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Goodbye treadmill desks and napping pods. The No. 1 office perk is natural light. Here we showcase three illuminating case studies that explore lighting's ability to instill ambience, make biophilic connections, increase productivity, and more.
Lutron Commercial Experience Center, New York
Achieving desired results with lighting requires more than window placement and fixture selection. It requires orchestration of different light sources and control strategies. This is where Lutron shines bright. A leader in developing light-management systems, the company opened its New York Commercial Experience Center to inform designers on using light as an amenity.
Upon entering the reception zone, visitors encounter an 8-foot-diameter custom perforated ceiling luminaire. "Our design team developed this moment to recreate the dappled light of a tree canopy and introduce biophilia through manipulation of light," says Rob Laterza, experience center leader at Lutron Electronics. "The movement of light is reminiscent of wind blowing gently through leaves-it's beautifully captivating and creates that wow factor as soon as our guests enter the space."
Farther in, a variety of vignettes and rooms demonstrates artificial and natural lighting strategies and the impact they can have on occupants. Lutron partnered with COOKFOX Architects, One Lux Lighting Studio, and RDA to tackle these. "The center was envisioned as an open park space with intimate gathering areas on either side. We looked at the various journeys people would make throughout the space and employed vignettes of our major verticals-office spaces, hospitality, and higher education-so we could host multiple groups at the same time," Laterza explains. An undulating plaster wall forms a spine that guides visitors to each space. Glass-enclosed meeting rooms-including a consultation room with curved glazing that follows the plaster spine-ensure natural light will penetrate the core. In turn, the light-filled areas enable visiting designers to better interact with lighting-control and shading products as well as examine shade-fabric options more closely.
In the hospitality vignette, Lutron's myRoom guest-room solution paired with the Palladiom keypad showcases control of a room's lights, thermostat, and motorized shades using a single intuitive device. The main conference room utilizes Lutron T-Series tunable-white drivers on fixtures to offer flexibility for every type of meeting, including A/V presentations and virtual meetings. The Vive wireless system, displayed...