The Lighting Control Innovation Award was created in 2011 as part of the Illuminating Engineering Society’s Illumination Awards program, which recognizes professionalism, ingenuity and originality in lighting design. LCA is proud to sponsor the Lighting Control Innovation Award, which recognizes projects that exemplify the effective use of lighting controls in nonresidential applications. In this award’s first three years, 34 projects were recognized with an Award of Merit and four with an Award of Excellence.
This month, we will explore the role that lighting controls play at the MGM Macau Grande Praca. Lighting and controls design by Matt Levesque, Catherine Hegdale, Michael Romero, Francis Mempin and Ellen Kuklinski of First Circle Design, LLC. Photography by David Flad. Lighting controls by PHAROS (LPC-1).
This 24-hour central plaza environment encompasses activity on all sides, requiring a lighting control system with capabilities to manage everything from standard daily operations to live performances and festival events. The skylight ceiling posed the additional challenge of balancing the vast indoor and outdoor environments throughout day and night.
The flexibility necessary for festivals further complicated the controls design. Employing skylight structure as cable raceway uniquely integrates and conceals control data for programmable LED luminaires and provides an unencumbered sky vista.
Severely restricted budget, no additional power, and a compressed timeline for installation combined for a distinctively multifaceted design.
A creative combination of control components, including dimming, photocells, timeclocks, remote web interface with manual override, and theatrical DMX inputs provide ownership with the flexibility desired. The web interface allows users to log in from anywhere in the world and review status or modify programming as needed through a customized password-protected infrastructure.
For standard operations, touchscreen controls allow personnel to log in and adjust all or part of the environment with a touch. Reference photos add clarity to touchscreen controls from remote locations.
DMX ports strategically located throughout the space provide capability for theatrical consoles to easily override the standard architectural operations, primarily triggered via timeclock. Photocells balance the vast skylight impact during the day, automatically compensating for overcast daytime conditions.
Schematic 3D modeling addressed the constraint of limited power, controlling the quantity and specification of LED luminaires and control system components. The completed energy reduction is significant enough to allow an additional theatrical system during live events without need for generators.
To manage the restricted budget of this overseas project, designers worked closely with manufacturers throughout the process, ensuring best cost and on-time delivery. Coordination throughout design, assembly, and shipping eliminated unexpected costs.
An inspired blend of ingenuity, specification, and coordination successfully provides an a An inspired blend of ingenuity, specification, and coordination successfully provides an accomplished design and entertaining, yet graceful environment.
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