Lighting makes a huge difference to any structure, from an office to a home to a trade show stand. Some believe lighting can make or break a design.
In recognition of its impact, World Architecture News (WAN) runs its annual Lighting Awards, highlighting the vital role that it plays in old and new structures. This year’s winner was The Rookery, in Chicago, described as “one of the greatest surviving examples of early commercial skyscrapers”.
The building is over 100 years old but its dark red masonry practically made the building disappear at night, at least until an innovative lighting project came along to turn it into an iconic classic on the Chicago nightscape.
Miniature, custom 14-watt LED luminaire modules are used to highlight the windows – all of which have different sized ledges. Micro-optics are used fire a flattened cone of illumination three stories high, but without reaching into the night sky or keeping the neighbors up.
A 3,000K warm white color temperature is used to bring out the red color of the masonry. Of course, being an historic building meant all of this has to be invisible to pedestrians.
The judges agreed that the project was a worthy winner, managing to create a strong impact through subtle means.
Mark Major, Director Speirs + Major , commented: “It is beautiful and very subtle. It’s a precious, listed building so they had to do it extremely carefully, and they have, incredibly well. It’s like candlelight.”
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