Prize(s) Honorable Mentions
Company Hartranft Lighting Design
Lead Designers Paula Ziegenbein
Other Designer's names Andrea Hartranft
Client confidential
Photo Credits Anice Hoachlander
Other Credits Wiedemann Architects
Completion Date 1/2022
Project Location Bethesda, MD
Entry DescriptionAn extensive collection of Japanese art, for invitation only viewing, was seamlessly combined with a beautifully appointed private residence.
Layers of light, controlled locally and wirelessly, create a constantly changing environment for constantly changing art. The distinctive gallery ceiling, reminiscent of traditional shoji screens, required exacting integration of back-lighting and diffusion with minimalist track heads highlighting wall mounted art. Galleries required careful selection, placement and control of museum grade LED luminaires to illuminate, while preserving, mixed media collections of hand-painted silk scrolls, gilded wood panels, antique Buddha sculptures, Japanese ceramics and artifacts in the owner’s frequently rotated collection.
Residential lighting supports the owners’ (who are seniors) visibility needs while elegantly connecting private dwelling areas to galleries and entertaining spaces. The clients’ preference to personally maintain the lighting, and the constant rotation of exhibits required development of a “recipe book” of optics, beam shapes and diffusion.
Sustainability Approach100% LED luminaires are long life and energy-efficient; eliminating lamp replacement and facilitating operating cost savings. A lighting control system including wireless touchscreen tablets & hard-wired wall stations was programmed with preset lighting scenes making it simple to use. Accessibility is addressed with a timeclock based nighttime scene illuminates circulation paths with low-level, warm-dim LED toe-kick and step lighting for those late-night snack visits to the kitchen. Jamb switches and sensors automatically turn on task lighting.
