GE Announces Winners of Coveted 26th-Annual GE Edison Award
Benya, Neils, Villatoro and Christensen Win 2008 GE Edison Award
NEW YORK, NY (May 5, 2009)— The 2008 GE Edison Award was presented to James R. Benya of Benya Lighting Design (West Linn, Oregon, USA), Michael Neils and Juan José Villatoro of M. Neils Engineering, Inc. (Sacramento, California, USA), and James E. Christensen of the City of Sacramento, for lighting the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California. GE Consumer & Industrial presented a personalized Steuben crystal award for the 26th-annual lighting design competition on May 4, 2009 in New York City. The project also earned an Award for Excellence in Environmental Design. The GE Edison Award competition is open to those lighting professionals who creatively employ significant use of GE light sources (lamps and/or LEDs) in a lighting design project completed during the previous calendar year.
The Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, opened in 1927, is listed on the National Historic Register and has been the home of concerts, inaugurals, commencements and other civic events for 80 years. Excavating the grounds to repair foundation walls provided an opportunity to improve site and building lighting. Because of its importance to the city and state, the design team was asked to develop a lighting design that is significantly better than California Title 24, and that respects nighttime skies.
The lighting design features several GE ConstantColor® CMH® ceramic metal halide and GE T5 High Output Ecolux® fluorescent lamps. The six columns with ornate capitals and the two end pilasters are each uplighted with one 150-watt CMH® T6 3000K in-grade luminaire. The luminaire location is precisely in the second step so that the column, capital, frieze and cornice are illuminated. Up washers with 54-watt T5 HO 3000K lamps illuminate the pediment wall, and the medallion is highlighted with a 70-watt CMH® narrow spot lamp.
In ceiling coves behind the arches, 70-watt CMH® down light wall washers illuminate the wall and doors. The down lights, installed in the same locations as prior luminaires, were approved by the historic commission. The front corners of the building are uplighted with 54-watt GE T5 HO luminaires supplemented by 70-watt CMH® luminaires for the limestone pilasters.
The massive brick building’s largest façades are the east and west. Each is comprised of a series of pilasters with rooflines sloping back. A continuous fluorescent 54-watt T5 HO wall wash luminaire between pilasters connects the composition around the building base. Pilasters are uplighted with asymmetric luminaires with 70-watt CMH® lamps for the middle level and 39-watt CMH® lamps for the top and bottom levels. Luminaire locations were limited by historic preservation requirements. Rather than flood the façade, a design creating a dramatic lantern effect on the top of each pilaster was chosen. Interior lighting for the skylight windows features fluorescent GE 32-watt T8 3000K lamps.
There are Romeo and Juliet balconies at each of the four main fire exits. Two 70-watt CMH® in-grade floodlights and a single 54-watt T5 HO 3000K up washer in each balcony highlight the balcony and brick wall. The lighting reveals a spectacular artful brick pattern not evident by daylight.
The lighting design also includes site poles that provide all plaza, street and walkway lighting for the building’s block. Luminaires are fully shielded and employ 150-watt CMH® lamps.
There are a number of key design strategies that qualified the project for an Award for Excellence in Environmental Design. Light sources in the design are limited to two types: ceramic metal halide and 3000K linear fluorescent. Mockups determined the lowest practical wattage for the desired effects. The larger east and west façades are only partially illuminated, leaving extensive areas in artfully chosen shadow. Uplighting each main column with only one luminaire, and carefully aiming to also illuminate the capital, frieze, dentils and cornice, reduce power use in half from the original design concept. The elimination of some other proposed luminaires yields a design that betters California Title 24 limits by 22 percent. Site and plaza lighting comply with the requirements for LEED® Credit SS8 for lighting pollution reduction.
A prestigious panel of five judges selected this year’s winning entry for its superiority in the following categories: functional excellence; architectural compatibility; effective use of state-of-the-art lighting products and techniques; appropriate color, form and texture revelation; energy effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Judges for this 26th annual competition were: Naomi Miller, FIES, FIALD, LC, Naomi Miller Lighting Design, LLC; Pamela Miller, LC, LEED®AP, IES, FreemanWhite; Christian K. Monrad, P.E., LEED®AP, Monrad Engineering, Inc.;Derek Porter, IALD, IES, PLDA, Derek Porter Studio; and Omar A. Rivera, C.L.E.P. AEE, GE Consumer & Industrial, Lighting.
