The Lighting Practice is teaming with Tevebaugh Associates as the Lighting Designers for The University of Delaware’s STAR Campus (Science, Technology, and Advanced Research).  The new campus will provide additional space for the College of Health Sciences as well as the community.  The STAR Campus will include University of Delaware facilities as well as new companies.

U. of Delaware expanding with private help

By Joseph N. DiStefano, Inquirer Staff Writer

What an opportunity: When the University of Delaware took over a shuttered Chrysler plant in 2008, it gained enough space to double its academic campus in Newark, Del.

Dreamers dusted off old plans and projected them onto the flattened 272-acre site, which sprawls amid I-95, the Northeast Corridor railroad, and UD's brick heart. Some thought: A law school! Maybe a medical school! Massive growth!

But the university, though privately run, is also state-supported. The $24.5 million purchase went through in a howling recession, amid plant closings and bank layoffs. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell's priorities ran more toward propping up blue-collar industries and trying to attract health and energy jobs than to brick-and-mortar building.

There are also internal checks on growth. The school's charter, notes president Patrick Harker, a former dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, limits borrowing for expansion. U.S. college applications are expected to fall with the number of high school grads. Cheap online courses threaten the idea of residential universities.

The result: Where workers once built Patton tanks, Plymouth Valiants, and Dodge Durangos, a mix of industrial, office, retail, and academic space is rising at what Harker calls the STAR Campus - for Science, Technology, and Applied Research.

"It's a sign of the times what's happening here. Really a public-private partnership that's probably driven more by the private side," says Kathleen Matt, dean of UD's growing College of Health Sciences, which prepares 2,000 of the school's 16,000 undergraduates to be physical therapists, physicians' assistants, and other health professionals.

"The university has had to revise plans quite a few times," said Alan Levin, the drugstore heir who serves as Markell's economic-development czar. He compares the mixed uses at STAR to Liberty Property Trust's Navy Yard Corporate Center in South Philadelphia. "You have to be fluid. That's the way business is now evolving," Levin added.

Here's a look at the projects underway:

Wilmington developer Ernie Delle Donne (father of UD basketball star Elena Delle Donne) is gutting the former Chrysler administration building, which faces the main sports complex across College Avenue, and putting in a health sciences complex that is part classroom, part business.

"Pat Harker and Gov. Markell said they wanted this to be an 'economic engine' for Delaware. Well, it's started," says Delle Donne. He has hired Bancroft Construction and other Delaware contractors to build the first, $115 million stage of the project.

Delle Donne has been surprised by all of the would-be tenants. "The people who are lining up include a radiologist, a pharmacist, mental and behavioral health, a sleep lab, an eye-care center, orthopedic groups, a prosthetic group," says Matt, the health-sciences dean.

Click here to read the full article.

For additional information watch this video presented by PBS from July 20, 2012.

WHYY PBS Video: The Bright Future of UD’s STAR Campus

Watch First for Friday, July 20, 2012 on PBS. See more from First.

Yesterday, Wednesday May 29th, construction crews broke ground on the new Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, MD.

The Lighting Practice teamed with KA, Inc. Architecture and Friedmutter Group as the Lighting Designers for Baltimore’s newest gaming destination, Horseshoe Casino.  TLP will be responsible for all of the lighting design which will include gaming areas, a World Series of Poker room, three lounges, feature restaurants and bars including a “Taste of Baltimore” food hall, an outdoor entertainment plaza, and the exterior façade of this two-story casino.  We are proud to be a part of this project which will encourage local retail development in Baltimore’s south side.

Horseshoe Baltimore expectations set high at long-awaited ground breaking (Video)

Jack Lambert: Digital Producer- Baltimore Business Journal

The new Horseshoe Baltimore casino will spur future restaurants, hotels and shops around Baltimore’s southern entrance, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and executives for Caesars Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday.

The comments came during the long-awaited ground breaking of the $400 million casino along Russell Street near M&T Bank Stadium. The start of the project comes almost four years after Maryland voters approved a casino for the city. CBAC Gaming LLC, a consortium led by Caesars and Cleveland-based Rock Gaming LLC, received permission in July from the state Video Lottery Facility Location Commission to operate a Baltimore casino.

“Horseshoe Baltimore will be a proud landmark that announces your arrival into the great city and serve as an anchor for future development between here and M&T Bank Stadium,” said Chad Barnhill, general manager for the casino.

The project will be home to 3,750 slot machines and between 80 and 100 table games.

Click here to read the full article.
 

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s transparent building design continues to create waves in the architectural world.  The building located at 15th and Walnut is one of Midwood Development’s Philadelphia projects.  The mixed-use space will house retail and offices. The Lighting Practice joined the project as interior and exterior lighting designers.  We are proud to be working with BCJ and Midwood Development on this iconic project!

The Architect's Newspaper: Unveiled> Philly's Commercial Corner

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson uses massing to bring identity to Philadelphia's newest commercial building, 15th and Walnut.

By Branden Klayko

The architectural firm behind Apple’s famous crystalline cube on Fifth Avenue has designed a dynamic glass retail structure in downtown Philadelphia at the intersection of 15th and Walnut streets. After studying various massing configurations that would allow tenants to customize their own identity without compromising the overall building appearance, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) devised a three-story structure with enough visual weight to hold its own among the masonry architecture of Center City.

“We evolved into a horizontal layering effect on the facade to give the appearance that the walls could slide,” said Andrew Moroz, associate at BCJ. Since solar heat gain is not an issue on the well-shaded, north-facing site, the architects were able to use ultra-clear low-iron glass. The material allows the steel structure to show through. Though it’s only three stories, with twenty-foot floor-to-floor heights the building reaches 65 feet tall. The structurally-glazed horizontal layers help to emphasize the building’s corner, where a second-story open terrace will be built for the unlikely anchor tenant of this sleek modern building: The Cheesecake Factory.

Full Article

In March 2012, Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women officially opened to the public.  The below uplifting video depicts Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women’s successful first year taking care of mothers and babies.

The Lighting Practice teamed with FKP Architects as the Lighting Designers for the new Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women.  TLP’s scope included lighting for the exterior, interior public spaces, conference center, cafeteria, and the two-story circular sky bridge which connects the Pavilion for Women to Texas Children’s West Tower and Clinical Care facilities.

TCH Pavilion for Women: A year to celebrate, Pavilion for Women one year Anniversary (Video)

“In our designs, we try to be storytellers. I learned in the theatre that a design wrapped around a strong narrative has the best chance for success. Each decision needs to be checked against that central allegory. We try very hard to listen to our clients and really hear their goals. Their resources and willingness to participate in the process will ultimately shape the project’s outcome.”

Al Borden, Principal with The Lighting Practice, is the featured interview in Mondo*Arc Magazine’s April/May 2013 issue.  Al was happy to have the opportunity to share his journey from a theatrical lighting student in Philadelphia/New York City to a Principal of the lighting design firm responsible for the Empire State Building’s Tower Lighting and 230 Park Avenue’s LED color changing façade.

Al Borden

Mondo*Arc Issue 72 April / May 2013

In the space of a week last autumn in New York City, Al Borden attended the public relightings of two of his highest profile projects: the top 30 floors of the Empire State Building, and the façade of the 34-story 230 Park Avenue Building. Vilma Barr caught up with him to discuss the highlights of a glittering career.

Growing up in New York, Al Borden was fascinated with the lights of Manhattan’s skyscrapers. He couldn’t imagine that in 2012, his lighting designs for two of its most famous buildings would become part of the cityscape.
On November 28, the new LEDs at the top tier of the Empire State Building, from floors 72 to 103, were switched on. A week later, and fourteen blocks uptown, the north façade of the 230 Park Avenue Building, came to life with choreographed rippling patterns of holiday hues.

Alfred R. Borden founded The Lighting Practice in Philadelphia 24 years ago. Now, with partners Helen Diemer and Michael Barber, Borden manages TLP’s staff of seventeen, occupying offices in the neo-classic Public Ledger Building in the city’s historic Independence Hall district.

His fascination with lighting began when he started working on shows in high school. “I never wanted to be an actor,” he says, “but I became very interested in creating the fantasy worlds where the acting happened. Lighting absorbed me; nothing seemed to make a place more ‘real’ than the right lighting.”

Borden pursued theatrical lighting design at Temple University in Philadelphia and then went on to the Master of Fine Arts program at New York University. “The instruction was amazing and very demanding. I was privileged to take lighting classes from John Gleason and scenic design classes from Lloyd Burlingame and Fred Voelpel,” he says. “I learned a lot about design but even more about always striving to be better and what it really means to be a professional.”

The NYU connection gave Borden opportunities to work in the New York theatre. “I knocked around for a few years in New York and Philadelphia, including the first US production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Andre DeShields, and did the lighting for some dance performances and some concerts. But by the mid-1980s I had had enough with theatrical lighting. I wanted to work on things that lasted. Somehow I heard about this specialty called architectural lighting, so I bought Bill Lam’s book, got inspired, and started searching for a job.”

Read the full article: Al Borden Interview, Mondo*Arc

TLP is proud to have the opportunity to encourage and challenge future generations of lighting designers.  Emad Hasan and Kimberly King worked with the Philadelphia Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) spearheading the DESIGN with LIGHT Student Competition as Co-Chairs.  The competition was sponsored by the Philadelphia Section of the IES, Lumenpulse, IALD, LIGHTFAIR International, Terrain, and The Lighting Practice.  Please support these students by joining us at the DESIGN with LIGHT Award's Ceremony & Winner's Presentations!  Information about the event is below.

Lumenpulse to participate in Design with Light awards ceremony at Lightfair

LEDs Magazine
Date Announced: 18 Apr 2013

Lumenpulse, a leading innovator and manufacturer of high-performance, architectural LED-based lighting solutions for commercial, institutional, and urban environments, has sponsored "Design with Light," a national student lighting design competition organized by the Philadelphia Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). Other sponsors are the International Association of Lighting Designers and Lightfair.

“Students were tasked with developing an original architectural lighting design,” says Emad Hasan, Project Manager at The Lighting Practice and competition Co-Chair along with Kimberly King. “This year's competition focused on a store called Terrain, a home and garden retail space located in Westport, CT, and owned by Urban Outfitters.”

The winner will be officially announced at Lightfair during an awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 24, at 12 pm, at the Spotlight Lounge in Hall F of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, where they will also receive a $1500 cash prize. The second-place winner will receive $700 and $350 will go to the third-place winner.

