HypoVereinsbank (HVB), a private and corporate banking institute, recently renovated and restructured by Bottler + Lutz Architekten BDA, the bank’s meeting rooms and communal areas harmonise a studied corporate aspect with an artistically contemporary air. A series of artworks, many of which are housed within floor-to-ceiling glass volumes, sit side by side with an array of meeting, consultation and lounge spaces.

In the heavyweight world of banking, particularly of the private and corporate class, there is usually an expectation that the setting exudes authority, constraint and professional comportment. The interiors at HVB Freising certainly fulfil this expectation, yet they do so with a nuanced approach. Here materials, furnishings, artworks and lighting are presented in a manner that blends both subtle and expressive design notes.

This difference in subtle versus expressive is especially evident in the choice of LZF design lighting. In meeting rooms, where important conversations take place beneath furrowed brows, Bottler + Lutz plumped for the rather earnest Cuad pendant lamp. Designed by award-winning German designer Burkhard Dammer, the Cuad light is an architecturally pertinent piece that illuminates the space with a quiet beauty. Its cube shape and wood veneer inspire the Cuad pendant with an elegant midcentury-esque appeal, a perfect complement to the wood tabletops and carpeted floors furnishing each room.

In a bold contrast to the lighting featured in HVB Freising’s meeting rooms, Bottler + Lutz chose to hang LZF’s Link Chain lights in those spaces created for lounging and admiring the art exhibits. Designed by Irish designer Ray Power, the handmade Link Chains (each made up of six Link modules) are beautiful and brazen in their majestic display. Suspended in rows of three, the Link Chains add an element of drama to the otherwise ordered environment.

Together, the Cuad and Link Chain lights provide HVB Freising with a winning investment in design.

Photography by: Michael Heinrich