In the newly designed and realized entrance lobby of True Family Enterprises, backlit panels adorn the sculpted staircase that is the centerpiece of the modern office space. The privately held investment company in Newport Beach California encompasses approximately 24,000 square feet. NOAA was the architect and Akar Studios was responsible for the lighting design.
Illumination around stairways is often a challenge. Space is limited and there are often structural elements that cast undesired shadows. Akar Studios solved these design challenges by illuminating the surrounding walls as modular surfaces— and in turn, created something dramatic and out of the ordinary.
Akar chose Cooledge TILE to backlight the modular glass wall because of its consistency and ease of installation. Unlike conventional light sources, the modular, scalable and material-like properties of TILE required only 2 to 4 inches of space to provide seamless and uniform illumination.
The use of spider hinges to support the heavy glass diffusers created an onsite obstacle not realized in the original design. Cooledge lighting provided TILE Cut-Out Kits which are field adaptable to work around site obstacles to allow for a timely installation. The hardware of the spider hinges can be seen as X-shapes and provides a dramatic contrast for the clean and modern aesthetic of the staircase.