Full Article: Lumenpulse to participate in Design with Light awards ceremony at Lightfair

Come out and support our Student Lighting Designers!

IESNA Philadelphia Section Event at LFI 2013

DESIGN with LIGHT AWARD'S CEREMONY & WINNER'S PRESENTATIONS

Date: Wednesday April 24th
Time: 12:00pm - 12:30pm
Location: Pennsylvania Convention Center, Spotlight Lounge, Hall F
Cost: Free to anyone registered at Lightfair

The IESNA Philadelphia Section would like to invite all local members to attend the 2013 Design with Light Award's Ceremony and Winner's Presentation. If you're not familiar, Design with Light is a national student lighting design competition organized by the IESNA Philadelphia Section meant to raise awareness and understanding of the lighting design profession within the student community. This year's 1st place winners will be awarded an all expenses paid trip to Lightfair, full conference passes, and $1,500 cash prize. After the awards ceremony, there will be a brief presentation of the First Place Winning design.

The Anne B. Barshinger Center is located on Lancaster General Health’s East Hempfield Township campus.  This extension of the existing Cancer Center, designed by Ballinger, will open in July 2013.  The Lighting Practice joined the design team in spring of 2011.  TLP was tasked with designing the exterior building, site lighting, and interior public spaces including the Meditation Pavilion and Healing Garden.  We are proud to be a part of a project that will have the opportunity to bring top notch care closer to patients in the Lancaster community.

An inside look at Lancaster General's new $46 million cancer center

Originally Published Mar 20, 2013 20:37
By Cindy Stauffer, Staff Writer

The large, circular garden and glass-walled meditation room. The patient exam rooms adjacent to cancer specialists of all kinds.

The center where you can be fitted for a wig or get a massage. The nurse navigator who helps you understand your treatment, and your options.

The high-tech machine that delivers radiation so focused on your tumor that it adjusts the beam when you breathe.

Lancaster General is in the final stretch of building a new kind of cancer center constructed to provide one-stop, focused care.

"The building was designed to meet patient care needs," said Dr. Randall Oyer, the new center's medical director.

The $46 million, two-story Ann B. Barshinger Center is on the south side of Lancaster General Health's East Hempfield Township campus. Off Spring Valley Road, its sweeping roof is visible from Route 30.

Scheduled to open in early July, the 70,000-square-foot center unites treatments and expands care to patients, said Jan Bergen, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Lancaster General Health.

"It gives us the ability to provide targeted, coordinated care with all the caregivers and support staff present," she said.

Please click the link to read more about the new center and watch an interview with Dr. Randall Oyer, Medical Director, An inside look at Lancaster General's new $46 million cancer center

The Lighting Practice designed the interior and exterior architectural lighting for the new First Baptist Dallas Campus.  Some of the highlights featured in the video below include back-lighted interior stained glass windows and feature wall-lighting in the Horner Family Center.  TLP also consulted with Acoustic Dimensions who were designers of the main sanctuary house lighting.

FOX 4 News Covers teh New First Dallas Campus with Dr. Robert Jeffress

Please follow this link for more information about the design team and TLP’s involvement.

The Lighting Practice teamed with FKP Architects as the Lighting Designers for the new Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women.  TLP’s scope included lighting for the exterior image, interior public spaces, conference center, and cafeteria. The addition of the Pavilion for Women to Texas Children’s Hospital allows TCH to provide a full continuum of care for mothers and their babies.  Soft luminous curves and decorative accents welcome mothers and their families to the new facility.  The sweeping circular bridge over Fannin Street will connect the Women’s Pavilion to the main hospital.  Internally illuminated bridge columns help to delineate the circular form and enhance the visual connection.

What Women Want: Designing Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women

By Jennifer Kovacs Silvis, Managing Editor of Healthcare Design Magazine

It began over a breakfast meeting between two CEOs. Texas Children’s Hospital had a longstanding partnership with St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, a neighbor on the massive Texas Medical Center campus in Houston. In essence, Texas Children’s took care of the babies born to the female patients of St. Luke’s.

But it was during that breakfast that word came of St. Luke’s decision to get out of the obstetrics business. The immediate result: Texas Children’s was getting in to the obstetrics business.

“It presented us with a great deal of opportunity,” says Cris Daskevich, senior vice president of what today is Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. It was agreed at the time that Texas Children’s would manage all labor and delivery plus the antepartum and postpartum units of St. Luke’s.

The timing was ideal. The hospital had been making enhancements to its Fetal Center, in which early fetal diagnostics were being conducted as well as in utero surgeries. In Daskevich’s mind, the leap from taking care of mothers to taking care of women in general is a simple one.

“It absolutely makes sense for us,” she says. “Our vision and our mission is to improve neonatal outcomes and the long-term health of our children. And the way you do that is to begin taking care of women, even before they decide to become mothers.”

Plans soon fell into place for a new women’s hospital where all of the services already offered by Texas Children’s, as well as those acquired by taking on St. Luke’s obstetrics business, could reside under one roof.

Full Article: TCH Pavilion for Women published in Healthcare Design Magazine

TLP would like to congratulate BCJ for the glowing review by Inquirer Architecture Critic, Inga Saffron, on their sophisticated glass building design for Midwood Investments at 15th and Walnut.  TLP is pleased to be teamed with BCJ for the lighting design of this iconic project.

Changing Skyline: New Cheesecake Factory at 15th and Walnut: A creamy-rich glass box

Inga Saffron, Inquirer Architecture Critic
Posted: Friday, March 8, 2013, 3:01 AM

What kind of building do you get when you cross the über-cool, urban minimalism of the Apple stores with the indulgent, diet-busting excess of the Cheesecake Factory restaurants?

Would you believe an architectural confection that is as visually sublime as it is intellectually rich?

I'll admit that when I first heard that the popular suburban temple of caloric overload was touching down at 15th and Walnut Streets, the news didn't exactly stoke my appetite for good design. I imagined a generic box, done up in flat, lifeless stucco the color of American cheese, elbowing its way onto a corner that has been occupied for the better part of a century by three ordinary, but charming, commercial buildings.
But the architecture gods have smiled on Philadelphia.

When the Cheesecake Factory takes up residence here late next year, it will be one of several tenants in a dynamic new building designed by a top-notch firm, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which created Apple's retail prototype and executes all its stores, including the one on Walnut Street. That BCJ's building will house this particular dining chain is the least interesting thing about it.

Given the firm's success with the famous - and now trademarked - Apple cube in Manhattan, some might be expecting a variation of that glass box here. But the architects, who work in BCJ's Philadelphia office, have come up with something more gratifying: an original design that responds to its surroundings in a deeply informed way. Their sophisticated Philadelphia glass box promises to be one of the city's finest new buildings.

It's true that you can still see evidence of the Apple lineage in the three-story design, which received a green light last month from the zoning board. Like the New York cube, it is an all-glass, modernist building. But the similarities end there.

Because the New York cube is meant to appear as weightless as a lone soap bubble on its open plaza, it is supported by nearly invisible glass fins. In contrast, the Cheesecake building will be hemmed in by masonry heavyweights from the early 20th century. The designers, Frank Grauman and Andrew Moroz, knew their bantam of a building needed to convey a toughness and gravitas if it were to hold its own against such formidable neighbors.

Full Article

TLP designer, Stephen Hoppe, comments on the design process which led to illuminating the PA Convention Center’s Broad Street Façade utilizing Acclaim LED fixtures.

Acclaim Provides Dramatic Marquee for Lightfair 2013
with Pennsylvania Convention Center LED Display

Lightfair International 2013 attendees will be able to experience LED fixtures from Acclaim Lighting before they ever set foot on the show floor. That's because a massive colorful display featuring the Los Angeles-based supplier's architectural lighting products has been permanently installed over the Broad Street entrance of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where Lightfair will take place April 21-25.

Created by The Lighting Practice of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 172' wide, 60' high marquee-like display serves as a fitting gateway to the world's largest annual architectural lighting trade show. It utilizes Acclaim's AL Bar AC 1200, a 47.25"/120cm IP65-rated direct view RGB LED tube.

Installed as part of the PCC's $785 million expansion project, the Acclaim LED display came about after The Lighting Practice was called on to improve upon a previous design plan for lighting the one million-sq.-ft. building's façade. The glass and tensile façade, which sits out about 20' in front of the building's actual lobby wall, is elevated about 25' off the ground and extends upward 100'.

Big, open and prominent, the glass façade literally called out for a dramatic lighting presentation, said Stephen Hoppe of The Lighting Practice. "There was an existing lighting design, but they decided that they'd like something a little fancier and more integrated into the architecture. With the glass and horizontal bars already there, they realized that the lighting wasn't meeting the architecture at the right place, so to speak," Hoppe explained. Consulting with his local lighting rep, Diversified Lighting, http://dlafirst.com/ Hoppe learned about the Acclaim AL Bar AC 1200. "We hadn't worked with Acclaim before, but obviously we knew that something like a direct view was out there. They explained product to us, told us about Acclaim's reputation and all the theatrical work they'd been doing with it."

Full Article in Lighting & Sound America (L&SA): Acclaim Provides Dramatic Marquee for Lightfair 2013 with Pennsylvania Convention Center LED Display

Al Borden, Founding Principal of The Lighting Practice sat down with Mondo Arc Magazine to discuss TLP’s efforts to rebrand 230 Park Avenue by illuminating the iconic architecture.  TLP was enlisted for this job by Monday Properties owner of 230 Park Avenue.  By working collaboratively with Lumenpulse, TLP was able design and execute a successful solution that went beyond the client’s expectations.

230 Park Avenue – Mondo Arc

Issue 71 Feb / Mar 2013 : Architectural : Facade
CLIENT: Monday Properties LIGHTING DESIGN: The Lighting Practice
PHOTOGRAPHY: Evan Joseph

One of Manhattan’s original tall buildings, 230 Park Avenue had in recent decades become a lost classic among the canyons of New York’s cityscape. Now a new scheme by The Lighting Practice has dramatically redefined its nocturnal presence.

Built in 1929 and standing 34 storeys high, New York City’s 230 Park Avenue was once considered one of the taller structures on Manhattan’s skyline. Though dwarfed by the towering Chrysler and Empire State buildings that were built just months later, its Beaux-Arts style and links with the iconic Grand Central Terminal (both were the work of architects Warren & Wetmore) have ensured its enduring status as a New York classic.

