for 20 years and sets completely new standards for outside lighting. The luminaire families offer ideal scope for combining variations of form and size, together with a high degree of flexibility for many different architectural uses. As well as offering safe guidance, the puristic luminaires effectively put buildings and open spaces into the right setting, both on the private and on the contract sector. IP44.de has already won many awards for its innovative capabilities.

History
IP44.de's story begins in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, East Westphalia, where the company today still has its roots. For three generations now, the family business has been advising customers about lighting and light planning. It soon transpired that there were no really recommendable luminaires for outside use. And so in 1993, Bernd Schmalhorst founded IP44.de outside lighting. The company with its innovative luminaires enthrals customers not only from Germany: today it sells its products all over the world. IP44.de's success is based on cautious growth while clearly focusing on the company's core expertise: developing aesthetically perfect, technologically pioneering outside lights. As an independent medium-sized company, IP44.de remains uncompromisingly true to this creed.

Design and material
Clear shapes, precious materials, filigree design: all this is much more demanding when used for outside applications than in building interiors. IP44.de's creative activities involve contributions from inhouse designers and external specialists, for whom an outside light has to be at least as perfect as an excellent interior luminaire. IP44.de's position as design brand among providers of outside lighting has been confirmed by numerous awards. Together with a clear, reduced design language, the conception focuses on materials with convincing design possibilities combined with a long service life. Anodized aluminium, stainless steel and aluminium die-casting are characteristic features of the luminaires by IP44.de. Detailed, painstaking manual labour is required to create the edges and lines of the refined stainless steel housings with a degree of precision that simply cannot be reached with a machine. The stainless steel luminaire bodies are brushed by hand. As innovative manufacturer of outside lighting, IP44.de also gives the aluminium housings the additional protection of an elaborate anodized finish. This provides that special resistance to all kinds of weather conditions that is simply indispensable for long-life outside lights.

Technologies
The team works constantly to improve the electronic components of the outside lights. The IvyLight-technology specially developed by IP44.de guarantees a high degree of light quality and efficiency together with a long service life for LED outside lights. Instead of integrating efficient LEDs in conventional housings, IP44.de develops thermal, technological and functional systems optimized in a holistic manner. Conceived without ballast technology and transformers, the luminaires offer the same filigree aesthetic appearance as in indoor settings. Every part is designed with individual optimization and coordination in terms of colour rendering, heat control and electronic components. The IvyLight PCBs reduce the temperature in the luminaires, lengthening the service life many times over. A long-term practical test under laboratory conditions permits a reliable performance forecast of 50,000 hours (L70) service life for the latest generation of IvyLights introduced in 2012. The 20% greater efficiency of the present LED generation converts into 10% more light output and 10% less current feed. The luminaires work for more than two decades without needing to change the lamps.