The winning project was one of four Awards of Excellence finalists. The other Awards of Excellence winners were: Jersey Boys Theatre at The Palazzo (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), designed by Martin van Koolbergen and Kristy Benner of Kaplan Gehring McCarroll Architectural Lighting, Inc. (Los Angeles, California, USA); Federal State Parliament (Vaduz, Princedom of Liechtenstein), designed by Edwin and Thomas Kausen of Licht Kunst Licht AG (Berlin, Germany); and US Bank Tower (Sacramento, California, USA), designed by Claudio Ramos,Hiram Banks and Erich Hendrickson of h. e. banks + associates Lighting Design (San Francisco, California, USA).
Also presented at the GE Edison Awards ceremony in New York City were six Awards of Merit, five Awards for Excellence in Environmental Design, one Award for Residential Design – Excellence, one Award for Residential Design – Merit, and one Special Citation.
2008 GE Edison Awards of Merit
Sally Hershberger Salon
(West Hollywood, California, USA)
Sean O'Connor, Martha Lopacki and Cort Hightower Sean O’Connor Lighting (Beverly Hills, California, USA)
Chateau Lake Louise Formal Gardens
(Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada)
Paul D. Mercier Lighting Design Innovations (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Krischanitz Building (Basel, Switzerland)
Edwin Smida and Thomas Kausen Licht Kunst Licht AG (Berlin, Germany)
Zeche Zollverein Landscape Park
(Essen, Germany)
Andreas Schulz, Stefan Hofmann and Nicole Kober Licht Kunst Licht AG (Bonn, Germany)
Adventure Science Center: Sky & Space Addition
(Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
Susan Brady and Zengwei Fu SBLD Studio (New York, New York, USA)
Lighting Design Alliance Office
(Long Beach, California, USA)
Chip Israel Lighting Design Alliance (Long Beach, California, USA)
2008 GE Edison Awards for Excellence in Environmental Design
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium (Sacramento, California, USA)
James R. Benya, Benya Lighting Design (West Linn, Oregon, USA) Michael Neils
and Juan José Villatoro M. Neils Engineering, Inc. (Sacramento,
California, USA) James E. Christensen City of Sacramento (Sacramento,
California, USA)
Adventure Science Center: Sky & Space Addition (Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
Susan Brady and Zengwei Fu SBLD Studio (New York, New York, USA)
Lighting Design Alliance Office
(Long Beach, California, USA)
Chip Israel Lighting Design Alliance (Long Beach, California, USA)
The Palazzo Resort Hotel and Casino
(Las Vegas, Nevada, USA)
Joe
Kaplan, Martin van Koolbergen, and Kristy Benner Kaplan Gehring
McCarroll Architectural Lighting, Inc. (Los Angeles, California, USA)
Holy Family Catholic Church
(South Ogden, Utah, USA)
Joseph M. "Jody" Good, III Spectrum Engineers, Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
2008 GE Edison Award for Residential Design - Excellence
Chicago Penthouse (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Heather C. La Vigne and Anne Kustner Haser Anne Kustner Lighting Design, Ltd. (Evanston, Illinois, USA)
2008 GE Edison Award for Residential Design - Merit
Firehouse 44 (San Francisco, California, USA)
Michael Souter and Eleanor Huang
Luminae Souter Associates (San Francisco, California, USA)
2008 GE Edison Award – Special Citation
RAKOVALKEA - Dynamic Street Lighting of Rovakatu (Rovaniemi, Finland)
Roope Siiroinen, Arto Heiskanen and Marko Kuusisto VALOA design Ltd. (Tampere, Finland)
Visit www.GEEdisonAward.com to view all the award winners
of the 2008 GE Edison Awards in more detail and to find information
related to the 2009 GE Edison Award call for entries.
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