Prize(s) Winners in Cultural Building Lighting Design
Lighting Design/Product Company L'Observatoire International
Lead Designers Hervé Descottes
Other Designer's names Wei Jien, Leah Xandora, Wen Y. Lin, June Park, Linda Noueihed
Architecture Company REX
Client Brown University
Photo Credits Iwan Baan
Other Credits Lighting Suppliers: Ecosense, Luminii, LED Linear, ALW, Times Square, Creative System Lighting, Luci
Completion Date October 2023
Project Location Providence, RI, USA
Entry DescriptionThis project is a new performing arts building inserted into an existing university campus. The scope of work includes front of house interior lighting, exterior facade and site lighting. For the interior, the lighting reinforces the strong architectural form either as illuminated surfaces or lighting in a grid that follows the modular units of the building.
During the day the sunlight reveals all the intricate details of the facade as you approach the monolithic form of the building. The facade is intentionally opaque with a transparent datum that is the main lobby and circulation. As the sun sets the lighting to take over by the glow from the interior lighting and moving upwards and downwards away from the lobby level grazing the facade in both directions.
The downlighting below the lobby level emphasizes the sense of floating over the public exterior that has adjustable track lighting for flexible uses such as temporary events and performances. The campus presence of the new Performing Arts Center works at the site and street scale to allow safe movement as well as the urban scale to give a unique identity at nighttime.
The main space of the building is a large flexible auditorium, and the lighting layers allow for discrete lighting to the seating system to reduce visible light sources into the main space.
