Prize(s) Honorable Mentions
Company Cline Bettridge Bernstein
Lead Designers F. Bettridge, M. Hennes, N. Wattanachote
Other Designer's names G. Fujimura, G. Brenchley
Architecture Company Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
Client Salt Lake City Corporation - Community & Economic Development
Photo Credits Jeff Goldberg/Esto / iLight Technologies / Jack E. Madsen III Architectural Photography
Other Credits HKS Architects, Inc. (Architect of Record)
Completion Date October 2016
Project Location Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Entry DescriptionAt night, a transformative lighting design brings this new performing arts venue to life. The lighting of the lobby’s back wall blurs the solidity of the curtainwall and gives the space an inviting glow. Decorative pendants add sparkle and scale.
The experience upon entering the theater is breathtaking. Multi-colored perimeter walls are evenly washed, recalling the striated mountains enveloping the city. Dimmable LED strands outline the balconies, reinforcing the wall patterns and highlighting the offset of the side balconies.
The showpiece is the shimmering ceiling, whose lighting recreates Utah’s starry night sky. The awe-inspiring lighting belies the immense technical effort required to achieve the design. To create the starry ceiling, a scattering of LED points in varying sizes are arrayed on strings, which are stretched across frames arranged in two offset layers. A complex dimming scheme, coupled with the physical distance between the lighting layers and the differently sized LEDs, creates a sparkling sense of depth.
The architecture sets the stage, but the lighting completes the picture: a grand amphitheater under a starry night sky, nestled among the mountains.
