840 Howe Street
Awards
IESBC Interior Lighting Design Award of Merit 2019
AES Lighting’s contributions for this project involved illuminating interior, renovated spaces of a multi-tenant office building.
Our challenge was improving lobby wayfinding and providing ample interior lighting within a restricted ceiling space and budget. Greenery elements housed in newly-designed planter boxes needed grow lighting from a quadruple-height ceiling, and task illumination was required for new hightop tables and seating.
Lobby solution: We vertically back-lit an exterior and interior perforated architectural screen with integrated, cost-effective LED Tape light. The Tape light operates on an exterior photocell, diming gradually in sections as it enters the interior, guiding occupants through the lobby. The high-top tables were illuminated via LED floodlights with narrow optics strategically placed out-of-view three floors above the entry. All existing luminaires were upgraded to LED. Architectural-style Metal Halide pendants were used as grow lighting for the new plantings. A remote section of planting beneath the third-floor walkway was specifically lit by a three-lamp Metal Halide recessed multiple. Inground LEDs wall wash signage behind the concierge’s desk.
The parkade required budget-conscious wayfinding to direct users to bicycle storage and newly-designed changerooms. Low surface reflectance values and exposed mechanical systems, along with the Interior Designer’s request for an architectural feature at a low ceiling height, made it challenging to meet ASHRAE targets while adhering to local illumination values for safety and security.
Parkade solution: Cost-effective, LED Flat panel luminaires mounted in a staggered pattern in the perforated-feature drop ceiling cast an advancing glow on the floor, reinforcing the walkway and encouraging forward movement through the parkade. Inside the changing rooms, LED Flat panel luminaires mounted above a scrim created a light-well effect that opened up the low-level space. Cove lighting illuminated the mirror/sink area; downlights provided ambient light. Parking stalls were upgraded to LED with integrated motion sensors, increasing illumination levels.