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.
This month, we will explore an innovative installation of lighting controls at the General Motors Design Dome. Design by SmithGroupJJR. Photography by James Haefner Photography, Inc.. Lighting controls include the ETC Eos TI 16k lighting control console, ETC P-ACP Architectural Lighting Processor, Crestron CLSC6B Integrated Lighting System (for the boardroom), ETC DMX Gateways (2 and 4 port), Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Dante/QSC/LAN/Lighting Network Switch, Lumenpulse CBOX (data+power DMX boxes), Crestron touch panels – Crestron TSW-750, and Crestron lighting keypads – Crestron C2N-CBF-P.
As the crown jewel of an automotive center dubbed “The Versailles of Industry” when it opened in 1956, this historic structure embodies the client’s role as an innovative American enterprise. Richard Kelly and Saarinen envisioned the structure to provide a distraction-free reflected environment ideal for evaluating specular automotive forms. In 1993, the company added a suspended theatrical truss ring to expand multipurpose event functions. Over time all lighting systems became obsolete, tainted by cumbersome accessibility, time-consuming set-up, limited aiming, archaic color filtering, and exorbitant energy burden. Renovation efforts challenged the team to improve the dome’s original evaluation function, expand its event capabilities, and restore it as a proud symbol of innovation.
Lighting brings the structure into the 21st century by introducing a DMX-controlled lighting system that enables RGBW spectral tuning, motorized aiming, motorized luminaire optics, remote device management, dynamic gobo patterns, live scene authoring and preset recall capabilities while limiting interventions into the historic architecture. Lighting and AV system integration provides flexibility suitable for events ranging from black tie charity dinners to internationally broadcast product launches. Event quality is improved by immersive colored uplighting and dynamic gobo effects controlled in concert with video and music. A streamlined ring truss conceals large video projector and speaker systems while controls align unused fixtures automatically to reduce clutter. Day-to-day evaluations benefit from a nearby control board that enables operators to respond immediately to designers without requiring cumbersome lifts to adjust aiming, optics, or color. Perimeter LED spotlights enable backlighting of perimeter vehicles, expanding the building’s ideal evaluation locations. Scene preset and recall capabilities allow complex corporate events to be held within minutes of day-to-day assessment activities, greatly expanding the building’s usage. Lighting and controls introduce modern technology to achieve the client’s complex needs, lessen operational and maintenance costs, and restore a revered space.
This structure represents both the history and vision of the client. Restoring this revered space signifies the client’s emergence from the 2008 auto industry crash.
Controls enable flexible lighting and AV technology to transform the space and meet a variety of complex tasks, improving quality and expanding functionality.
4000K and RGB LED coves achieve 2:1 luminance uniformity, increase white illuminance by 50%, and enable colored environments using 77% less energy than original uplighting.
A unified control desk combines lighting, audio, and video control consoles within the space to facilitate efficient workflows without requiring lift access to luminaires.
The 3-tier custom truss-ring optimizes spotlight mounting relative to display locations while concealing speakers, projectors, conduit, DMX repeaters, and connections behind a translucent
fabric.
Motorized RGBW luminaires with shallow circular form factors integrate into perimeter soffits to provide new backlighting luminaires that expand the useable floor space.
56-channel DMX-controlled motorized aiming and motorized optic RGBW LED spotlights developed for traveling music venues are leveraged to achieve complex industrial design criteria.
Designers selectively dim R-G-B channels of spectrally-tunable RGBW LEDs to counter colored fill light so vehicle finishes appear as they would in a white environment.
40 DMX-universes allow future expandability and expedient user programming. Scenes are recalled instantaneously, enabling tight scheduling of charitable events, prototype unveilings, and all-staff
gatherings.
Press a button and the dome functions as a state-of-the-art industrial facility, internationally broadcast showroom, or multi-purpose event space due to modern lighting and controls.
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