VL 45 Radiohus: Lauritzen's broadcasting house lamp, then and now
The VL 45 began as a glass fitting for Radiohuset in Copenhagen. It now comes as a pendant in two sizes and a cordless lamp, alongside the VL 38 from the same building.
Short answer: The VL 45 Radiohus is a glass pendant Vilhelm Lauritzen drew in the 1940s for Radiohuset, the Danish broadcasting house in Copenhagen, whose lighting he developed with Louis Poulsen. Today it is made as a three-layer mouth-blown pendant in Ø175 and Ø250 and as a cordless portable, and the VL 38 table and wall lamps come from the same building.
A building that needed calm light
Radiohuset was the home of Danish radio, designed by Lauritzen and completed in the mid-1940s. He treated it as one piece of work: the plan, the concert hall, the interiors and the light fittings were drawn together, and the fittings were developed with Louis Poulsen rather than chosen from a catalogue. The building is now the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
A broadcasting house is a place of long working days in studios, corridors and offices. Lauritzen's fittings answer that with rounded volumes of glass and metal that hold the light inside the shade and let it out evenly. It is a different route from the layered shades Poul Henningsen was developing at the same company, and the reason his lamps look soft rather than technical.
How the VL 45 shade is made
The shade is mouth-blown in three layers of glass: glossy on the outside, white on the inside. On the white opal version the inner layer is polished opal, which is why it looks almost solid when switched off and glows evenly when lit. On pale yellow, pale rose and amber the colour sits in the outer glass over the same white interior.
The glass gathers into a brushed brass fitting at the top. Louis Poulsen leaves that brass untreated, so it darkens and develops a patina over the years. The pendant hangs on a 4.4 m white fabric cord with a canopy, and is rated IP20 for indoor use.
The two everyday sizes are quite different lamps. The Ø175 measures 175 x 246 mm, weighs 2.9 kg and takes an E14 bulb of up to 20 W. The Ø250 measures 250 x 328 mm, weighs 4.4 kg and takes an E27 bulb of up to 100 W. A larger Ø370 is also listed. No bulb is included.
How to tell the Radiohus lamps apart
Several fittings from the building are in production, and the brass is the quickest clue to which one you are looking at.
| Lamp | History | Light source | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| VL 38 Table Lamp | Late 1930s for Radiohuset; relaunched 2016 with LED | Built-in LED, 9.6 W, 2700 K | Tilting aluminium shade in white or black, curved untreated brass stem, 380 mm tall, 5.1 kg |
| VL 38 Wall Lamp | In Louis Poulsen catalogues from the 1940s; LED 2016; black edition 2017 | Built-in LED, 9.6 W, 2700 K | Curved brass arm, switch on the rear housing, 135 x 190 x 290 mm |
| VL 45 Pendant Ø175 | 1940s, for Radiohuset | E14, up to 20 W | Brushed untreated brass fitting that darkens with use; four glass colours |
| VL 45 Pendant Ø250 | 1940s, for Radiohuset | E27, up to 100 W | Same glass and brass, 328 mm tall, 4.4 kg |
| VL 45 Portable | Recent cordless version | Built-in LED, 5.4 W, 2700 K | Aged brass with a hairline lacquered finish, dark from new, and a leather strap |
Both VL 38 lamps share a two-step switch, a 4 or 8-hour timer, an adjustable shade angle and a 3.3 m cord to an external LED driver with a plug. That cord length is worth measuring before you plan a pair either side of a bed.
The cordless chapter
The VL 45 Radiohus Portable Lamp takes the pendant shade off the ceiling and sets it on a small brass base. It stays close to the Ø175 pendant at 175 x 275 mm and is made in three colours: pale yellow, pale rose and white opal. Amber is a pendant colour only.
The changes are practical. A built-in LED replaces the bulb, dimming is by touch, charging is by USB-C with an angled 1.5 m cable, and a genuine leather strap lets you carry it in one hand. The brass arrives aged and lacquered, so it will not change the way the pendant's untreated brass does. For that decision in detail, see VL 45 Radiohus pendant vs portable lamp.
What to buy first
- A small dining table for two to four: the VL 45 Radiohus Pendant in Ø250. It takes an E27 bulb of up to 100 W, enough to light a table on its own.
- A kitchen counter, a hallway or a bedside: the Ø175, hung singly or as two or three in a row. Its 20 W maximum keeps a row from glaring at close range.
- Reading in bed with no room on the nightstand: the VL 38 Wall Lamp. The shade tilts onto the page and the timer switches it off if you fall asleep.
- A desk: the VL 38 Table Lamp, which aims light where the pendant cannot.
- Light that moves from table to balcony: the portable in white opal, the colour that looks most like the pendant when unlit.
If you mix them, expect the untreated brass on the pendant and the VL 38 to darken first where hands touch it, while the aged portable starts dark. The rest of Lauritzen's work in production is in the Vilhelm Lauritzen collection.
