Luma shines at IES Awards

To win just one of Illuminating Engineering Society’s Annual Illumination Awards is a prestigious honor, but to win three? That is beyond an honor!

Luma walked away with three Awards of Merit for their lighting design on the Knight Cancer Research Building (KCRB), the Stott Center and Viking Pavilion, and the Confidential Venture Capital Firm at IES’s 46th Annual Illumination Awards. The accolades go beyond public recognition and provide an opportunity for designers to show the world their signature style and originality in lighting design.

For over 100 years, IES has been known as an authority on illumination by its ability to communicate information on all aspects of lighting practice to the lighting community. The awards recognize individuals for their professionalism, ingenuity, and knowledge of lighting and design excellence. This year’s Awards Gala was held at the Omni Louisville Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky during the three-day annual conference and hosted about 25,000 attendees.

Beyond being LEED Platinum certified, KCRB was designed to end cancer as we know it. Luma worked with the project team to create a space that would not only work for researchers trying to cure cancer, but also one that allowed them to showcase their in-depth design knowledge and application expertise. To announce the building entrance, Luma concealed lighting within the building structure so that it would reflect off the upper soffit to provide a warm and inviting lobby. A hallmark of the design is a sawtooth façade that offers a lantern of colors indicating the various types of cancer being researched within the labs.

The client of the Confidential Venture Capital Firm wanted a smart, upbeat, and confident space that would be comfortable in its interplay of warm materials and light. Luma designers focused on a disciplined and sensitive approach to integrate the lighting with a minimalist approach without losing any of the warmth of the materials. The space breathes with light emanating from veiled, locations: concealed uplights, ceiling reveals, and screens are all seamlessly blended into the architecture of the space. Where the fixtures stand out, they become statement pieces with the purpose of being pivotal points and moments in space.
Originally built in 1966, Portland State University Stott Viking Pavilion, home to the athletic, health, and physical education programs, needed a facelift. Luma helped the building undergo a radical metamorphosis from an imposing brick building to a sustainable and energetic student event space. They designed daylit circulation concourses, study spaces, and social areas to be paired with highly integrated electric lighting and lighting control systems to provide a balanced, luminous experience from the inside-out. The arena space lighting was specifically engineered to provide a glare-free experience for players and spectators as well as accommodating science fairs and graduation events. What once was a campus deficiency has now evolved into a key recruiting feature for the college.

Luma is honored to be recognized and would like to congratulate fellow Award of Merit winners: Gallegos Lighting Design for their work on DreamWorks Animation Zone, Rushing for their design for Stratus Tower, and ALULA Lighting Design for their work on the Capital One Headquarters. Since the Illumination Awards are not based on a competition, but by peer recognition, we would like to thank everyone who believed in our work!