Despite 230’s golden cupola and various ornate moldings providing key features of its daytime presence, the building had been rendered virtually invisible at night; only its lit rooftop was discernible from a distance. Owners Monday Properties decided to rectify this by hiring The Lighting Practice to create a bold new lighting design for the site.

“The existing lighting used high-pressure sodium sources to illuminate the roof,” says Al Borden, principal at The Lighting Practice. “The rest of the building was in shadow. At night, it seemed to blend into the facades of surrounding buildings and disappear.”

Borden’s team was tasked with rebranding the building with a lit exterior that would be immediately recognisable from both up close and afar.  “We were asked to illuminate the building from the sidewalk up to the top of the cupola on the north side, and to wrap the lighting treatment around the east, south and west sides of the building at the 29th floor and up,” Borden recounts. “Our intent has been to give the building a lively nighttime appearance by re-interpreting its historic forms and proportions with concealed uplight sources. During daylight hours, when downlit by the sun, the building’s architectural details have a familiar appearance. At night, we flip the source upside down and present a new way of looking at the building. People will see details very differently and have a new experience of the architecture.”

Over 700 colour-changing luminaires were used to create 230 Park Avenue’s new nocturnal look, all of them drawn from Lumenpulse’s Lumenbeam and Lumenfacade ranges.

“Lumenpulse presented excellent project experience and a committed team,” says Borden. “Their financial proposal was competitive and they showed an enthusiasm and attentiveness that was distinctive. They worked hard to get this project and have continued to work hard servicing it.”

Please click here for the full article.

TLP Lighting Designer, Emad Hasan, was one of 5 professionals interviewed for the February 2013 edition of Building Operating Management magazine.  The article offers information and advice to Facility Mangers who are planning to take on an office space lighting design project.  Insight from Emad can be found in Part 2: Solve Lighting Quality Problems by Letting Space Guide Technology and Part 4: Avoiding Problems with Office Lighting Design.  Below are some interesting points from each section.

Lighting: Getting Office Lighting Right

From: Lighting: Getting Office Lighting Right, Building Operating Management
By Maryellen Lo Bosco - February 2013

Part 1: Office Lighting Design Must Have More Goals Than Just Energy Efficiency

Less is more: That's a good way to describe the guiding philosophy for office design over the past decade. Companies have trimmed the individual space allotted to employees, whittled away at the physical barriers between office workers, and reduced the overall environmental footprint of the space. "Less" has often been the guiding principle in planning for lighting systems as well. Trimming lighting energy use has been both more important and less difficult thanks to advances in technology, coupled with new codes and standards.

Part 2: Solve Lighting Quality Problems by Letting Space Guide Technology

One reason lighting quality problems arise is that technology sometimes drives lighting design, rather than the needs of the space guiding technology selection. Office spaces should be looked at on a case-by-case basis, says Emad Hasan, project manager for The Lighting Practice. For example, there's a push in the industry to use LEDs, says Hasan, but another type of light might be a better choice in some instances. A lighting designer can help facility or project managers sort through various products and help them meet the requirements for light distribution, color, and glare avoidance.

Part 3: Brightness and Variety are Challenges to Office Lighting Quality

Getting a space to seem bright is essential to good lighting design. Because of new regulations, the amount of energy consumed by the lighting system has to be reduced. New technology helps get more brightness out of less energy, but it's also important to pay attention to the rest of the space. In a holistic, coordinated design, light reflectance values of the walls, ceiling, furniture, partitions, and floor become part of the visual package for illumination, says [Stefan] Graf. Open spaces require light colored walls and partitions, because dark surfaces absorb light.

"The interplay between the lighting system and colors has a huge impact on the general feel and design of a space," says [Lee] Brandt. "Light finishes feel brighter than dark finishes, and we prefer the lighter palette. Dark accents are okay, but if you have dark furniture, you should have light walls."

Part 4: Avoiding Problems with Office Lighting Design

One tool that can help facility managers prevent lighting quality problems is a mockup. Mockups can be done when converting an existing lighting system or creating a new one. In a new environment, says [Emad] Hasan, a mockup may be done of a full office or a section of an office, and will include the ceiling system, partitions, and workstations. It is also possible to mock up a private office or one corner of an open office. Mockups add cost and time to construction, but they are preceded by a lot of design work, so changes in a mockup design are usually minimal.

"Facility managers want to see easy maintenance and a decrease in energy use," Hasan says. "They may want to see how to re-lamp a fixture." It is fairly common for project or facility managers to look at samples that will be used on a regular basis. "They may look at 4-foot samples of linear fluorescents, direct or indirect pendants, or recessed, 2-by-2, 1-by-2, or 2-by-4 fixtures," Hasan notes. "These are bread-and-butter fixtures that a manufacture is happy to provide to the design team."

Click here for the full article, Lighting: Getting Office Lighting Right

The Lighting Practice teamed with Saylor Gregg Architects and OLIN to design the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Lenfest Plaza.  While working on the project TLP was able to collaborate with innovative lighting technology companies such as iLIGHT Technologies.

A CUSTOM SOLUTION FOR AN ARTFUL APPLICATION

New Philadelphia Pedestrian Plaza Glows with Plexineon

Unveiled in October 2011, Lenfest Plaza at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in downtown Philadelphia provides a streetscape identity for America’s oldest art museum and school — and a gateway for the city’s art scene.
The new open-air gathering space previously was a neglected, half-block long alley that bisected the school campus. Today it’s an outdoor gallery as well as a bustling pedestrian plaza. Giving the campus cohesiveness while creating linkages to Philadelphia’s “Museum Mile” and the newly constructed Pennsylvania Convention Center, the plaza features an iconic permanent public art installation, rotating student exhibitions and temporary sculpture, plus a stage, plantings, and tables for outdoor dining.

Connecting those elements is a custom, three-part serpentine bench that is underlit with iLight Plexineon White 2X Series fixtures. Besides adding a safety element, the Plexineon gives off a glow that arouses curiosity, drawing people along the narrow space and creating an inviting aura.

The Design Challenge

The landscape design for Lenfest Plaza was developed by Philadelphia-based OLIN Partners; for the lighting scheme OLIN turned to The Lighting Practice, also a local firm.
Stephen Hoppe, Project Manager at The Lighting Practice, recognized right away that the distinctive bench was a signature element; made from black locust wood, it softened the urban space. And while limited resources and a tight footprint presented challenges, Hoppe had used Plexineon before and was confident it would fit the bill for a sleek, flexible light source that could follow the bench’s curves.
“With the Plexineon, we were able to check off a lot of what we were looking for,” he says.

What Hoppe couldn’t have anticipated was how iLight Technologies would go above and beyond to ensure the application’s success. For example, to accommodate metal supports installed every 10 feet along the benches, iLight created factory-bent custom curves.

Full Article

Photographer Greg Benson shares his insights and photographs of the Pennsylvania Convention Center's New Broad Street Facade Lighting.  The Pennsylvania Convention Center ANNEX which expands the PCC's footprint west to Broad Street was designed by VITETTA.  TLP teamed with VITETTA and designed the lighting for the Broad Street Facade.  We are proud to be a part of the changing landscape of Philadelphia's North Broad Street.

Full Article

The Lighting Practice and 230 Park Avenue were at the center of an efficiency debate on Earth Techling written by Randy Woods.

New York’s LEDs Shine Light on Efficiency

By: Randy Woods

When discussing energy savings, there’s a principle often cited by economists called the Jevons paradox, which postulates that as the use of a resource becomes more efficient, consumption of that resource tends to increase, rather than decrease. The counterintuitive theory’s namesake, 19th century economist William Stanley Jevons, was originally talking about how improvements in coal burning only increased demand for coal and therefore led to more consumption, but his theory as been applied to many other ironies of life, such as diet foods that make use eat more.

The logic of the Jevons paradox has been debated and debunked by many environmental writers, but the idea resurfaced after the recent installation of more than 700 energy-efficient LED lighting units on the exterior of New York City’s famous Helmsley Building to make the 84-year-old Beaux-Arts skyscraper shine at night like never before.

According to The Lighting Practice, the company that made the lighting conversion in December 2012, the new LED lamps made by Lumenpulse use 70 percent less energy than the old high-pressure sodium lights that used to light up the 34-story Park Avenue tower.

Full article

Philadelphia, PA has been listed as #4 on The Weather Channel’s 10 Best Places to Visit in 2013.  TLP’s project, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Lenfest Plaza, is the featured image representing Philadelphia’s vibrant art scene.

TLP is happy to share the examiner.com article highlighting the Empire State Building's new tower lighting.  TLP worked with ESBC and Philips Color Kinetics to design the Empire State Building's custom lighting system.

Video: Empire State Building welcomes 2013 with dazzling new light show

By: Jodi Jill writer for examiner.com

The New Year’s Eve party wasn't just in Times Square for residents of the New York area. The Empire State Building put on a special lighting ceremony in the sky for final hours of 2012. Fans around New York City got to see the dazzling display of lights that started at sunset on Monday night.

“Tonight, we're ringing in 2013 in style with a glitzy special lighting, starting at sunset,” tweeted the Empire State Building from the official Twitter account on Monday.

The new lights gave people one heck of a beautiful show as the different colors lit up the sides of the building. In a splendid moment that was a first, those folks checking out the building got to see the new lights share a magical moment before 2013 arrived in the Big Apple. In a very special tribute, for the last five minutes the building had a extraordinary

The Empire State Building Design is a registered Trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Follow the link for the full article, Video: Empire State Building welcomes 2013 with dazzling new light show

Convention Center board wants to install digital signage

Suzette Parmley, Inquirer Staff Writer

The high-ceilinged grand entrance to the expanded Convention Center at 111 N. Broad St. made its debut in spring 2011.

Nearly two years later, it's still hard to tell. There's nothing to indicate that the building is, indeed, the Convention Center.

To change that, the Convention Center Authority board is pushing to install digital signs above the three entrances facing North Broad Street.

The signs could be changed for different events, such as the annual Philadelphia Auto and Flower Shows - the two largest draws every year - and could potentially generate revenue if the board decided to charge groups to use them to advertise their events at the center.

"The desire [for the signs] has been there for years," said Joseph Resta, project executive at the Convention Center Authority. "This is one of the things that we needed to really wait on until we could safely say there was enough money in the expansion budget."

"We had to make sure there was nothing else pending that would compete for that money," from $200,000 to $800,000, Resta said. "There is enough money for it now."

At its meeting in mid-November, the board expressed interest in having the signs. Other major buildings along North Broad, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Masonic Temple, and Arch Street United Methodist Church, have their names engraved on their facades.

