RH New York

Commendable Achievement • Whole Building • Entrant: Sean O’Connor Lighting

1 MIN READ
The new construction enhances RH New York's historic facade. Two disparate elements are made harmonious with the use of warm color temperature lighting both inside and out.

Courtesy RH

The new construction enhances RH New York's historic facade. Two disparate elements are made harmonious with the use of warm color temperature lighting both inside and out.

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A former stable and garage in New York City’s Meatpacking District was reimagined into RH New York, a project that blurs the lines between residential, retail, and hospitality across six levels and more than 90,000 square feet. Retail showrooms are combined with a five-level atrium, multiple terraces, a café, and a rooftop restaurant.

Los Angeles–based Sean O’Connor Lighting took an unconventional retail design approach, using fewer light sources while leveraging decorative lighting merchandise to create a sense of home within this massive space. Outside, LED uplighting animates the historic masonry façade as well as components of the addition and architectural elements on the terraces. A centralized dimming system controls both the interior and exterior lighting, cultivating grandeur and warmth while maintaining a residential vibe. The lighting solution creates a cohesive composition where guests are enticed to interact with the unique spaces from afar or within.

Juror Quote
“It feels rich and textured, like a magical theater set, and that’s not a bad thing.” —Dave McCarroll, AIA, partner and CEO, KGM Architectural Lighting

LED uplights at the elevator and columns accentuate RH New York's atrium space. Variable white floodlights are deployed within the interior of the elevator shaft.

Courtesy RH

LED uplights at the elevator and columns accentuate RH New York's atrium space. Variable white floodlights are deployed within the interior of the elevator shaft.

Track-mounted narrow spotlights are selectively used to highlight merchandise display items, creating mood and hierarchy and working in tandem with the merchandise display lighting.

Courtesy RH

Track-mounted narrow spotlights are selectively used to highlight merchandise display items, creating mood and hierarchy and working in tandem with the merchandise display lighting.

A large decorative pendant provides warmth at RH New York's cafe, supported with track-mounted spotlights to highlight the counters. Variable white linear LED fixtures highlight display casework.

Courtesy RH

A large decorative pendant provides warmth at RH New York's cafe, supported with track-mounted spotlights to highlight the counters. Variable white linear LED fixtures highlight display casework.

The elevator telegraphs soft warm light into the rooftop lobby, RH New York

Courtesy RH

The elevator telegraphs soft warm light into the rooftop lobby, RH New York

A custom narrow spot LED is integrated into each decorative pendant to highlight the dining tables at RH New York's rooftop restaurant.

Courtesy RH

A custom narrow spot LED is integrated into each decorative pendant to highlight the dining tables at RH New York's rooftop restaurant.

Visible from street level, the RH New York rooftop is warmly illuminated.

Courtesy RH

Visible from street level, the RH New York rooftop is warmly illuminated.

Low glare 6W floodlights with concealed conduit are tucked within vertical structural members, and linear uplights mounted within a concealing channel highlight the cross bracing at RH New York.

courtesy Sean O'Connor Lighting

Low glare 6W floodlights with concealed conduit are tucked within vertical structural members, and linear uplights mounted within a concealing channel highlight the cross bracing at RH New York.

Seven lighting elements, including grade recessed uplights, linear grazing uplights, narrow optic floodlights, landscape uplights and umbrella-mounted uplights, work in concert to highlight RH New York's facade.

courtesy Sean O'Connor Lighting

Seven lighting elements, including grade recessed uplights, linear grazing uplights, narrow optic floodlights, landscape uplights and umbrella-mounted uplights, work in concert to highlight RH New York's facade.

Details
Project Name: RH New York, New York
Client/Owner: RH
Architect: Backen & Gillam Architects, Sausalito, Calif. • Jim Gillam, AIA, Geoffrey Garcia
Architect of Record: Wormser + Associates Architects, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Lighting Designer: Sean O’Connor Lighting, Los Angeles • Sean O’Connor, Michael Lombardi, Duncan Johns, Rebecca Vasak
Photographer: Courtesy RH
Project Size: 90,000 square feet
Project Cost: $50 million
Lighting Cost: $1.2 million
Watts per Square Foot: 2.1
Code Compliance: 2008 New York City Energy Conservation Code
Manufacturers: Bega, B-K Lighting, Erco, SPJ Lighting, Acuity Brands Lighting/Winona Lighting, ConTech Lighting, Hunza, Acuity Brands Lighting/Hydrel, Linea Light Group, Lucifer Lighting, Lumenpulse, Spot on Lighting, LF Illumination, LumenWerx, Prudential Lighting, Topaz

About the Author

Murrye Bernard

Murrye Bernard, AIA, LEED AP, is an architect, writer, editor, and strategist based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in many design publications, including Architectural Lighting, Architectural Record, and Hospitality Design. Most recently, she was the managing editor of Contract magazine; she has also served as editor of AssociateNews and Forward, newsletters of the AIA National Associates Committee, and as contributing editor to e-Oculus, the newsletter of the AIA New York Chapter. Murrye earned a B.Arch. from the University of Arkansas, and has practiced with Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects (now Polk Stanley Wilcox) in Little Rock, Ark., and TEK Architects in New York.

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