entrant Derek Porter Studio
The Bartle Hall Ballroom is not your typical convention hall space. As Derek Porter, principal of Derek Porter Studio, the lighting firm responsible for the design, explains, “Maximizing daylight to conserve energy and celebrate the presence of nature in this otherwise enclosed environment was key to the lighting design.”
The daylighting strategy includes clerestories on the north, east, and west sides of the room. Translucent stretched-fabric panels measuring 8-, 15-, and 30-feet, respectively, on the north, west, and east sides of the ballroom border the ceiling perimeter, diffusing the light as it moves across the space over the course of the day. “You really feel the dynamic changes of the room and how natural light sculpts and gives orientation to the space,” Porter says.
Natural light provides the principal form of illumination during the day with no supplemental electric lighting, and the footcandle level ranges from 60 footcandles underneath the stretched-fabric panels to 20 footcandles in the middle of the room. Working independently of but in unison with the natural light, electric lighting helps round out the general illumination and task lighting needs.
This integrated approach required a sophisticated control system. Each fixture can be independently programmed so the lighting can be adjusted to accommodate specific room configurations. Custom networking and LCD control panels link three systems—a digital addressable lighting interface, theatrical controls, and another set of controls for the facility management system—to improve usability, address diverse programmatic needs, and conserve energy through daylight harvesting controls. Indoor environmental quality credits 8.1 and 8.2 for daylight and views successfully were achieved as part of the project’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification.
Jury Comments Kathy Abernathy: The way the daylight is brought into the room is extremely comfortable and gives a new take on ballrooms or multi-function rooms that are normally “black boxes.”
Randy Burkett: A near-masterful demonstration of daylighting in a space type that traditionally shuns the sky.
David Ziolkowski: The integration of daylight is extremely intelligent.
Details Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Client: City of Kansas City, Mo. Architect/Interior
Designer: HNTB, Kansas City, Mo.
Lighting Designer: Derek Porter Studio, Kansas City, Mo.
Photographer: Michael Spillers, Kansas City, Mo.
Project Size: 135,000 square feet (including the 46,450-square-foot-ballroom)
Manufacturers: Armstrong, Bega, Ceilings Plus, Construction Specialties, Draper, Elliptipar, ETC, Focal Point, H.E. Williams, Infinity, Kurt Versen, Litecontrol, Louis Poulsen, Modular, Modular Arts, Naturalite Skylight Systems, Newmat USA, Oldcastle Glass, Osram, Performance Solitions, Philips, Power Vector, Selux, Starfield Controls, Tridonic, Winona Lighting