"We're just starting the process," said Convention Center Authority president and chief executive officer Ahmeenah Young. "We're looking at it, not necessarily as a revenue generator at this point, but more to increase our presence and identify our presence on Broad Street."

Added Resta: "The revenue could be a possibility. We will pursue that market, if it exists."

The 15-member board would have to obtain state building permits for the signs, said Resta, and have them designed and installed, a process that could take many months.

He said he hoped to have the signs in place by the end of the year, adding, "As we get further along in the process, including getting the concept designed and the specifications, we will let groups know."

Lack of identifying markings along Broad Street has not been an issue with conventioneers, since many still use the building's entrance at 12th and Arch Streets, Resta said. Signs would be more for symbolic reasons.

"Even the Reading Terminal Market has signage," Young said. "We need a welcoming asset to our conventioneers."

The Lighting Practice, the Philadelphia lighting-design firm that installed the LED lights that adorn the Convention Center at night, also will handle the signs, Resta said.

Full Article

Diane Mastrull: Philadelphia's Lighting Practice illuminates a growing field

Diane Mastrull, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Monday, December 31, 2012, 5:40 AM

Alfred Borden was in high school when a light went on about his future - figuratively and literally.The dream of the Philadelphia boy born in Queens, N.Y., was to work with lighting on Broadway. He got as far as Off-Broadway, working to "create environments for other people to act in," he said.

What he didn't like was its impermanence.

"I figured out pretty quickly that I was more interested in working on designs that last," Borden recalled recently.

So he formed the Lighting Practice in 1989, a Philadelphia lighting-design company of 16 employees and $2 million in annual billings that endures despite a number of significant challenges, the most pressing of which is the potential fiscal cliff and the chill it has put on clients' commitments to capital projects.

"Projects that stop and start, that's a challenge as a business owner," said Helen Diemer, president of the Lighting Practice, which had to eliminate half its staff to survive the recession and the lingering lean times that plague the design-and-build sectors.

Challenging, too, are the ever-changing energy-efficiency requirements and dark-sky restrictions that can put a crimp in creativity.

Yet the small firm just off Independence Mall has been capturing some serious spotlight for its work - from the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia to that grand island of lights to the north, Manhattan.

There, the Lighting Practice worked on the system design - the selection, specification, and placement of lighting fixtures and controls - for a new LED show that bathes the top tiers of the 102-story Empire State Building in a variety of hues. The skyscraper's new look made its debut in November to the choreographed accompaniment of Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys.

In early December, Borden's company wrapped up a project for the Helmsley Building on Park Avenue, where a computerized, multicolor LED lighting system designed and programmed by the Lighting Practice puts on a show that changes every half-hour and is visible from 40 blocks away.

Those projects are a high-profile step up from the Lighting Practice's first major job many years ago: an interior office fit-out of Conrail headquarters in Commerce Square.

Follow the link to read the full article, Diane Mastrull: Philadelphia's Lighting Practice illuminates a growing field

Video by Michael Bryant

Light Show: Computer Controlled LED Lights Wash Park Avenue’s Helmsley Building

By Branden Klayko

On Monday, December 3, the “Jewel of Park Avenue” at 230 Park, aka The Helmsley Building, really began to sparkle as building-owner Monday Properties unveiled a new LED lighting display to a crowd huddled at the base of the building, staring upward with anticipation as rush hour traffic swirled around. Monday Properties President and CEO Anthony Westreich and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer stood together to push a giant red button, officially triggering the light show, which flickered into action, turning heads of passers by for blocks around as a live violinist provided musical accompaniment.

Built in 1929, the 34-story tower stands guard over Park Avenue, terminating the street’s vista looking south on the same block as Grand Central Terminal, and is one of the only buildings in Manhattan that you can literally drive through, underneath monumental stone arches. Designed by the same architects as Grand Central—Warren & Wetmore—230 Park was originally the headquarters of the New York Central Railroad Company and features many rail-centric decorations inside the building’s ornate lobby.

230 Park has undergone an extensive renovation, bringing its 1.4 million square feet of office space into the 21st century and earning a LEED Gold certification. The new lighting scheme, designed by Al Borden of Philadelphia-based The Lighting Practice with LED lights by Lumenpulse, is part of the building’s sustainability program, Westreich noted at the lighting ceremony, reducing energy requirements by 70 percent from the high-pressure sodium lights they replaced.

For the full article: Light Show: Computer Controlled LED Lights Wash Park Avenue’s Helmsley Building

230 Park Avenue, photograph by Evan Joseph

TLP is happy to share an article by The Architect's Newspaper, "The Power of Light".  The article features University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital & Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital and an interview with lighting designer Jered Widmer.  Jered worked with designers at HKS Architects on this exciting project.  C.S. Mott is one of four noteworthy projects featured.

The Power of Light: Exploring four projects in which lighting drives the experience of space.

By: Chris Bentley

Depending on the purpose of their visit, it may be a lofty goal to design a children’s hospital so well that kids actually look forward to receiving treatment. If anything can be done to further that objective by a lighting designer, The Lighting Practice has tried it in the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

Mott’s lobby is playfully bathed in LED lighting. Visitors first experience a programmable light wall—usually set to an undulating rainbow pattern, it can turn green and red at Christmas, say, or a sleek white for cocktail receptions. It sets the tone for an interior not lacking in clean white lighting, but defined by its vibrant dollops of saturation.

The elevator lobby is a palate-cleansing white, tucked around the corner from the main lobby’s curving front desk. Jered Widmer, lead designer for The Lighting Practice on the project, said creating “positive distractions” for the hospital’s young patients was important, but so was restraining those same design elements so as not to appear garish or overbearing.

“Architects, interior designers, and lighting designers have much the same thought process in terms of creating destinations,” Widmer said. “You want to have points of interest and create some differences, but if you lit every wall with color-changing panels it could get pretty flat.”

“Each of the disciplines could almost operate in a vacuum in the old days,” he said. “Now we’re finding ourselves working back and forth.” Collaboration and cooperation across design teams are part and parcel with the practice these days, he added.

In some cases toning it down left room for creativity from the architect or client side. Widmer’s team blanched the light at the back of the elevator bay, illuminating a wall that became an elevated exhibition space for art.

Elsewhere architectural restrictions were blessings in disguise for the designers. Second-floor waiting room walls visible from the main lobby were going to bear the same “strong graze of colorful light” seen on the first floor, but code-required sprinklers and other fixtures would have cast deep shadows. Instead, the team bounced light off the ceiling. “It created a more interesting, intense glow of light along the wall,” Widmer said.

Other rooms use colored lighting and complementary interior design palettes to aid wayfinding. Repeating ellipses and oval shapes—an architectural element the design team took to calling “innies” and “outies” depending on their protrusion—provided ceiling bays and coffers for a splash of color. Elsewhere the lighting was more directly therapeutic. In the dialysis room, for example, the programmed rainbow pattern returns. Whether they’re drinking in a shifting spectrum or enjoying the clarity of white light, Widmer said he hopes children at the hospital will be at ease.

“It’s about pulling back a bit and creating a love for the space, so people don’t mind coming to the doctor’s office or the hospital anymore,” Widmer said. “They’re there because they have to take care of something, but at least they’re comfortable.”

Full Article includes details about all of the featured projects (Richard J. Daley Library, the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the Barnes Foundation)

Tribute: Fort Worth visit recalled

By: Gail Bennison

One of the most tragic days in our nation’s history began with a morning of optimism in Fort Worth.

By commemorating John F. Kennedy’s timeless vision and immutable ideals of courage, discovery and leadership, the JFK Tribute in Fort Worth highlights how even a moment in history can uplift and inspire, reflecting timeless themes that are as important today as they were nearly 50 years ago.

There are two stories to tell – one in Fort Worth and one in Dallas – of the day of our president’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963. Kennedy gave two speeches in Fort Worth that morning and left to a ticker tape parade, cheerleaders and bands, on the back of his convertible on Main Street. A few hours later, a nation was devastated, and the visit to Fort Worth was all but forgotten. Until now.

The Tribute is sited near the place where Kennedy delivered his outdoor address in front of the Hotel Texas, now the Fort Worth Hilton. The tribute exhibit was designed around an eight-foot, heroic scale Lawrence Ludtke bronze sculpture, John F. Kennedy, cast in bronze in 2009 and installed in 2012. General Worth Square improvements by the city of Fort Worth set the stage for the new sculpture. The design team was led by Jacobs and included Museumscapes, The Lighting Practice, and AUI Contractors LLC. The sculpture is placed within an elegant granite plaza featuring photographic displays and selected quotes from a number of JFK’s historic speeches.

The JFK Tribute is the culmination of more than a decade of work by a public-private partnership spearheaded by nonprofit Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives Inc. and Fort Worth civic leaders Shirlee J. and Taylor Gandy to create a memorial to Kennedy commemorating his historic visit to the city. Two million dollars was raised; $500,000 is pledged to maintenance for the tribute. Additional fundraising will be maintained to build up the maintenance reserve.

Please follow the link to view the full article, Fort Worth Business Press.

TLP is proud to be working with Ballinger on this wonderful project and is excited for consturction to begin at Golisano Children's Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center!

At Golisano Children's Hospital site, kids wield ceremonial shovels

By: Patti Singer, Staff Writer for Democrat AND Chronicle.com

Tom Golisano, who started things off more than a year ago when he gave $20 million to the new children’s hospital that will continue to bear his name, had some help late Monday morning getting the eight-story building off the ground. 

Make that, getting it in the ground.

Golisano and nine children symbolically turned the first shovels of dirt for the Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“When you make the commitment, that’s a little wow,” Golisano said. “To come to this environment and know this is where it’s going to be, that’s a wow moment.”

Wearing plastic hard hats and accompanied by a drum roll, the crew plunged long-handled spades into a big rectangular planter on the site where the 245,000-square-foot structure will take shape in the next few months.

The children all had been or continue to be treated at the hospital, which now is housed within Strong Memorial Hospital. The new building will be on Crittenden Boulevard, attached to the hospital and the medical center. It is scheduled to open in 2015.

During construction, buses will be rerouted to the loop off Elmwood Avenue. Patient discharge will be permanently moved to the ground floor of the hospital, between the parking garage and the ambulatory care building.

Decor and amenities on each floor of the new Golisano Children’s Hospital will evoke a theme. Youngsters and their families can feel as though they are in a meadow, garden or park, or by a waterway. Some features will be interactive, allowing for patients of various ages to show their creativity. The design process has included families.

