It’s hard to miss the Bank of America Corporate Center among the buildings dotting the skyline of Charlotte, N.C. The tower, Charlotte’s tallest, is among the grandest on the East Coast, rising 871 feet above the city, and its crown adds to the building’s remarkable presence during the day. Built in 1992, Bank of America’s world headquarters building is said to be visible to the naked eye as far as 35 miles away on a clear day.
As the tower aged, it became apparent that a much-needed lighting upgrade would help the building maintain its position as the city’s crown jewel at night. Its existing system—the original 400-watt metal halide fixtures—lacked the oomph that the client wanted from the exterior lighting scheme. After 25 years, the light was tired and muted.
The lighting designers, Focus Lighting, knew they needed to find the right fixture to meet their vision. The team tested numerous fixtures at their New York office. They looked at lumen outputs, photometric models, and small-scale mockups to find a high-output RGBW fixture with a tight beam and excellent color mixing.
One of the tested products, Dyna Drum in both SO and HO versions from Los Angeles-based Acclaim Lighting, stood out during the testing. Dyna Drum SO and HO are energy-efficient, IP66 wet rated, high-powered, quad-color architectural lighting fixtures with a wireless digital multiplex (DMX) control option for façade and large-scale area flood lighting.
Crowning Touch
Once the building’s owners approved the Dyna Drum, the electrical contractor, WB Moore of Charlotte, began engineering and implementing the lighting upgrade under Focus Lighting’s direction. 436 Dyna Drum SO RGBW fixtures were installed at the top floors of the building to light the crown’s multi-layered tiers of soaring masts. The change in appearance with the higher-intensity light was immediately noticeable.
With the help of WB Moore, Dyna Drum fixtures were installed on the balconies in strategic locations to project light onto the building at precise angles. This mounting strategy added to the speed of the installation. Altogether 140 of the 4000K Dyna Drum SO and HO fixtures were installed at balconies on the 13th, 44th, 48th, 53rd, and 56th floors. With the new lighting system, Bank of America can display vibrant new light paintings on its building’s crown.
To read more about reviving the Charlotte Skyline, click here.
