A detail of the ceiling and the lamp clusters.
John Muggenborg A detail of the ceiling and the lamp clusters.
More than 10,000 lamps were bundled into groups of four individual sockets to create an industrial style fixture.
John Muggenborg More than 10,000 lamps were bundled into groups of four individual sockets to create an industrial style fixture.

In January 2016, New York advertising agency R/GA relocated its headquarters to a Foster+Partners–designed office space on West 33rd Street. The project brief called for a flexible design for “fostering ideas and growth while promoting a sense of technological advancement and innovation” while embracing the building’s exposed waffle-slab ceiling.

Each coffer in the waffle-slab ceiling is uplight with a tunable retrofit PAR38 LED lamp.
John Muggenborg Each coffer in the waffle-slab ceiling is uplight with a tunable retrofit PAR38 LED lamp.

After assessing existing light levels and light quality, as well as how staff members would be collaborating and communicating, local lighting design firm Tillotson Design Associates developed a strategy to bundle approximately 10,500 surface-mounted, tunable PAR38 LED lamps into groups of four, which created “a raw and industrial luminaire mindful of both project schedule and budgetary limitations.” This inventive lighting strategy is uniform throughout the office and provides a cohesive industrial look to match exposed sprinklers, HVAC, and plumbing systems.

John Muggenborg

The lighting design promotes an atmosphere of innovation and specialization. A wireless DMX control system is programmed to adjust the lighting throughout the day in order to match the employees’ circadian rhythms—with the fixtures starting at 2700K in the morning, cooling to 4000K at midday, and returning to 3000K in the evening. Employees can override the system for special events, and they can locally adjust their individual workspaces with color, indicate the occupancy of a meeting room, or match the lighting above individual workrooms and huddle spaces.

The lighting system runs through a custom-designed circadian rhythm program throughout the day. In the evening, the lighting system returns to a warm-hued light.
John Muggenborg The lighting system runs through a custom-designed circadian rhythm program throughout the day. In the evening, the lighting system returns to a warm-hued light.
The lamps can be programmed for dynamic scenes and special events.
John Muggenborg The lamps can be programmed for dynamic scenes and special events.
The conference room. The proprietary lamp technology uses RGBW LED chips to accurately produce and maintain any color point.
John Muggenborg The conference room. The proprietary lamp technology uses RGBW LED chips to accurately produce and maintain any color point.

Jury Comments
Unique solution. • Made use of a specific lamp and its technology. • Clearly thought about the controls.

Details
Project: R/GA Office, New York • Client: R/GA, New York • Architect: Foster + Partners, New York office • Lighting Designer: Tillotson Design Associates, New York • Lighting Team Members: Suzan Tillotson, Ellen Sears, Dagmara Nowak • Photographer: John Muggenborg • Project Size: 134,000 square feet • Project and Lighting Costs: Withheld • Watts per Square Foot: 0.99 • Code Compliance: IECC 2012 • Manufacturers: Gammalux, Ketra, LED Linear, LiteLab, Selux, USAI