The multistorey administrative building completed in 1959 underwent thorough refurbishment to meet contemporary expectations of a corporate headquarters. The building received two new entrances with flying roofs that noticeably complement the older building.
The office lighting design has linear lighting fixtures integrated into the ceiling. The arrangement of luminaires underscores the lightness and refinement of the building in its nocturnal effect. At our suggestion, the luminaires are placed in a channel custom designed by us to include all of the building automation: sprinklers, loudspeakers, ventilation outlets, etc. The space in which to position all of these elements was very constricted, making their placement in the channel a particular challenge that had to be closely coordinated with the architects and building technicians. As a result, the ceiling is now extremely clear in its structure and remains free of any other fixtures or installations.

The architectural ensemble at Alter Wall 2-32 is composed of five buildings directly next to Hamburg's City Hall. The historically listed block was renovated to house shops, restaurants and high-end office space, including a large interior courtyard. Central importance has been given to the new Bucerius Passage, an arcade with bridge that now serves as a new and important passageway in Hamburg's city center.
We designed special lighting fixtures for this arcade: a pendant luminaire of a hyperboloid construction that is distinguished by interlaced metal bars from which light rings hang. Hidden in these rings are fixed light points that illuminate the floors and ceilings of the passageway and colonnade. The dimensions of the lighting fixtures vary widely depending on their position in order to match the given spatial dimensions.
These large-format light objects create a light motif visible from afar that harks back to the grand historical Alster arcades and gives this special place a festive atmosphere in the evenings.

On the foundations of the old Petri Church in Berlin, a new sacred building is being built that will unite the three monotheistic world religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam under one roof. It will be a house of encounter, for people of different religions to get to know each other and exchange ideas. Three sacred rooms are arranged around a central domed room. Above this, the building opens up to the city with a loggia and offers views over Berlin.

For the imposing dome room in the centre of the building, we developed a discreet wall luminaire with several lighting components. This allows us to illuminate the entire room as well as the dome in a balanced way with just a few luminaires. A universal luminaire in the same aesthetics, also developed by us, provides uniform illumination of the circulation areas throughout the building. In the sacred rooms, skylights optimised by us with different characteristics create an appropriate room atmosphere with daylight. At night, this is taken over by the precisely planned room lighting consisting of simple pendant and surface-mounted luminaires.

With only 16 instead of 32 headlights, the facade of the Berlin city-West's historical landmark is illuminated. Thanks to the energy-efficient LED technology, the old tower ruin is set up with an upwards diminishing light intensity. Thus, detrimental scattered light is avoided and the blue windows of the buildings keep their original effect.

A milestone for KARDORFF: winning the competition in 2000 to design the lighting for the Brandenburg Gate, the national symbol of our history. The lighting concept subtly enhances the spatial impact of the Brandenburg Gate, no matter from which direction one approaches it. The lighting highlights the gate as the most important building on Pariser Platz and emphasises its silhouette along the long axis stretching from the Tiergarten to the historic centre of Berlin. Thanks to uniform light colours, the landmark is now particularly easy to photograph at night.
In autumn 2026, the lighting system will be upgraded and energy-efficient LED lighting installed.