PRESS RELEASE /

13-09-2013

Co-creation takes designing with daylight to a new era

The VELUX Group and Foster + Partners have joined forces in a close innovative cooperation with the ambition to revolutionise the commercial skylight market – the result is VELUX Modular Skylights. The journey starts on 13 September in London.

On 13 September, the VELUX Group, which owns the strongest brand in the building industry, and world-leading architectural firm Foster + Partners celebrates the creation of VELUX Modular Skylights. Together, they kick off a new era of designing with daylight at an evening event at the spectacular Foster + Partners London landmark, The Gherkin.

The two companies share a passion for daylight and how it can enrich our lives and make our buildings better and more comfortable to be in. So the vision of the co-creation project was to design a sustainable solution that could bring daylight into commercial buildings, such as schools, hospitals and shopping malls, simply and easily. It is the first time for both companies that they have engaged in this kind of close working partnership.

“We feel that we have found the perfect match in Foster + Partners because daylight is essential to both our businesses. They also complement our technical knowledge with their experience in design and architecture. So this partnership responds to a need in the market with a solution we haven’t been able to create on our own,” says Jørgen Tang-Jensen, CEO of the VELUX Group.

VELUX Modular Skylights combines the VELUX Group’s extensive knowledge of bringing daylight and fresh air into residential buildings through the roof with Foster + Partners’ in-depth knowledge of building design and architectural needs and challenges. The result is a new way to think of commercial skylights because the modules incorporate high-energy performance, slim and elegant design and a unique modularity that break with the traditional custom-made skylight solutions of today.

“The benefit of collaboration between an organisation like ourselves and the VELUX Group is enormous. The problems we are all facing in the world cannot be solved by any one individual – or, more increasingly, even one discipline like architecture. So by combining knowledge and components in the way we have with VELUX,that is a very good thing for design in the future − because we are able to achieve a lot more for a lot less,” says David Nelson, Senior Partner and Head of Design at Foster + Partners.

VELUX Modular Skylights is being launched in Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Belgium, Holland and Germany in 2012, followed byFrance in 2013.

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About the VELUX Group

The VELUX Group creates better living environments with daylight and fresh air through the roof. The VELUX product programme contains a wide range of roof windows and skylights, along with solutions for flat roofs. The Group also supplies many types of decoration and sun screening, roller shutters, installation products, products for remote control and thermal solar collectors for installation in roofs. The VELUX Group, which has manufacturing companies in 11 countries and sales companies in just under 40 countries, represents one of the strongest brands in the global building materials sector and its products are sold in most parts of the world. The VELUX Group has about 10,000 employeesand is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by foundations and family. For more details, visit

About Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners,one of the mostinnovative architectural practices in the world today, led by Founder and Chairman Norman Foster, is based in London with project offices worldwide. Over the past four decades the practice has pioneered a sustainable approach to architecture and ecology through a strikingly wide range of work, from urban masterplans, public infrastructure, airports, civic and cultural buildings, offices and workplaces to private houses and product design. The studio has established an international reputation with buildings such as the world’s largest airport terminal at Beijing, Swiss Re’s London Headquarters, Hearst Headquarters in New York, Millau Viaduct in France, the German Parliament in the Reichstag, Berlin, The Great Court at London’s British Museum, Headquarters’ for HSBC in Hong Kong and London, and Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt. There is also a strong interest in city planning and infrastructure. The practice has received over 600 awards for excellence and won over 100 national and international competitions since its inception in 1967.

Contact

Ghita Borring
Head of Media Relations
The VELUX Group
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