STUDIO Field Trip: China Through the Looking Glass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
We took a morning last week to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit: China Through the Looking Glass. The exhibit presented a wide assortment of fashion and art (photographs and film); focusing on the Western perception and portrayal of Eastern culture. The first room of the exhibit included a field of acrylic "bamboo" tubes lit from below, which was a really exciting use of material and light. There was also extensive use of edge-lit LED panels in the tops of display cases - sadly this was not done very well, including some discoloration in LEDs and causing linear striations in photographs (not constant current!). It was also too flat of a light to highlight the exhibit very well. The final room of the exhibit featured a fantastic moon projection that reflected onto a black glass floor that had been placed around a number of exhibit pieces. The moon "rippled" in the "water" and around the reflections of the artwork. Through the looking glass indeed...
Visa Lighting
Visa Lighting stopped by today to show us some new fixtures and to get some feed back on new products in development. The Escape is an LED wall sconce already available which requires a remote driver, but they are developing a new version that is line voltage. The fixture can be oriented as an uplight or downlight. It is indoor damp rated, and a wet location exterior version will also be available. The Escape has a plate at the bottom of the fixture as a junction box cover but it is not required. Standard color temperatures are 3K, 35K and 4K. For larger quantities than 20 they can do custom color temperatures such as 27K. The fixture is non-dim and available in two sizes; 14" at 900 lumens and 26" at 1800 lumens. It is ADA compliant. You can also specify the lens to be high impact vandal resistant.
We also got to take a look at the revamp of the Ether. Traditionally the Ether is a fluorescent fixture but has been reworked to incorporate LED. It is available with either a symmetric or asymmetric distribution for wall wash applications. It is dimmable standard with 0-10V dimming. The Ether also has an interior damp rating.
The Meridian is a new pendant that has just been released. It is a direct/indirect circular pendant with fully diffuse acrylic lenses. The driver is remote in the canopy so you do not see any dark spots and get a complete glowing fixture. The Meridian provides 11,400 lumens and is available in standard 3K, 35K or 4K. They are also developing a version that can be mounted to the wall vertically.
Lumino
Lumino has now opened up their U.S. headquarters in New York City. The F40 is a flexible linear strip that has LEDs 40mm on center and is a great option for coves. The fixture is IP67 rated when the fixture is installed facing down. It is available in 2600K, 2900K, 3300K and RGB.
The largest extrusion Lumino has had previously is the V30, but it is now being replaced by the V36. It is available in a surface or recessed channel. Lumino has improved their frosted lens with the V36 to be more effiecent and allow for more light to go through while still eliminating the node image. They provide standard lengths, but custom lengths are available as well. An IP68 in-grade version is also available.
Lumino is in the process of developing optics for their lenses that will be used across the board on their linear products. They hope to have them ready by this fall.
The SolidEdge is an extruded knife edge LED linear fixture that comes in two sizes. It can also come with adjustable spotlights that mount to the extrusion.
Lumino is also going to be transitioning their strips to use a different LED manufacturer and will offer a high CRI of 95+. The color temperatures will change slightly from what they currently offer and will start as low as 2000K. We got to see a sample of the 2000K. Sometimes when the color temperature is that low it can appear orange, but this one was a nice warm white.
We also found out about the EQ series that Lumino is offering. It is a cheaper option than their standard strips with a looser bin. It is a good option to consider when it comes to VE stages. There is a 30-40% cost savings.
Birchwood
Birchwood have reworked their housing for the Jake wallwasher so it is now completely recessed. We took a look at the sample and it has about 1/4" to 1" of a dark spot at the top of the wall. They can provide a kicker reflector that will allow you to get to the top of the wall, however, it will stick down about 1" from the ceiling plane.
They have transitioned all of their fixtures to be constant current and provide options of standard output, high output, or a custom output. The custom output is a great option when you need to comply with restrictive energy codes. You can specify either the delivered lumen output or the wattage per foot needed.
The Ashley is another new fixture they are releasing. It is a surface cove fixture. It is adjustable up to 15° in 5° increments. Birchwood recommends that the fixture be held off 4" from the ends in order to light the cove properly. It is available in various lengths, but is not field cuttable.
Birchwood are also developing a new circular direct/indirect suspended fixture that will be released later this year called Katrina. It will also be available in a direct option as well. Katrina will be offered in either 2' or 4' diameters. Because of the way they have to manufacture the fixture, it is not available with their standard anodized finishes and will be provided with powder coat finishes instead. They can provide two separate circuits. As of now they cannot do an integral emergency option so it would have to be remote.
USAI Showroom
We stopped by the USAI showroom recently and were able to look at all of their fixtures installed. It's a great space and opportunity to see what they can do in real life applications. Be sure to stop by and bring your clients to experience what USAI has to offer.
Erco
Erco has been working on the next version of high powered exterior flood lights. The Kona will be released within the next few months and we got to see a preview of it before its release. With the Kona, they are able to better control comfort while still providing a good punch of light. The fixture includes an integral snoot regressed from the lens that reduces glare. Starting at 6°, Kona comes in various beam spread options. Multiple lumen packages are available in both 3K and 4K standard. The version we looked at was 48W with 4800 lumens, and it provided quite the punch.
