9 minute read
Batting a Thousand: Lighting Excellence in St. Louis
By RANDY REID
Last month, a special occasion arose – my father-in-law, Dick Thomas, was celebrated by the St. Louis Cardinals and given the honor of throwing out the first pitch at a game against the Washington Nationals.
My family and I had the pleasure of staying at the Live! by Loews hotel, located in Ballpark Village where the impressive lighting design caught my eye. The innovative genius responsible is Lisa Reed and her Envision Lighting Design team, prior to her collaboration and merger with Randy Burkett to form the lighting design firm RBLD. During the IES Annual Conference, I sat down with Lisa, who educated me on the intricacies and artistry of the Loews lighting design.
40 Foot Banners
Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals recognize the iconic red banners adorning the exterior of the PwC Pennant Building, each of which displays a year when the Cardinals triumphed in the World Series.
Unlike typical fabric banners, the World Series banners are designed with one-inch-thick letters on each side, necessitating specialized lighting to ensure legibility without casting shadows. The solution? A theatrical treatment employing cross-aiming techniques.
Beneath each banner, a pair of fixtures with eight heads were installed, four of which point toward the banner on the left, and the other four pointing to the right. This cross-framing technique ensures that the fixtures under one banner light adjacent ones, creating a consistent illumination across all.
Ecosense’s RISE F080 Quad was selected for its precision and quality. Mounted underneath each banner, the fixture stands about 10 to 15 feet off the ground at the second-floor level. The precise coordination of fixtures was vital, as the pre-stressed building construction required accurate location.
The selected fixtures were 3000K, providing a warm and welcoming glow that highlights the red color. The effect is both graceful and elegant, raking across the building façade and illuminating each banner.
Above the hotel entrance, a beautiful, 6-story bas-relief presented a similar challenge – how to light the entire piece from a single vantage point.
Lisa described how this sculpture seamlessly intertwines the floor plans of both the old and new ballparks: “The sculpture represents the simultaneous construction and demolition of the old and new Busch Stadiums, because Loews sits on the ground previously occupied by Old Busch.”
Lighting this complex design presented significant challenges, requiring meticulous planning and comprehensive studies. The sculpture seems to rise and then gradually fade away, an effect masterfully achieved by Lisa’s team through a systematic approach. "We did a lot of lighting studies. We took a three-dimensional model of the bas-relief and conducted photometrically accurate lighting studies. We looked at lighting all around it, from the top and from the bottom," Lisa explained.
In this case, two Ecosense TROV linear fixtures were mounted below—one with a tight distribution for the top and another with a wider distribution for the bottom half—to reveal the dimensionality that would surely have been lost under direct lighting. The top half was illuminated with a 10-degree beam, creating a shadow effect that accentuated the details of the sculpture.
A glowing fin, designed as a beacon for the entrance of the hotel, further added to the architectural brilliance of the space. It's a continuous element, with all the light concealed, reflecting off the back of the fin. "They wanted it to appear continuous, so all of the light is concealed," Lisa shared, emphasizing the careful detailing that went into this seamless visual effect.
Overcoming Value Engineering in the Whiskey Room
The Whiskey Room bar at Loews is a visual treat. Originally, the walls were to be backlit, but that was value-engineered out. Fortunately, through the magic of lighting design and good collaboration with the overall design and construction team, Lisa achieved the effect of a backlit room by grazing the walls.
The surprise factor was the choice of an orange backdrop, which was combined with a two-inch gap between the shelves and the wall to create the backlit effect. Through consideration of paint chips and fixture samples, the team selected the perfect paint color to complement the warm 2200K graze of Ecosense’s TROV L50 9×9 fixtures.
The strategy also proved economically advantageous. "You're spending a third of what you would have spent for backlit walls,” Lisa revealed, a substantial savings without compromising quality or appearance. Though a few imperfections in uniformity arose, the overall effect was stunning.
The success in the Whiskey Room is a testament to thoughtful planning, skilled execution, and the right lighting solution that's both visually striking and budget-conscious.
Lighting The Bullock
The rooftop bar, colloquially known as "The Bullock," was a significant part of the overall project. During the design phase, the bar didn't yet have a name, yet the vision was clear and ambitious. The monochrome ambiance, distinguished by a black and white background, was beautifully accented by the lighting.
Lisa explained, "There's a lot of coordination here. We've got a cove light around the top of the floating ceiling over the bar, and every one of the white stripes is a niche and nook, each with a light at the top and bottom. You can see the light at the bottom illuminating upward."
