Pushing my buttons: GIRA

The new Gira headquarters located east of Radevormwald is hard to miss. Anyone approaching this small Bergisch town via the B229 cannot fail to notice the striking building complex. Its black, white and grey panels could be interpreted as architecturally symbolic: transitions from dark to light and from cold to warm – Gira, after all, is in the business of controlling light and heat.

The company has been on this site since 1910, combining tradition with innovation. Dirk Giersiepen, managing director and partner of Gira, has a clear position on this: ‘Every innovation can only ever be a response to people. Because they are at the centre of all our product developments.’

Among Gira’s innovations is the pushbutton sensor 4, whose minimalist design language follows a modular and additive design concept: this means that the sensor can be assigned different functions according to desire and necessity. Each button can be programmed separately – functionality which is based on the international KNX standard with which Gira has been working for a long time.

Thanks to a 3 mm thick material support, the sensor has a pleasant feel to it – if you touch it, it delivers tactile feedback. It also has an integrated temperature and humidity sensor and the LEDs that light up the icons and designations of the buttons can be selected in eight different colours. And speaking of colours: Five different colour and surface variants are now available and from October, that becomes eleven – a level of variety that allows architecture and design to enter into a meaningful dialogue.

© Architonic