Daylighting is one of the most challenging lighting strategies to implement. This year, the jury was torn between two projects that it felt exemplified different thinking about daylighting design—the poetic and the functional.
In the case of Sunrise Yard, the jury appreciated the project’s attention to building siting and elevation treatments, but they did not think the use of the saw-tooth roof, which has historically been used to bring natural light into buildings, could be recognized as novel.
With the second project being the North Carolina Museum of Art, there was no doubt that this was an aesthetically minded space, but there was concern about brightness levels and the uniformity of light, which over time could become overwhelming.
Although the jury did not think that they unanimously could make an award to either project, nevertheless, they felt it important to acknowledge both for their contributions to the broader daylighting conversation.
Project: Sunrise Yard Dept. of Transportation Maintenance Facility, Queens, N.Y.
Entrant and Lighting Designer: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design, New York
Details
Client: New York City Dept. of Design & Construction
Architect: Gruzen Samton, New York
Photographer: Thomas H. Kieren
Project Size: 27,000 square feet
Watts per Square Foot: 0.70
Project: North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, N.C.
Entrant and Lighting Designer (daylighting): Arup Lighting, New York
Details
Client: North Carolina Museum of Art
Architect: Thomas Phifer and Partners, New York
Lighting Designer: Fisher Marantz Stone, New York (electric lighting)
Photographer: Scott Frances
Project Size: 127,000 square feet
Watts per Square Foot: 1.1
