Our daylighting design services range from general consulting on window performance and integration with electric lighting systems to computer-simulated analyses of specific daylight conditions, such as site overshadowing, annual overheating periods and worst-case-scenario sun exposure. We also develop specifications for shading devices and perform visualizations to anticipate qualitatively how daylight will impact the architecture at any given time of day. Through these analyses, our daylighting work addresses quantitative project objectives to meet energy code or light level requirements as well as overall intent for the architecture’s day-night composition.
The range of residential projects in our portfolio demonstrates our flexible, varied approach to residential lighting. Since we work on so many different housing types, from college dormitories and multi-unit affordable housing developments to high-end single family homes, we base our lighting design approach on the particular qualities of each project rather than apply a standard design to all of them.
Our experience in many project types, such as landscape, workplace, hospitality and budget-focused projects, informs our educational portfolio. This includes not just schools and university buildings, but other projects that demonstrate our commitment to a broad interpretation of education. Interactive museum exhibits, educational light art and research-focused community engagement projects all encourage various forms of learning and promote interdisciplinary collaboration.
Our experience working on projects with strict budget limitations has led us to streamline our budget management process. To ensure that projects satisfy cost limitations without compromising design quality, we present anticipated lighting hardware costs alongside design proposals in every project phase, and develop product specifications that support competitive bidding and leverage economies of scale. We also take into account the long-term costs of lighting equipment operation and maintenance, with the understanding that budget-conscious lighting design must remain economical over time.
The projects in our workplace portfolio give us opportunities to use light to foster collaboration and enhance company identity. Our familiarity with energy standards such ASHRAE, LEED and WELL bolsters our work on these projects, which often involve ambitious sustainability targets.
Our portfolio includes a range of hotels, inns, restaurants, bars, cafés and food halls. With a particular focus on enhancing the individual character of each of these spaces, our approach to hospitality projects draws on light’s capacity to foster conviviality and connection.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of our design process, we are hesitant to distinguish too sharply between light art and lighting design. The way we approach each informs the other, and those approaches are always evolving. Our portfolio of work that specifically explores spatial and perceptual qualities of light as the primary subject includes gallery exhibitions, permanent sculptural installations, community engagement events and photographic studies.
Our firm’s close connection to academia often leads us to consider our lighting design work in the context of our broader research interests. This research manifests in our design practice in various ways, from lectures and publications to advanced technical analyses. Our commitment to sharing our research interests with both the design community and the public at large leads us to participate in community engagement workshops to better understand how lighting affects people, and to seek out work that gives us the opportunity to rethink typical design processes.
Many of our more prominent urban projects involve establishing an intentional nighttime presence for the architecture in its context—what we refer to as the building’s night identity. Both interior and exterior lighting contribute to this effort. Interior lighting that is visible through windows or glass walls can suggest liveliness, a sense that activity is happening within the building, while exterior lighting can highlight facade features or illuminate adjacent sidewalks. Our night identity experience includes historic buildings (which often have strict exterior lighting requirements) as well as contemporary projects.
We are committed to designing lighting for exterior spaces that encourages recreation and social interaction while remaining considerate to plant and animal habitats. Our landscape lighting portfolio includes parks and gardens as well as university campuses and urban streetscapes. Our design approach for these projects is determined by the spatial characteristics of each site and how it relates to its surroundings. In selecting exterior lighting equipment, we balance durability considerations with aesthetics, keeping in mind how it will appear in the landscape during the day.
The historic projects in our portfolio include many well-known structures whose architecture is central to the atmosphere of their surrounding cities and towns. These projects demonstrate our experience tackling the specific issues that arise when illuminating historic architecture with modern lighting equipment. We prioritize the detailing of all our lighting solutions to ensure that they will integrate with the historic fabric. Our consideration of the historic lighting intent of each space often leads to restoration and retrofitting of existing decorative light fixtures.
Focusing a lighting system after installation involves aiming adjustable fixtures and adjusting effects using optical and glare control accessories to fine-tune lighting performance. A critical part of our process is to review the focusing goals with other team members, such as architects or exhibition designers, and refine the composition of light and shadow to ensure that the lighting supports the design or curatorial intent. Much of the focusing we do is for art exhibitions, for which our process also includes devising fixture layouts for flexible lighting systems and meeting conservation light level requirements where applicable.
Our firm is committed to supporting cultural organizations, particularly those that promote the arts and sciences. Our portfolio includes a wide range of these institutions, such as libraries, train stations, government buildings, theaters, aquariums, museums, galleries and other exhibit spaces. These projects provide us with valuable opportunities to support local communities through lighting design.
Lighting controls—the coordination of light fixture dimming levels to support varying uses in a particular space—are an important factor in the success of our designs. Our process for developing lighting control strategies includes working with building owners and occupants to understand how they expect to use the space, then translating this information to lighting control system settings. We also manage lighting controls coordination across project teams, and ensure that building users are comfortable with operating the lighting control system after it is installed.
Washington, DC | 2016
This workplace renovation included the reconfiguration of office floors, the addition of a multipurpose space, and expansion of the company’s dining facility. Our lighting design approach sought to introduce more daylight to the space and unify the interior with a cohesive aesthetic while adhering to tight budget restrictions.
Collaborators | SKB Architects, Ron Solomon (Photographer)
Links | @skb_architecture