Click here to read the full article in Democrat AND Chronicle.com

TLP is proud of their successful collaboration with Goody Clancy on Drexel University's Campus Master Plan.  Inga Saffron's positive critique of Drexel's master plan reinforces the importance of open communication, understanding, and teamwork between consultants and clients.  Through successful working relationships TLP is able to help create successful projects.

Changing Skyline: Drexel's big plans

By Inga Saffron, Inquirer Architecture Critic

When it comes to neighborhood relations, big urban universities often behave like small kingdoms. They rule over the surrounding lands with an iron hand, exercising almost total control over what gets built.

As one of Philadelphia's Big Three, Drexel University has frequently played the role of absolute monarch. Collaboration was a foreign idea. The results, as you might expect from any one-party state, were not always the best.

But the world changes, and occasionally so do large institutions. When Drexel began working on a new master plan in the spring of 2011, it sensed that the time had come for a more benevolent, inclusive approach. Before convening the usual insider group to define its goals, Drexel first set up a Facebook page and a blog (drexelmasterplan.wordpress.com/) to crowd-source ideas from students, faculty, and neighborhood residents. It organized brainstorming workshops and town-hall-style meetings, ultimately getting more than a thousand people to offer their two cents about how the West Philadelphia campus should be reorganized.

The results are in, and the master plan is unlike anything Drexel has produced before. While most universities today tend to be in perpetual expansion mode, Drexel's new master plan calls for consolidating its undergraduate footprint into a tighter core, in an effort to end its destructive sprawl into the Powelton Village and University City neighborhoods. The goal is to concentrate student destinations so that no campus building is more than a five-minute walk from the academic spine on Market Street.

That doesn't mean that the university is opting out of the space race or abandoning its ambition to keep with its academic peers. Far from it. Drexel, which began flexing its dormant muscle under its late president Constantine Papadakis, plans a massive expansion over the next 30 years, adding six to 10 million square feet of space - the equivalent of six to 10 Comcast towers. For the record, that's twice as much space as New York University - the very model of urban academic behemoth - intends to build in the same time.

Please follow the link for the full article Changing Skyline: Drexel's big plans

Germantown Academy, Upper and Middle School in Fort Washington, PA will be recognized in the November issue of "American School & University" magazine.
TLP would like to congratulate WRT and our fellow consultants on a job well done!  We enjoyed collaborating on this award winning project.

2012 ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO

COMBINED-LEVEL SCHOOL CITATION

Germantown Academy, Upper and Middle School—Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
Wallace Roberts & Todd—Philadelphia, PA
Associated firms: Charles E. Shoemaker, Inc., Civil; Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc., Structural; H.F. Lenz Company, MEP; Metropolitan Acoustics, Acoustics; The Lighting Practice, Lighting; Intech, Construction; Rufo Contracting, CM

“Great collaboration spaces and wonderful use of local natural materials combined with steel and glass.
The learning seminar rooms are very special environments.”—2012 jury

Please follow the link to WRT's website to view imagery of Germantown Academy, Upper and Middle School.

The 2012 Architectural Portfolio Winners Announced!

Changing Skyline: Glass Box is a tweak for the better at Kimmel Center

By: Inga Saffron, Inquirer Architecture Critic

It can take time for a new building to work out all the kinks, even when the architecture is very good. In the case of Rafael Viñoly's Kimmel Center, which falls well short of that mark, the tweaking has been going on for more than a decade.

In the last year, the Broad Street performing arts center has finally begun to set things right, starting with the acoustics in its Verizon Hall. The Kimmel hopes to cross another big headache off its list Tuesday, when it reopens the dramatic, but brutally hot, rooftop terrace on top of its Perelman Theater. Once people no longer broil there like Labor Day hot dogs on a grill, the Kimmel will be a step closer to becoming the great public space that Philadelphians were promised.

I've already wandered up to the terrace, so I can report that visitors will not break into the slightest sweat.  The Dorrance H. Hamilton Rooftop Garden, as it is officially known, has been fully encased in a sheer, climate-controlled glass box that will make it usable no matter what the weather outside. This elegant new room was designed by BLT Architects - yes, you heard me right - a firm that typically specializes in lowest-common-denominator architecture, most notoriously Symphony House.

Enclosing a small rooftop garden may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but the $6 million project is the first in a series of carefully calibrated architectural moves that are intended to win back the public's affection for the luckless Kimmel and ultimately help it to thrive financially. Roofing over the terrace was a key recommendation in the 2011 master plan developed to help the Kimmel overcome design mistakes that made it feel so unwelcoming.

While the old rooftop garden was probably Viñoly's most thrilling space, offering the public panoramic views of the multilevel arts center and the surrounding city, it was nearly useless for revenue-generating events. During the summer, when the sun beat down on the Kimmel's vaulted glass roof, temperatures could rise as high as 120 degrees. Even when it was cool enough to use, noise from revelers would leach into the Kimmel's two main concert halls. In the end, the center's management calculates, the garden could be rented out no more than nine days a year.

The glass veil changes everything. No longer will the public be denied access because of dangerous temperatures. The enclosure also enables the Kimmel to book the light-filled rooftop terrace summer and winter, day and night, 365 days a year, and earn a regular income from party fees. The first wedding is set for Sept. 15.

No doubt there will be many more. BLT, led by founding partner John A. Bower Jr., has given the Kimmel a crisp, thoughtful design that promises to be very functional. It is easily the best work the firm has done in decades, and is further evidence that the partnership between client and designer is crucial to good design.

The idea was to create a glass room inside the glass bubble of the Kimmel's soaring roof.

To read the full article, Changing Skyline: Kimmel Center

The Lighting Practice teamed with Francis Cauffman to enhance GlaxoSmithKline's new unique space at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

GSK throws away the old ways

Natalie Kostelni, Reporter- Philadelphia Business Journal

At GlaxoSmithKline these days employees have no place to call their own, and that’s the point.

When GlaxoSmithKline relocates to its new office space at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, its employees will be moving into an environment in which they are already trying to adapt.

The company has set up workstations at its current office space at One and Three Franklin Plaza in Center City that will be similar to the ones that will be installed at its new $120 million, 207,000-square-foot building in South Philadelphia. These pieces of furniture include work benches, adjustable chairs and tables, all with wheels that make them movable.

“You don’t go to your desk but to where your team is,” said Christian Bigsby, head of real estate for GSK.

The pharmaceutical company has spent the last decade rethinking its work environment at its headquarters in the United Kingdom, how people work in space and how to leverage that space to get more out of employees. During its exploration, the company initiated eight different types of work environments and programs within them that were tested by different teams.

“We took the best practices from them and this is what we have here,” Bigsby said.

Read the Full Article

City Guide: Philadelphia

Get Out

Among the most exciting new public spaces added to the city's grid in the past year is Lenfest Plaza, which has transformed the once dreary ribbon of land between the historic and modern buildings of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  Local Landscape architecture firm OLIN anchored the space with a sculptural, curvilinear bench they describe as a "three-dimensional brush stroke running the length of the plaza."  It echoes the 51-foot-tall Paint Torch, pop artist Claes Oldenburg's playful rendition of a paintbrush at the plaza's Broad Street end.  Look for its tip, which points toward the new convention center and its just visible to Broad Streed pedestrians seeking an urban oasis.

To view the full article please visit Arrive Magazine, view full article here

Renovating one of New York's biggest hotels can be tricky

NEW YORK - As one of the hotel industry's most important conferences gets underway at the New York Marriott Marquis today, I thought it would be a good time to bring you the back story on the hotel's nearly completed, $39 million renovation - from a real insider.

So I invited Deborah Forrest, co-founder of architecture design firm ForrestPerkins, to guest blog today. Her firm ran the project, which updated the hotel's nearly 2,000 guest rooms, the ballroom and the hotel's social hub on the eighth floor.

2,500-pound chandeliers too big for elevators

The eight, 2,500-pound chandeliers in the two-story Broadway Ballroom presented a huge challenge.

They were custom-designed by interior designer Toby Bishop, who also was the ForrestPerkins' associate who stayed onsite, in collaboration with Alfred Borden of The Lighting Practice, who was responsible for the interface with the dimming system and light controls. The magnificent light fixtures were manufactured in Los Angeles, then shipped to New York and assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.

To read the full article please visit USA Today, view full article here

TLP worked closely with Caesars Entertainment and KA Inc., Architects to develop a discreet and flexible lighting solution to highlight the variety of retail displays in the new casino gift shop. Using dimmable low-voltage adjustable sources and a simple preset control system, the lighting puts the focus on the merchandise. During the day, the electric lighting provides full output illumination to compete with the daylight. In the evening, light levels are dimmed to create ambience and interest. The lamp selections provide the punch and color rendering to make the merchandise pop.

Full Article: Fox 8 Exclusive: Inside The Cleveland Casino

On January 17, the popular pocket park at 17th and Chestnut Streets was formally rededicated as John F. Collins Park, in honor of the landscape architect who designed this delightful urban oasis.

The Center City District embarked upon renovations to the park in keeping up with the original design intent. Designed by KieranTimberlake architects and once generously supported by the William Penn Foundation, the renovations included the restoration of sculptor Christopher T. Ray's iron gates at the park's Chestnut and Ranstead Street entrances, where they are now completed by new woven metal gates that make the park more visible to pedestrians. New Lighting, designed by The Lighting Practice, highlights the native vegetation, sculptural gates and the renovated fountain.

Throughout the summer, every Tuesday and until September 27, the park will host acoustic musical concerts from noon to 1:30pm.

Location
1707 Chestnut Street
(Between Chestnut and Ranstead)

Hours
Monday-Friday: 8:30 am-6:30 pm
Saturday: 10:45 am-6:30 pm
Sunday: 12-6:30 pm

Full Article in Center City Digest and PDF below

University of Pennsylvania: The ARCH Building

The Arts, Research and Culture House, or ARCH building is currently being renovated and preserved, while adding modern pieces, with a recently announce $15 million gift.
"Constructed from 1927-29, and listed on the Pennsylvania Register of Historic Places, the ARCH building took the place of four rowhouses along Locust Street (which was not yet Locust Walk) and was designed by Thomas, Martin, and Kirkpatrick, a firm comprised of three Penn architecture alums."

TLP is excited to be apart of the team to preserve, renovate, and add modern "flourishes" to this historical building.
The ARCH renovation, scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2014, includes an outdoor terrace, indoor café and an open plan for the first floor that reflects the building’s historic provenance.

