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a ceiling fan with a light

Stories by Hydro

Indirect light promotes productivity at work and reduces absence due to illness

In 1995 Maarten Loerakker took over a lighting maintenance company. And what did he see? That many office workers or pupils at school were not satisfied with the lighting. He regularly visited places where lights were turned off. This is a problem. And for problems, a good entrepreneur will find a solution: in this case, indirect lighting.

People often don't even realise that the standard lighting leaves something to be desired. They quickly get tired while working or even get a headache. And what does practice show? Good indirect lighting improves work or learning performance and reduces absence due to illness.

Daylight imitation

Maarten Loerakker, the founder and manager of Loerakker Lighting BV knows why: "Because the light does not shine directly down but indirectly through the ceiling, an ideal light image is created for working and learning environments. This is ideal because it imitates natural daylight the best. Daylight is indirect, reflects everywhere and comes from all sides. Natural daylight or something similar is simply the most pleasant light to stay in".

And so, he developed his own luminaires for indirect light under the appropriate brand name SurroundLight - a business that has since become the main activity of the initial maintenance company. In the meantime, the product range has continued to grow and Loerakker Lighting also offers luminaires with a combination of indirect and direct light and a number of matching luminaires with which any desired lighting plan can be implemented, e.g. to replace luminaires in suspended ceilings.

Aluminium: an obvious choice

According to Maarten Loerakker, aluminium for the housing of the luminaires was an obvious choice: "Aluminium is a good heat conductor and dissipates the heat of the LED lamps well, which extends the life of the lamps. Aluminium is also easy to extrude and offers you great design freedom for a designer. In addition, aluminium is a light material".

Pleasant cooperation with Hydro

The profiles are supplied from Hydro Extrusion Raeren. Maarten particularly appreciates the pleasant cooperation with Hydro: "We always have the same contact person. That all runs very smoothly. It goes without saying that the profiles must be delivered correctly, according to drawings and within the tolerances. But what makes the difference is the service, also and especially when it has to be fast. If, for example, I only have three weeks from drawing to product, then we make that happen together. I make the drawing; Hydro indicates any areas for improvement to me; and three weeks later the product is ready".

A customer-supplier relationship with respect and appreciation for each other. And that pays off, because in the meantime almost all luminaires are made from Hydro aluminium extrusion profiles.

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