With “THE EDITIONS” Zumtobel celebrates lighting solutions for visionary architecture
press release
12/02/2026
With “THE EDITIONS,” the Austrian lighting manufacturer Zumtobel presents a series of lighting solutions developed in collaboration with international architecture and design offices. This innovation-driven platform, beyond the standard product range, is aimed at project partners who see light as an essential element of their architectural concepts. Within the framework of THE EDITIONS, Zumtobel invites them to partake in a creative dialogue.
The latest THE EDITIONS collection was created to meet the growing structural demands of modern projects: the need for forward-thinking design, and resource-conserving materials, while offering technically innovative and aesthetically advanced lighting solutions. The luminaires embody the joy of changing perspectives as a driver of innovation, anchoring light with a new significance in architecture.
Architectural concepts are now developed with foresight to ensure sustainability and spatial quality, even within flexible usage scenarios. The luminaires in the THE EDITIONS series respond to various spatial situations where light should take on infrastructural functions, allow individual control, and precisely balance visual quality. Whether as a freestanding task light SKENA, linear pendant luminaire IZURA, tubular luminaire SOLENA, or compact table lamp TALUNA, the spectrum demonstrates Zumtobel's conceptual freedom and technical excellence.
The new editions were created through very different collaborations. Exemplary in this regard are both the large-scale architectural project of the HORTUS office building by Herzog & de Meuron, for which the SOLENA luminaires were developed, and an extended, intensive conceptual phase for the visionary task light SKENA with the Hamburg-based office BAID Architektur. Founder and CEO Jessica Borchardt describes the dialogue of BAID with Zumtobel’s development department as an extraordinary learning process: “Our work focused on a long-standing gap in the market. These either didn’t meet regulatory requirements or functional tender criteria, or were too visually dominant,” explains Borchardt. The SKENA luminaire, developed together with Zumtobel, is a forward-thinking solution to this issue. It does not appear as a task light but primarily through its light. A high proportion of indirect light creates basic brightness reflected via the ceiling and room surfaces, enabling uniform illumination even in open or double-occupied work zones. Presence and daylight sensors, as well as control technology, are fully integrated into the luminaire. Optional features such as swarm functionality expand the system when required. “Technically, SKENA is designed to do everything without constantly displaying everything. This is for us the essence of sustainability,” emphasizes Borchardt.
“The luminaire embodies not only innovation but also the spirit of real-world project practice. In this way, we can position light as an integral component of architecture for our clients in a completely new way.”
Jessica Borchardt, Founder and CEO of BAID
The SOLENA luminaire combines architectural synthesis, sustainable performance, and technical integration ideally. “For a building with such high conceptual and design ambition as HORTUS, we didn’t want to leave the control of the lighting to the users. Instead, we wanted to embed the lighting concept into the basic building fit-out and make it an integral part of the architecture,” explains Associate Alexander Franz from the responsible architectural office Herzog & de Meuron. “Because the indoor climate in HORTUS is technically monitored and we planned a material concept of wood and clay that affects the room climate, sensors had to be integrated without burdening the ceiling with devices or cables.” Therefore, a solution combining lighting and sensor technology in one system was developed early on. Thomas Mika, founder of lighting design partner Reflexion, describes how he came up with the idea for a networked luminaire and developed it in joint workshops with Zumtobel: “The luminaires were supposed to communicate with each other. The challenge, however, was to house the very complex technology in a simple appearance that fits the sustainable ceiling concept of clay and wood.” In close coordination with architecture and lighting design, Zumtobel translated these requirements into the SOLENA glass tube luminaire.
With the elegant THE EDITIONS box, Zumtobel celebrates the design practice of close collaboration with architects and designers. Each box makes the development of the luminaires traceable as an exploratory design process with a precise outcome. The large-format posters are designed as collector’s items. An accompanying booklet complements the box, explaining the attitude, decision-making logic, and design ambitions. With the new THE EDITIONS series, Zumtobel also emphasizes how the company understands architecture, light, and technology as inseparable disciplines. “We warmly invite you to challenge us as a development partner,” says Alexandru Zloteanu, Innovation Manager at Zumtobel. “Visionary architectural projects need innovative lighting concepts. If we combine our expertise early on, light can become a driving force in spatial quality.”
The SKENA, IZURA, and SOLENA luminaires are already available. TALUNA will be available from May 2026. Zumtobel will present the new collection for the first time at the Light & Building 2026 in Frankfurt.
Press contact
Nicole Vesting
Vesting Communications GmbH & Co. KG
Klenzestraße 7
80469 Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 172 836 9922
[email protected]
vestingcommunications.com
Vesting Communications GmbH & Co. KG
Klenzestraße 7
80469 Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 172 836 9922
[email protected]
vestingcommunications.com
Juliane Wöhrle
Brand Communications & PR Manager
Zumtobel Lighting GmbH
Schweizer Straße 30
6850 Dornbirn, Austria
Tel: +43 (0) 664 80892 6014
[email protected]
z.lighting
zumtobel.com
Sales for Germany, Austria, Switzerland contact
Zumtobel Group Deutschland GmbH Grevenmarschstraße 74-78
32657 Lemgo, Germany
Tel.: +49 5261 2120
[email protected]
www.zumtobel.de
32657 Lemgo, Germany
Tel.: +49 5261 2120
[email protected]
www.zumtobel.de
ZG Lighting Austria GmbH
Advice Centre Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland
Wagramer Straße 19
A-1220 Vienna
Tel.: +43 1 258 2601 0
Fax: +43 1 258 2601 82845
[email protected]
www.zumtobel.at
Advice Centre Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland
Wagramer Straße 19
A-1220 Vienna
Tel.: +43 1 258 2601 0
Fax: +43 1 258 2601 82845
[email protected]
www.zumtobel.at
Zumtobel Licht AG
Thurgauerstrasse 39
CH-8050 Zurich
Tel.: +41 44 305 35 35
Fax: +41 44 305 35 36
[email protected]
www.zumtobel.ch
Thurgauerstrasse 39
CH-8050 Zurich
Tel.: +41 44 305 35 35
Fax: +41 44 305 35 36
[email protected]
www.zumtobel.ch
About Zumtobel
Our passion is to create quality lighting solutions that deliver total perfection. We are convinced, that the right kind of light can create the right atmosphere in a building at any time of day or night. When tailored to people’s individual needs, light becomes something of an experience. We are always exploring new ways to come up with unique and timeless designs and are inspired by an unrivalled creative ambition. When working on tomorrow’s lighting, we are driven by our philosophy of innovation and continuously improving the aesthetics of light. With passion, a sense of beauty and a forward-looking approach, we are constantly seeking to use light to help improve people’s quality of life. The Zumtobel brand is part of Zumtobel Group AG, based in Dornbirn in the Vorarlberg region of Austria.