Full Article

Article By: Heather A. Davis

Taking Flight

Children's and women's project helps spirits soar

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital

The 1.1-million-square-foot replacement facility features a 12-story inpatient tower that houses the children's hospital, with the women's hospital on the ninth floor. A nine-story medical office building directly adjoins the patient tower.

The building opens onto a two-story lobby that is comfortable, active and fun for patients, family members and staff, says Loree Collett, the hospitals' associate director
of children's and women's services.

The lobby reception area is highlighted by a rainbow of light that shines down on the walls from a light-emitting diode (LED) system installed in the ceiling.

Color and pattern provide wayfinding cues throughout the facility. Vibrant flooring patterns and accent lighting help distinguish elevator lobbies. Welcome desks on each patient floor are identified by oval ceiling details that glow with colored light, making the desks easy to locate. Pendant lights suspended above the desks lend additional interest.

Read Full Article Here

Article By: Amy Eagle

Children's hospital in Ann Arbor conveys a cheerful welcome to children, expectant mothers and visitors, from the front door to patient floors. The lighting solution incorporates simple lighting elements, minimizes lamp types, and integrates cleanly with the architecture to meet the clients requirements and create a pleasant experience. General illumination for the two-level main lobby is provided by recessed adjustable  multiples lamps with 70-watt ceramic metal halide PAR30L lamps in the two story space. Linear RGB LED fixtures with grazing optics provide the accent on the main wall. (April 2012 Issue)

*Please note for this article the Photo Credit is: Blake Marvin, HKS

Read full article:

Download PDF

The exterior will be done in the same Indiana limestone as the 1934 building, but it will also incorporate modern features, such as a dramatic "shimmer wall" by the artist Ned Kahn, which addresses the Institute's science mission by making wind visible.

The exhibit will be called "Your Brain". A new 53,000 SF extension on the south side of the Franklin Institute along with the Nicholas & Athena Karabots Pavilion, which will be a large space for traveling exhibits. A high tech educational center and the latest/ greatest in "green" building design.

Visitors will be able to put hands on (no surgical gloves required) a model to turn off brain sectors and see how that alters our senses (visualized on a companion screen.) Another interactive opportunity has you use a touch screen to move and properly link the individual cells called neurons into the brain's complex communications network.

The Lighting Practice is designing interior lighting for the museum expansion and conference center, and exterior lighting for the new building entrance, garden and “Shimmer Wall” sculpture on the south side of the building.

This new state-of-the-art multi-media exhibit will be an exploration of our most complex body part- opening Summer 2014.

Full Article: The Franklin Institute Gains A Brain by Jonathan Takiff

More information on the project visit:

SaylorGregg Architects

Franklin Institute:

PHILADELPHIA’S FRANKLIN INSTITUTE BREAKS GROUND ON NICHOLAS AND ATHENA KARABOTS PAVILION

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE RECEIVES $10 MILLION LEAD GIFT

The addition of the Maternity Center to Texas Children’s Hospital will allow TCH to provide a full continuum of care for mothers and their babies. The luminous corner tower will present a new iconic image for TCH among the other institutions in Texas Medical Center’s urban campus. A new sweeping circular bridge over Fannin Street will connect the Maternity Center to the main hospital. Internally illuminated bridge columns will delineate the circular form and provide a visual connection at night. TLP’s scope also includes lighting for entrance canopies, interior public spaces, conference center, servery and cafeteria.

Stay tuned for more information about the project from The Lighting Practice and FKP Architects

MARCH 2012 RECENTLY COMPLETED ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING DESIGN PROJECTS :
IALD DESIGNERS REVITALIZE SPACES, BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
28 MARCH 2012 – The IALD monthly "Recently Completed Architectural Lighting Design Projects" press release is designed to help with story idea generation; provide contacts for articles in progress, and to serve as a starting point for writers of lighting- or design-related stories.

CAPITAL HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER – HOPEWELL
PENNINGTON, NJ USA

LIGHTING DESIGN
Michael A. Barber, Associate IALD
Jered E. Widmer
The Lighting Practice

BRIEF

With the goal of improving the customer experience and providing the latest healthcare options, Capital Health System commissioned a new regional medical center to replace an aging facility. The center is designed to provide an inviting feeling of hospitality to its visitors, patients and staff. For healing and reflection, quiet areas of respite are tucked into spaces throughout the facility. TLP’s lighting solutions highlight the rich architectural finishes and convey a feeling of comfort and warmth. By focusing light on artwork and accentuating special are as, the lighting design reinforces the owner’s vision for creating a calming and welcoming experience.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Blake Marvin

Download PDF

The lighting was designed to be classy and sophisticated. From the Porte Cochere’s curvy glowing coves to the sparkly decorative LED cylinders hanging from the main “avenue” ceiling, the lighting attracts visitors to the action on the casino floor and at the center bar. Concealed white and colored cove lights, accentuate the curved stepped architectural coffers above the gaming floor. Warm decorative glowing pendants designate table game areas - linear pendants over the main gaming floor and ring pendants over the high limit area. Adjustable accent lights, with deeply regressed lamps, create a quiet ceiling plane, while focusing attention on the games. Perimeter slots outline the edge of the space to attract visitors to explore the entire casino floor. - The Lighting Practice

A Sneak Peak at the Valley Forge Casino and Resort before it opens to the public this weekend, Saturday March 31st

LD + A: Lighting Retail Trends

February 2012

"At This Specialty food market in the Philippines, heavy use of ceramic metal halide accent lighting draws the cutomer's eye to the produce."

                The Landmark, Manila, Philippines

Anthropologies NorthPark Mall, Dallas Texas "High contrast metal halide accents replaced a hidgepodge of sources at the Anthropologie store in Dallas

"We generally agree that retail which depends too much on ambient lighting rather than accent lighting uses more energy with less effect than lighting which primarily accents the merchandise. Retail lighting is considered as theatrical lighting in our firm, with drama and emotion in each display, " Borden points out. "Accent lighting, not ambient fill, can be done in a very cost-effective manner."

By: Vilma Barr

Download and read the full article by LD + A below:

Download PDF

SCUP 2012 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference - Beyond Plan "C"

Retooling for Integrated Planning Using the Campus as a Learning Laboratory

Join Helen Diemer, The Lighting Practice and Esaul Sanchez, University of Pennsylvania for an informative approach for improving urban off-campus security with lighting.

"SCUP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference is looking at today’s volatile economy and how every institution is thinking 'beyond plan C.' As planners, we need to be more creative than ever to help our institutions and clients advance their mission."

Join us April 15–17, 2012, at The Pennsylvania State University for the SCUP 2012 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. "Here, we will use the campus fabric as an institutional learning laboratory, reinforcing the vital importance of preparation and coordination in the strategic, integrated planning process." Learn More

Title: Improving Urban Off-Campus Security With Lighting: University of Pennsylvania’s Town and Gown Efforts

Presenters: Helen K. Diemer, President, The Lighting Practice, Inc; Esaul Sanchez, Asset Manager Real Estate, University of Pennsylvania

Description: The city streets and residential neighborhoods surrounding a university become an extension of its campus. In 2006, in response to several well-publicized crimes against its students, Penn embarked on a major effort to improve security in the residential neighborhood west of its academic campus. Lighting improvements were a major part of this efforts. Learn how Penn worked to improve lighting in its West Philadelphia neighborhood by engaging the local community to achieve its goal of enhancing security and changing the perception of the neighborhood.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Determine how to plan a coherent and comprehensive lighting strategy that can be implemented by a variety of property owners (the university's private neighbors) to enhance pedestrian security and comfort in an urban environment.

2. Identify appropriate criteria for lighting levels, vertical brightness, glare control, color rendering and lighting uniformity critical to improving security.

3. Discover which tools and financial incentives can be used to gain support and encourage unenthusiastic stakeholders to invest in the plan for enhanced security.

4. Discover how to accommodate the needs and disparate interests of an evolving neighborhood and its transient student residential population.

Date: Tuesday, April 17,

Time: 10:15AM–11:15AM

Location: The Pennsylvania State University

More Information

It is possible to have a safe, secure outdoor lighting strategy

while also being a good environmental steward  

                                                                                                                                                                                              For an area to be as safe and secure as it can be, as much light as possible must be shining on that area- or so conventional thinking goes. Safety, security and environmental friendliness are not often concepts used together when the discussion centers around outdoor lighting.

"Safety, security and the environment don't necessarily work against each other," says Helen Diemer, principal and president of The Lighting Practice. "I think it's all about the execution in terms of how you create the safe environment and what choices you make for it to be low impact on the environment. For me, it's starting with the big idea. What are you trying to accomplish? What environment are you trying to create? What are the right tools to do that? What is the right light to do that?

The challenge of outdoor lighting, even when specified for safety and security, is keeping the impact on the environment to a minimum. Whether it's sky glow, light trespass, glare or wasted energy, the effect that lighting can have on the environment can be substantial.

"I think it's really an issue of people not using light in the most effective way," Diemer says. "It's sometimes like hitting the problem with a sledgehammer."

The goal for exterior lighting should be to illuminate about 30 feet around a person. People need that much space between themselves and potential adversaries to have time to react.

By: Desiree Hanford, Contributing Editor, Building Operating Management,              December 2011

Full article available, download PDF

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Lenfest Plaza, Philadelphia

Architectural SSL, Number 20, November 2011 Issue

Cherry Street from Broad to Fifteenth Streets in downtown Philadelphia to vehicular traffic, an elegantly lit new pedestrian amenity for the public at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) has taken place on the cityscape.   Founded in 1805, PAFA is the oldest art museum and art school in the US.
The Lighting Practice designed the Plaza's lighting and sculptural accent lighting for the 51-ft.-tall representational "Paint Brush" by artist Claes Oldenburg that is angled nearly 12 ft. over the sidewalk. "Paint Brush" combines steel, fiberglass, and urethane in addition to the LED lighting.   It traveled nearly 3,000 miles from its fabrication location to be illuminated for the first time at a twilight-to-evening event on Oct. 1.   "The inspiration was to create an inviting and safe place that is unique to Philadelphia," says Helen K. Diemer of The Lighting Practice.