LightFair 2015
From May 5 -7, LightFair International invaded the city! As expected, the show was filled with new LED fixtures and sources. But we found that, by far, the most interesting developments were in control. Companies like Lumenetix and Ketra are developing wifi and bluetooth controls to change CCT, CRI, add color, and dim. And we saw many manufacturers partnering with these sources to take full advantage of the new technologies. We are starting to see the realities and benefits of LED, as an inherently electronic source, that we always thought were possible. Special thanks to ALW, BIRCHWOOD, CONTECH, CORONET, FEELUX, SACO, and USAi LIGHTING for providing the evening entertainment!
ALW (ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING WORKS)
Terzani
Terzani is a high end decorative Italian manufacturer that makes gorgeous fixtures. They are traditionally incandescent sources, but have been working to provide LED options, or suggest retro-fit lamps. All of the fixtures are made in Italy. They do have a facility in Miami that houses some product and can offer a quick ship program dependent on availability.
The Spoon fixture is available in 2 sizes and has a dedicated LED source with 3000K and is dimmable.
Handmade crystal orbs can come in clear, gold interior or silver interior.
Argentati is available in both incandescent and dedicated LEDs.
Luminis
Luminis has a series of downlights in both cylinder and rectangle versions available in three sizes with wall, pendant and suspended mounting. Direct, indirect and direct/indirect distributions can be used with the wall and pendant versions. These fixtures are adjustable with lockable 30° vertical tilt and 360° rotation. Luminis can also offer RGB with color on one side and white on the other for the direct/indirect version.
There are three beam spreads you can select from, 20°, 45°, and 60°. A linear spread lens is also available and can become an asymmetric distribution when the module is tilted.
In the 6" and 8" versions of the fixtures, an occupancy sensor can be added. Emergency back up battery is available but it is remote.
We took a look at the sample and noticed some discoloration but it could be attributed to the sample being a bit banged up.
Zaneen
Zaneen Glorious 32" L30301__ suspension custom sizes available 25 standard finishes Direct + indirect version is now available and will be online soon
Victory 32” suspension L30217__ custom sizes available 25 standard finishes Direct + indirect version is now available and will be online soon
Quantum 32" L30211__ suspension custom sizes available 25 standard finishes Direct + indirect version is now available and will be online soon
Super-G custom sizes available 25 standard finishes Direct + indirect version is now available and will be online soon
Tubes 1” diameter: 15, 25, 40 degree 19” 31”
2” diameter: 25, 40 degree 8” 16”
Handmade D1-1100 (natural) D1-1101 (black)
Bessons D9-2184 6.6W LED
Neva D9-3164
Mini Signal D9-3124
A Light
A Light is moving towards being a primarily LED company and has developed a new line of fixtures that are designed specifically with LEDs in mind. The New AccoLED line (ACL) is similar to the D series but with a smaller profile. It has a pendant mount, direct, indirect, direct/indirect, surface, recessed and regressed perimeter options. They are going to be coming out with an asymmetric version soon that has the reflector recessed in the fixture. A Light now offers their fixtures in either constant voltage or constant current boards. With constant voltage, you are able to cut the boards in the field in set increments, but dimming is not integral to the driver so it requires an additional dimming module. The constant current boards are only available in 6" increments from the factory and cannot be cut in the field. However, dimming is integral with 0-10V to 1%.
One important thing we found out is that they will default to constant voltage boards if lengths do not fit within the 6". It is something they are trying to address and make sure during submittals that the correct boards are chosen.
The Pendant K is now available in LED. It's a very bright fixture. Because of the way the fixture is built, it cannot have a lens on the top. We noticed a harsh line on the side and slight discoloration.
They have also developed a new co-extruded lens that has a white reflector integrated with the lens. This increases the efficiency by 20% and will be available for all of their fixtures soon. It also blended the light better to reduce the center brightness of the fixture from the LEDs.
Another new fixture we took a look at is their edgeless cove. It is only available in their integrations section. It offers inside corners as a standard option, but could potentially be provided with outside corners as well. They recommend 12" from the ceiling.
Product of the Day: Round Bevel and Round Inset trims from No. 8 Lighting
We love the No. 8 Lighting series, so we are very excited to be able to offer the new Round Bevel and Round Inset trim options to our clients. Looking good!
We're hiring a summer intern!
Are you looking to break into the exciting world of lighting design? We are currently looking for an intern to join our team this summer. You would be assisting in all areas at a small lighting design studio, such as drawings and specifications, calculations (AGi32), manufacturer visits, blog entries, library/filing, and samples and mock-ups. Contact us for more information and to submit your resume at info@wald-studio.com
we-ef
we-ef showed us a circular post-top fixture. It has two distributions: a typical Type V and a rectangular one. It is dark sky compliant with full cut-off. With either 3K or 4K, they have two outputs of approximately 45oo lumens and 8300 lumens. The lens they provide is PMA acrylic. They have impact rating for all of their lenses available in their fixtures across the board.
We also got to see their rectangular post-top. This fixture comes with more options in terms of its distribution. Along with the typical distributions, We-ef also has a narrow Type II distribution that is good for paths. A typical spacing for post-tops would be 4:1, but with this narrow distribution they are able to get something more close to 8:1.
They also told us about their quick ship program set up for their step lights. Most of their options are available to ship within 5 days.