Canadian Parliament - West Block, Chamber

Lead Designers Jean Sundin, Enrique Peiniger, Wendy Jiang

Entry Description

The Canadian Parliament Chamber of Commons, an innovative transformation of the original West Block courtyard, flaunts modernity while harmoniously integrating its historic surroundings. Here, lighting must seamlessly balance disparate functional and aesthetic criteria and serve a range of uses, from public visits to television broadcasts.

Luminaires are visually integrated into cantilevered column branches that are natural extensions of the Chamber’s minimalist architecture and interior design. These are strategically positioned, responding to the Chamber’s most critical demand: optimizing TV broadcast lighting tilt angles in the absence of a typical gantry system. Answering these unique lighting challenges is a complex, hidden luminaire arrangement that involves incredibly precise aiming angles, which directly inform the geometry and design of the branches themselves.

A transparent roof, connecting the Chamber’s modern interior with its historic backdrop, floods the vast space with daylight. Coordination of sunlight screening systems features this natural light, yet diffuses against high contrast ratios and stabilizes transient lighting conditions for television broadcasting.

Company Description

Office for Visual Interaction (OVI) is an internationally acclaimed lighting design studio based in NYC. Driven by the virtuosity of its founders, Chief Creative Jean Sundin and Chief Innovator Enrique Peiniger, the studio’s work reflects their passionate curiosity, technical imagination, and inspired artistry.

We use light as a medium to transform space, visuals and emotions. The controlled design of light over matter creates a sense of place and awakens the user’s cultural memory.