Full Article

By: Vilma Barr

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Professional Lighting Design Convention 2011

Helen Diemer, FIALD, LEED-AP/ USA + Dr. Esaul Sanchez/ USA

Improving urban campus security with lighting: University of Pennsylvania case study

The University of Pennsylvania is an urban institution surrounded by city streets  and residential neighborhoods. The neighborhood is a natural extension of Penn's campus, where students, faculty and staff live and conduct extracurricular activities.

Penn spends millions of dollars every year to maintain and improve its security. In 2006, the area had a series of well-publicized crimes followed by a "call to action" by some influential Penn parents. In response, Penn undertook several initiatives, including lighting improvements to  visibly improve security.

First, Penn expanded the use of its "campus standard" light pole to improve lighting on campus and in surrounding streets that it controlled.

To read the full case study and view images pleace download the PDF

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Join IES Philadelphia and ASLA Philadelphia for a walking tour of the lighting of the Rodin Museum and PAFA Lenfest Plaza. Mr. Stephen Hoppe and Mrs. Heather Kilroy from The Lighting Practice will lead the tour and discussion of the lighting. The landscape architects from Olin Partnership will also be presenting their strategies used at each location.

When:

Thursday November 3, 2011
from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM EDT

Where

Starting at the Thinker Statue
Rodin Museum
Philadelphia, PA

Register Today

Start with a neglected alley and cover it with a tidy arrangement of gray, red and blue square pavers. Add a beguiling serpentine bench fashioned from black locust wood. Install a temporary sculpture designed to get people talking, and a permanent one destined to be an icon.

Presto — this weekend, the city officially unveils Lenfest Plaza, a new public space that's the best thing to hit Broad Street since Billy Penn's head arrived in City Hall courtyard.

"Every design decision was filtered through the desire to have people be the main focus of the plaza," says Rubin. "It intended to be a socially-sustainable site which promotes dialogue, no matter the reason for being there."

According to Helen Diemer, president of The Lighting Practice, theatrical lights will be mounted on Broad Street's poles and aimed at the bristles of the brush. As with the plaza itself, lighting has several goals to achieve here, Diemer says.

"First of all, we're trying to make it a place that is comfortable and safe at any time of the day or evening. Secondly, we recognize that this is an important new public space for the city so we want to arouse people's curiosity, to draw them over there. And, third," she continues, "lighting will help foster those visual connections between the two buildings and between the plaza and the surrounding area."

Read the full article by Joan Greco at PlanPhilly.com

For more photos on this project please visit our Facebook Page

A Collaborative between The Lighting Practice and art students resulted in a spectacular sound and light show in downtown Philadelphia during Lightfair International

'Styling a Second Empire: A Light and Sound Experience' featured animated graphics, moving lights and colour-changing effects that re-interpret the architectural elements on one of Philadelphia’s most outstanding buildings, City Hall. The project was created by The Lighting Practice, a Philadelphia-based lighting design firm, working with students from the University of the Arts and sound system designers from Metropolitan Acoustics, and in partnership with Center City District and the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA).

The south facade and tower of City Hall were the focal points for the new lighting installation. It was designed to coordinate with the existing artistic lighting of fourteen buildings on Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts, a programmable lighting display that was designed by The Lighting Practice for the Center City District and installed in December 2008.

Full article: Mondo ARC

Photographs: Emad Hasan

Highland Park Village, located in Dallas, TX is a community filled with premiere shopping and upscale dining. It is a historic landmark and was the first self-contained shopping center in America. Washburne's family bought the landmark property two years ago for a gasp-worthy $170 million. Ray Washburne has a vision for Highland Park Village. “I want this to feel like a town square” he says. “Not just for Highland Park, but for all of inner Dallas and our customers coming from neighborhoods such as Lakewood, Preston Hollow and Kressler Park.” Washbure’s brother-in-law and Partner, Managing Director and Director of leasing for the Village said “We want to continue the evolution of Highland Park Village while respecting its history. What works here are best-in-class retailers that offer something unique. If you can buy it at 23 other points of sale in Dallas, it’s probably not for us.”
Washburne also wants the historic Spanish Mediterranean center to become even more visually dazzling. To that end, he’s assembled a local team including architect Dale E. Selzer, design firms Omniplan and Zero 3, and The Lighting Practice, which did a 2009 high-tech (and energy-efficient) update to the U.S. Capitol dome.
They not only want to preserve the history of this community center, but to also create and instill uniqueness. The architects and lighting design team will contribute to this lasting creation.
“On every corner, there will be something architectural that grabs yours attention and makes you say, ‘Wow, look at that,’” Washburne says.

Full Article by: Christopher Wynn | Photography by: Justin Clemons (To read full article click here)

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The Lighting Practice was featured in City Theatrical, Inc June 2011 Newsletter for the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts 2011 show. The project was a large outdoor SHoW DMX® wireless controlled lighting installation based around Philadelphia City Hall and using the 14 buildings along the Avenue of the Arts as “performers” in a free, outdoor art display in the heart of Philadelphia’s arts and culture scene. 

Styling a Second Empire: A Light and Sound Experience featured animated graphics, moving lights and color-changing effects that re-interpreted the architectural elements on one of Philadelphia’s most iconic buildings, City Hall.  More than a dozen other buildings were united in this “ballet of light,” set to original music composed by University of the Arts students.  The show enlivened the skyline nightly along four blocks from Market Street to Pine Street, beginning April 15 and continued through LIGHTFAIR International, the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference, presented by the International Association of Lighting Designers and the Illuminating Engineering Society, May 15-19 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The Lighting Practice's video on the project

For the full article in the June Newsletter of City Theatrical, Inc. For other archived Newsletters.

Thursday June 23, The "Singing Fountain" on Tasker Street in East Passyunk was rededicated and re-lit after it's recent restoration. Al Borden, Principal at TLP was present for the re-lighting and dedication ceremony. This was an exciting evening for the community especially since this part of town will be featured in the National Geographic Traveler. The neighborhood can once again sing in the evening with the glow of the fountain.

"The profile of East Passyunk is part of a two-page look at Philadelphia in the July-August issue of National Geographic Traveler. Overall, it's about what to do in Philly in only 48 hours and writer Caroline Tiger chose East Passyunk for the 'On Foot' subsection."

For more information on the neighborhood and The "Singing Fountain": East Passyunk neighborhood shines in national press

During Lightfair, Al Borden, Principal at TLP, was interviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer about "all the rage" that is LEDs...

"It's definitely the hot product," says Borden, who visited Lightfair on Wednesday and has used LEDs in projects such as the Avenue of the Arts light show and a gallery at the Library of Congress, where LEDs will be used to illuminate historic murals.

Borden says the long-lived lights make the most sense in institutional settings, where lighting needs are least likely to change. But for now, he remains skeptical - not just because of the price but because of the complexity of the emerging technology, where a single bulb can contain 50 to 100 components.

"People think of it like a lightbulb, and it couldn't be more different," Borden says. "It's a little bit like installing a computer in your ceiling."

To read more, follow this link: LEDs the Shining Star at Trade Show

"Styling a Second Empire", The Lighting Practice's light and sound show on S. Broad St., was featured in Architectural Lighting Magazine in their May 2011 issue.  The show builds on the permanent lighting display along 14 buildings on the Avenue of the Arts (a project completed by TLP in 2008) by adding moving lighting and color effects across City Hall's south facade.  Created as part of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, the show has remained running to coincide with LIGHTFAIR International, the world's largest architectural lighting convention.  This is the first time LIGHTFAIR has been to Philadelphia and the convention will bring over 20,000 lighting industry professionals to the city.  TLP is excited to have this opportunity to showcase our work for industry peers.  The show will continue to run through the evening of May 19th, with shows starting at 8:30pm, 10:15pm and 11:40pm.  An original musical underscoring accompanies the 8:30pm show, emitted from speakers mounted on City Hall.  To read more about the event, see AL's article at the link below:

Architectural Lighting: "Styling a Second Empire to Illuminate Philadelphia during Lightfair"

KYW Radio recently conducted an interview with The Lighting Practice's president, Helen Diemer, about this week's LIGHTFAIR International conference.  LIGHTFAIR is the world's largest architectural and commercial lighting show, with over 20,000 attendees.  Normally, the conference rotates between New York City and Las Vegas, but this year it is making a stop in Philadelphia instead.  The Lighting Practice is proud to have the show being hosted in our hometown and hopes that it will bring attention to the lighting industry here in Philadelphia.  To read about the interview or listen to a podcast of it, follow the link below.

KYW Radio: "Lighting Design Industry Tries a Philadelphia Convention"

Rastelli's Market Fresh in Deptford, NJ was just featured in an article on NJ.com.  The Lighting Practice worked with Hugh Boyd Architects to transform Rastelli's Meat Shop into this new high-end market.  To learn more about Rastelli's, see the link below.

NJ.com: Rastelli's Remodel

The Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion officially opened to the public on March 4, 2011.  The Lighting Practice is proud to have designed the exterior LED lighting on the new Broad Street facade and entrance.  TLP has augmented the facade's architectural features by integrating color-changing LED tube lights into the horizontal steel beams of the facade, while uplighting the open steel canopy with LED floodlights.  The Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed TLP principal Al Borden about the installation in this linked video:

Philly.com PACC Facade Lights Video

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts broke ground on February 2nd for construction of Lenfest Plaza, a new pedestrian plaza intended to unite PAFA's campus.  The plaza was designed by Olin Partnership with lighting design by The Lighting Practice.  The plaza will contain curved wooden benches, unique paving, an outdoor cafe, sculpture platforms and a commissioned sculpture by Claes Oldenberg.  The plaza is scheduled to be open in Fall 2011, for more about the groundbreaking read the following Philadelphia Inquirer article:

"PAFA Breaks Ground for Lenfest Plaza"

The New York Times has published an article featuring a new art glass installation at the Empire State Building.  As part of the restoration of the historic lobby, the piece was commissioned from artist Denise Ames.  As lighting designer for the lobby restoration, The Lighting Practice designed a unique backlighting system for the installation that highlights the elegant curves and patterns Ms. Ames used to create this piece.  Custom curved cold cathode fixtures are installed behind the glass to softly illuminate the art and draw attention to its intricacies.  The art glass installation completes the $20 million renovation of this famous art deco space.  TLP also provided lighting design for the restored ceiling murals, custom-made art deco ceiling pendants and ambient lighting throughout the lobby.  See below to read the article:

The New York Times: "15,000 New Stars Take Form in the Empire State Building"

Philadelphia's CBS affiliate, KYW, recently ran a story about the phase-out of the incandescent light bulb.  The Lighting Practice's Al Borden was interviewed for a professional's perspective.  Al notes that while the residential lighting industry is in a period of transition to more energy-efficient lighting sources, technology is evolving to more closely resemble the comfort and aesthetic of incandescent bulbs.  To read the entire article, click below:

CBS News - "Some Say Lightbulb Transition Not a Bright Idea"

Al Borden, principal at The Lighting Practice, has been appointed as lighting designer for the "Heat Up the Night!" charity event.  "Heat Up the Night!" is an evening of dancing, food, drink, and entertainment at Reading Terminal Market, with proceeds benefiting the Reading Terminal Market Preservation Fund, aimed at preserving and enhancing Reading Terminal Market for future generations.  Al is serving on the decor committee and is partnered with Scott Humphrey of Light Action Productions to design lighting for the evening event.

