Munich Airport Marriott — Sky Lobby Relighting

Project: Munich Airport Marriott Hotel — Sky Lobby & Reception relighting Location: Freisinger Strasse 80, 85399 Hallbergmoos, Germany Scope: 1,840 m² public-area retrofit · 312 luminaires · DALI-2 broadcast + Casambi mesh Delivered: Q1 2025

Why this retrofit happened

Guest reviews flagged the original 2008 Sky Lobby as "yellow", "hot" and "tired". On Reddit r/travel and TripAdvisor 2024–2025 threads, four pain points repeated: glare from exposed downlights at the check-in desk, dim corner seating where business travelers wanted to work, dated 3000 K everywhere with no evening shift, and visible flicker on phone cameras during influencer shoots. Marriott Bonvoy's 2024 brand audit also pushed the property below the EDGE-Advanced energy threshold.

We were asked to fix all four without closing the lobby — work ran 23:00–05:00 over 28 nights.

What we installed

Zone	Fixture	Optic	CCT	Notes
Check-in desk	XHLWX D62 magnetic spot 12 W	24° honeycomb	3000 K	UGR 16, CRI 95
Reception ceiling wash	Recessed linear 18 W/m	90° batwing	tunable 2700–4000 K	DALI-2 DT8
Lounge seating	Pendant 24 W	38°	2700 K	dimmed to 30% after 22:00
Circulation	Trimless downlight 9 W	36°	3000 K	flicker <1%
Bar / evening	RGBW cove	grazing	scene-driven	Casambi scenes

Total connected load dropped from 38.2 kW to 20.1 kW — 47% reduction, confirmed by 30-day post-install metering.

Control logic

A single Casambi network handles 312 nodes; a DALI-2 gateway pushes four scheduled scenes (Morning 4000 K / Day 3500 K / Evening 2700 K / Night 2200 K). Staff can override per-zone from an iPad at concierge. No app needed for guests.

Compliance & KPIs

• EN 12464-1: reception 300 lx achieved, UGR 16 (limit 19)
• DIN SPEC 67600 circadian: melanopic EDI 180 lx @ 09:00, 35 lx @ 22:00
• Flicker: <1% PstLM at 100% and 10% dim
• Payback: 3.4 years on energy alone, 2.1 years including maintenance savings

Project gallery

Reception desk after retrofit — UGR 16 at the agent eye-line.

Custom 24 W pendants over the lounge cluster — dimmed to 30% post-22:00 via Casambi scene.

Lounge zone running the "Evening 2700 K" scene.

Porte-cochère wash — facade is on a separate dawn/dusk DALI-2 gateway.

Lessons for similar airport hotels

1. Don't fight glare with diffusers — honeycomb louvers solved the check-in complaint without dropping lumens.
2. Tunable white pays for itself on review scores — guest review sentiment around "lighting" flipped from −0.42 to +0.61 in the first 90 days.
3. Mesh > wired for retrofits — Casambi mesh meant zero new low-voltage cabling above suspended ceilings.

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Designed, supplied and commissioned by XHLWX. For a private walkthrough or photometric files, contact our project team.