Adding to the aesthetics were two large television screens, a well-placed accent light at the bottom of the bar, and sizable living room-like outdoor lamp fixtures. The color theme was punctuated with red accents, visible even in the chairs.
Lighting the Rooms
In the nuanced world of hotel room lighting, the attention to detail is paramount. Within the rooms a striking element is the recurring use of red cords in decorative light fixtures, a choice made by the interior designer. Lisa and her team played a significant role in this, specifically with lamping.
"It was the hotel’s first time shifting entirely to LED replacement lamps in decorative fixtures, so we had to make sure that they were getting what they expected," Lisa noted. The goals were clear: uniformity, good color temperature, and excellent color rendering.
"The rooms were bright, unlike a lot of hotel rooms. We spent a lot of time doing calculations to ensure that they had enough light in the rooms. That was one of their goals.”
The effort put into perfect illumination pays tribute to the collaborative spirit between lighting experts and interior designers. It also underscores the importance of technology and precision in creating rooms not only aesthetically pleasing but functionally well-lit.
Spotlight on Baseball Brilliance
In the hotel's lobby, visitors can find glass cases with baseball memorabilia highlighted without overpowering the artifacts. The design utilized tiny display case track fixtures with adjustable heads from Feelux Lighting.
"They were all on the lighting control system," Lisa explained, emphasizing the precision in the setup, which was tailored to create different ambiances. There were settings for different times of the day: morning, lunch, and night, each finely tuned to provide optimal viewing. The color temperature was 2700K, and although not dimmable, the fixtures were part of a comprehensive lighting control system that allowed for exact adjustments.
A Nostalgic Design Touch
A unique touch in the hotel's ballrooms is the integration of old sconces from the historic Busch Stadium, retrofitted with LEDs. While these sconces may appear average at a glance, their value lies in the nostalgia they evoke. Lisa mentioned the sentiment often felt for the reuse and repurposing of iconic elements.
Along with the sconces, the ballrooms and other spaces showcase a consistent design motif that resonates with the baseball theme. A light-colored wood stain, reminiscent of a baseball bat, is prevalent throughout, unifying interiors. From the lobby grand stair to the guest rooms and ballroom, this thoughtful design serves as a subtle yet effective nod to the sport, creating an engaging environment.
Business of Lighting Design™
HKS, an architectural firm based in Dallas, was at the helm of the design, hiring Lisa’s lighting design team, Envision Lighting Design, LLC, now Reed Burkett Lighting Design. The process was extensive, spanning 2-3 years, a testament to the complexity and attention to detail the project demanded.
The coordination effort in this project was significant, involving numerous moving parts. Lisa's team was engaged with Ballpark Village, the Pennant Building and Loews, as well as the adjacent fitness center. However, they did not work on the residential tower, which added another layer of complexity to the project. In total, the project required the collaboration of three different lighting designers: Lisa's team for the aforementioned areas, HLB for the grounds' lighting design, and DoublEdge Design (now ils) for the residential tower.
Perhaps the biggest challenge was the unpredictable spurts of design work. Lisa explained, "The design would go in bursts. We worked on it for two and a half years, but it would go quiet. And then suddenly they would say, okay, well we need these documents in two weeks, or we need these documents in two days." This required the team to ramp up and down quickly to meet sudden deadlines.
The unpredictable timing required the lighting design team to be nimble and do as much planning and behind-the-scenes work as possible between deadlines. The long-term commitment between design professionals played a key role in bringing an ambitious vision to life, making the hotel not just a place to stay but an experience steeped in nostalgia and elegance.
The lighting design of the entire Ballpark Village project is a remarkable intersection of art and technology. The end result is a stunning display celebrating the city's beloved baseball team and the skill of modern lighting design.
The project showcases how innovative thinking and technical precision can transform an ordinary feature into something extraordinary and elegant. The entire experience, marked by both personal celebration and professional insight, made for a memorable stay in St. Louis.
FIXTURE SCHEDULE
Feelux Lighting: mini-track fixtures
ECOSENSE Products:
• SLIM COVE DIM H-12/48-27-MULT
• TROV L35-I-48-06-30-80-MULT-120
• TROV L50-E-12/48-1230-80-MULT-9x9
• RISE F170-1S-MO-30-8-10-K-X-A
• RISE F080-4M-MO-30-9-05-K-X-C
