Avison Young, known for providing “Intelligent Real Estate Solutions” to their clients, was in need of a unique lighting solution for their downtown Chicago office. Located on the thirtieth floor of a high rise and directly facing another building, their lobby featured eighty feet of window and column space and lacked an engaging view due to buildings located directly across from them. The Avison Young east façade did not allow enough daylight to enter the office. Ultimately they wanted to showcase a lighting solution for their own lobby that would appeal to potential tenants.
Avison Young approached David Grout, principal at their design firm Gary Lee Partners (GLP), with the challenge. The GLP team studied ways to mask the view without blocking natural light. 3D digital models and physical mock-ups were created to test materiality, lighting, opacity, and construction. The one attribute that continued to emerge as a primary requirement was the ability to put in moving images and branding logos that lent themselves to some projection media solutions.
In the world of short throw ceilings, they wanted total content management and integration. For this reason, GLP partnered with Joel Furmanek of KSA Lighting (KSA) due to his extensive experience in theatrical lighting and began discussing projection lighting solutions.
Together, GLP and KSA formulated a plan to put a fabric wrapped structure along the windows and light it from front and back. They explored the best way to block the view while allowing natural light.
GLP and KSA provided their recommended lighting solution to Avison Young. They collaboratively agreed on the importance of a lighting system with the ability to properly achieve the color at the right angle, which was easy to install and maintain, and featured the ability to add dynamic content with a series of different looks that can play back. The Panasonic Space Player™ was the right solution because it had the projection capabilities, impressive content storage, and the ability to tie into other systems.
“Our design solution utilizes the Panasonic Space Player’s blended image technology and allows us to project a single, large format image or video across a 25-foot-wide feature wall in Avison Young’s office,” said Jackie Lake, designer for Gary Lee Partners. “The final design provides a unique branding experience for Avison Young’s workplace.”
True to the original idea, the players work with a fabric-wrapped structure sitting in front of windows that is lit from the front and top by a linear RBG graze fixture. The first player features the company logo, the second and third players are used outside the conference rooms to display branding videos and imagery, and the fourth player is used in their employee kitchen area. All players display digital images with content provided by Avison Young.
The licensed electrical contractor did the installation and content—integrating the video on the front end and feeding the content via HDMI image input. Essentially the whole system is controlled by Crestron’s control interface to drive the system, and then content is sent through the splitter box for the various scenes. Content management and future changes are easy for Avison Young to manage. They provide their own content and simply play it off of their computer.
“The Space Player is a great solution for Avison Young,” said Lake. “The product provides the company with the benefits of dynamic lighting and energy efficiency, while requiring virtually zero maintenance. And, with the Content Manager, they can now easily set up, schedule, and control content with little effort.”
Not only does the Space Player creatively address Avison Young’s aesthetic lighting needs, it also requires less maintenance with Panasonic’s Solid State illumination technology. No lamp replacement is necessary for up to 20,000 hours. The Space Player consumes a fraction of the energy of a typical projection system.
Avison Young can effortlessly adjust images to fit angled walls for attractive adjusted projection (no angle distortion) because the Space Player is fully equipped with vertical, horizontal and corner keystone correction. Lighting and projection can be displayed dynamically over any object, while the fixture’s aesthetic design complements their elegant space. Plus, the Space Player’s 2.2x zoom lens allows projection to be tailored from large to small and even intimate formats.
“The Space Player is the perfect solution for our lighting needs,” stated John Ziesmer, principal of Avison Young. “The versatility of the product has transformed our lobby into a dynamic setting for our visitors while providing a platform for delivering digital media content, ultimately serving as a critical tool for creating brand culture and awareness.”
The Space Player gives Avison Young a way to showcase both their physical lobby space and their ability to creatively solve problems to potential tenants. The solution offers a high level of flexibility. Avison Young now boasts a lobby that engages visitors, clients and potential tenants with dynamic content.
To learn more about the Panasonic Space Player, including product literature, video, installation instructions, and frequently asked questions, visit www.unvlt.com.