"Heat Up the Night!" will be held on Saturday, February 26th, 2011 from 7pm to 1am.  To learn more or to purchase tickets, please visit the following link:

Heat Up the Night Tickets

Newbridge on the Charles, a long-term assisted-living facility in Dedham, Massachussettes, was recently featured in an article for Contract.  The Lighting Practice provided exterior lighting design for building facades, entries, campus courtyards and gardens. In addition, TLP provided interior lighting design for public lobbies, circulation, conference rooms, library, art center, theater, chapel, and the dining, living and club rooms within the 95,000 SF Village Center.  To read the article, follow the link below to Contract's website:

Contract: Young at Heart

The Lighting Practice: Newbridge on the Charles

Helen Diemer, president of The Lighting Practice, was recently featured in the "CEO File" column of the Philadelphia Business Journal.  Helen discusses business philosophies, lessons learned, and some of The Lighting Practice's significant Philadelphia projects and upcoming work.  To read the article, follow the link below:

Philadelphia Business Journal Article

JoAnn Greco's recent article for Planphilly.com features Chestnut Park, a small, urban greenspace located at 17th and Chestnut streets in Philadelphia.  Originally opened in 1979 and designed by John Collins, founder of Temple University's Department of Landscape Design, Chestnut Park has been honored with numerous awards and accolades, including an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects.  After a period of disinvestment, Center City District assumed maintenance and stewardship of the park and is now spearheading a major revitalization and refurbishment of this hidden gem.  Al Borden, principal of The Lighting Practice, will lead the effort to re-imagine the park's lighted nighttime environment.  In the article, Al discusses the design concepts and vision that will upgrade this unique space.  To learn more, follow the link below:

Planphilly.com: TLC for a unique Center City "pocket park"

The Domain, an Austin, Texas mixed-use development, was recently featured in an article for Landscape Architect and Specifier News.  The Lighting Practice's Pomme Lee presents an overview of the project and discusses the lighting design concepts and implementation.  To read the article, follow the link below to their website at Landscape Online:

Landscape Online - The Domain: Austin’s Reclaimed Brownfield Becomes Mixed-Use Villa

Helen Diemer, president of The Lighting Practice, was recently featured on Marilyn Russell's morning talkshow "Woman of the Week" on 95.7 Ben FM, Philadelphia.  Helen's interview aired on April 25th and is now available online.  Helen and Marilyn discuss the practice of lighting design and some of The Lighting Practice's significant Philadelphia projects and upcoming work.  To listen to the podcast, follow the link below:

Ben FM - Helen Diemer Interview

The Empire State Building Lobby restoration was honored with a 2010 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award by The New York Landmarks Conservancy.  The Moses Awards honor preservation leaders, public officials, organizations, owners, builders, architects, and craftspeople who restore the beauty and utility of New York’s great architecture.  The Lighting Practice is proud to be a part of the design team.

 The Lighting Practice is pleased to announce that the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania was recently featured in Inga Saffron's architectural column of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  TLP's lighting design combines daylight with sparingly integrated electric lighting to add transparency and reinforce the relationship of forms in the architecture.  To read the article or learn more about the project follow the links below:

Philadelphia Inquirer: Changing Skyline

The Lighting Practice: Annenberg Public Policy Center

The latest issue of Retail Traffic Magazine features an article about current trends in food court design, including the use of modern materials, aesthetically pleasing lighting, and borrowing concepts from hospitality design.  Helen Diemer provides insight on current lighting challenges related to food court design and ways retail owners can develop solutions.  Read the full article at the link below:

Retail Traffic Magazine - "Mall Owners are Giving Food Courts and Common Areas a Facelift"

Part seven of Washington, D.C. based Federal News Radio's "Beneath the Green Dome" special series discusses the Capitol Dome relighting project.  This installation of the series includes information about the relighting project and interviews with Green the Capitol staff.  Follow the link below to access both print and podcast formats:

Federal News Radio, "Beneath the Green Dome: Relighting the Capitol Dome"

To show support for the championship Philadelphia Phillies in their second straight World Series, property owners, the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) and the Center City District (CCD) will light Center City in brilliant red and white throughout the series.

The Lighting Practice worked with Center City District to program the façade lighting of nine buildings on the Avenue of the Arts.  To support the Philadelphia Phillies, façade lighting will celebrate with a red and white kinetic light show, repeating every five minutes, all up and down South Broad Street.

PlanPhilly-Center City Buildings and Landmarks Rooting For Phillies

The Lighting Practice is pleased to announce the opening of the S. Anne and C. Michael Armstrong Medical Education Building at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.  TLP worked with architectural firm Ballinger to design this state-of-the-art medical education facility.  Read more about this project in The Baltimore Sun's feature article or on John Hopkins University website:

The Baltimore Sun - Building a Curriculum

Johns Hopkins University - Armstrong Building

The Lighting Practice was hired to convert the U.S. Capitol building to energy-efficient lights, featured in the Philadelphia Business Journal:

Philadelphia Business Journal article

The Lighting Practice’s work on the Capitol Dome was highlighted in an article about the energy-efficient lighting project.  To read the full article in the Los Angeles Times or Chicago Tribune, click below:

LA Times : The Capitol Dome

Chicago Tribune: The Capitol Dome

Helen Diemer, president of The Lighting Practice, was a judge for the 2009 Delaware Valley Green Building Council's Student Sustainable Design Competition, where Philadelphia University student Andrew Chaveas received the Lighting/Daylighting Award, sponsored by TLP, for his design for a sustainable food cooperative.  To read the full article in The Reading Eagle follow the link below:

The Reading Eagle: DVGBC Lighting/Daylighting Award

The Avenue of the Arts Facade Lighting Project has won a Special Citation for Public/Private Partnership from A|L, architectural|lighting magazine, in their sixth annual Light & Architecture Design Awards.  To read the full article from A|L, click below:

Avenue of the Arts A|L Design Award

Working with Dallas' Park and Recreation Department, a Citizen Task Force, and a planning team from Jacobs, TLP has developed a Lighting Master Plan for White Rock Lake Park, the most popular park in the Dallas system.  The lake, built as a city reservoir in 1910, is surrounded by a 9 mile trail system, several historic sites and busy rental facilities.  It is home to a varied population of plant and animal species.  TLP's Design Guidelines will preserve the night sky over White Rock Lake and promote a sustainable future for this 2,115 acre public facility.  

Please click on the links below for more information:

Dallas Channel 33 News Video

Dallas' Park and Recreation Department

White Rock Lake Park Lighting Master Plan and Design Guidelines (Adobe PDF, 13.5mb)

The Crown Lights system is now a full-color digital display wrapping nearly 500 feet around the perimeter of the PECO tower and rising 40 feet from the 27th to the 30th floor.  The new system uses nearly 2,000,000 individual LEDs arrayed as RGB pixels across 118 programmable columns.  A gap between each LED column allows air flow for the building's mechanical systems.  The LEDs use 40 percent less energy than PECO's original incandescent Crown Lights system, and provide bolder, brighter, more colorful graphics than ever before.

TLP, as part of the core design team, used animation studies and graphic representations to test various luminaire configurations and programming concepts, and provided performance specifications for the selection of the final LED system.  Below is a video link showing the inauguration of the new Crown Lights on July 4th, 2009.

PECO Crown Lights Inauguration Video

TLP is pleased to have helped PECO reduce its carbon footprint while enhancing its commitment to community-based public announcements.

FACT SHEET: PECO Crown Lights Project

• Large block letters scrolling across PECO's Crown Lights have been sending community-based messages to Philadelphians for more than 30 years.
• PECO knew the importance of this skyline icon and its service for the city, but recognized that the Crown Lights technology had become dated and inefficient.  As part of their corporate environmental initiative, PECO has replaced the old incandescent lamps with a digital system using Light Emitting Diodes (LED).  The LEDs will use 40 percent less energy than the original Crown Lights system, with minimal maintenance, and provide bolder, brighter, more colorful graphics than ever before.
• The new system was launched July 4, 2009, during Philadelphia's "Sunoco Welcome America" celebration.
• Light display dimensions: 40 feet high, 172 feet wide (north and south sides); 76 feet wide (east and west sides); comprised of panles that are 2 feet in width.
• Utilizes two million energy-efficient LEDs, replacing 2,600 screw-in bulbs.
• A team of lighting and design specialists worked with PECO to translate their needs into a working solution.  Project partners:
  • IEI Group - Architect
  • The Lighting Practice - Lighting Designer
  • C. Erickson & Sons - General Contractor
  • YESCO Electronics - System Fabricator, Installer and Programmer
  • Cloud Gehshan Associates - Graphic Designer
  • Talisman Interactive - Animation Designer
  • AEC Engineers - Mechanical/Electrical/Structural Engineers
  • AKF - System Commissioning Engineer

"PECO, envisioning a win-win for the city, is reducing its carbon footprint while providing a stronger voice for the community groups to deliver their messages to the city," said Al Borden, principal, The Lighting Practice.  "Re-creating the Crown Lights as a digital system has - once again - placed PECO on the leading edge of outreach communication.  The clear, bright and colorful animations will attract and delight viewers while transmitting important information - and the greater message of sustainability," Borden said.

To read the full article, please use the following link.

http://www.planphilly.com/node/9056

To read the full article, please use the following link.

http://www.newurbannews.com/

To the read the full article, please use the following link.

http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/3513523.php?

To read the full article, please use the following link.

http://www.planphilly.com/node/2195

To the read the full article, please use the following link.

http://www.archlighting.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=0&articleID=703808

To the read the full article, please use the following link.

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2008/02/25/smallb1.html

To read the full article, please use the following link:

http://cbs3.com/local/Avenue.of.the.2.556588.html