LAPD has provided a full lighting design for an executive office tower in Moscow, transforming the building into a beacon in the cityscape of the Russian capital.

LAPD Lighting Design worked on the interior, façade and landscaped areas of this executive office tower in Moscow.

The approach to the façade lighting was to create a cage of light around the building itself, connecting the top and the bottom of the building. The client wanted the building to have visibility from afar and so the entire top element was transformed into a beacon-like lantern with prominence within the Moscow cityscape.

Cool white linear LED lighting with a carefully selected beam width was used to light down glass fins cladding the building top. Various test were carried out on different types of glass and different LED optics to ensure that the fins held the light as much as possible all the way down their length and lit the entire volume.

Clear glass with a frosted interlayer produced the best effect and the best structural performance. Eight linear lines of light then ran down the building, highlighting architectural details around the façade and connecting the lantern top with the base of the building. Cool white light was used to connect the cool white lantern with the cool white lighting around the building base, forming the cage-like structure.

The linear LEDs from Insta were colour controllable and, on the client’s request, the lines of light that framed the two-coloured expanses of façade were adjusted to match the vivid glazing colours that were chosen.

A control system was specified to enable these lines of light to chase, pulse, change colour and create different effects for special events.

Grounding the ‘cage of light’ was achieved by highlighting all the columns around the base of the building, along with the entrance canopy itself, with a matching cool white light. The columns were treated as architectural elements by using a linear light source concealed in a detail above the column. Again, using appropriate optics a sheet of light was created travelling down each column. This avoided downlights visually scarring the canopy above and creating unwanted scallops detracting from the pure forms.

The canopy needed to echo the experience of the building from afar. As a result a frosted glass canopy was created that was backlit using cool white LEDs. This created a similar level of impact at low level to that created by the lantern from afar.

These architectural lighting treatments around the base of the building balanced the strong lantern effect of the building top but also contributed to the landscaping lighting.

General illumination to the entrance area and car parking areas around the building was provided by using a lighting column from the Hess City Elements range. These provided a neutral cylindrical form against which the building could be viewed without conflict from feature elements. The columns allowed asymmetric, symmetric and road optics to be used from a column without a change in its appearance. A warm, soft level of light was produced with low glare.

Feature lighting was provided to the furniture elements around the buildings, while linear hidden lines of light were integrated into the furniture in collaboration with the manufacturer to create a soft warm glow under each seating area. Feature lighting was also provided to uplight the trees themselves. These uplights were raised above floor level slightly to ensure they still functioned during winter months where a carpet of snow resides across the landscaped areas. As with all of the exterior lighting products specified, they needed to be able to operate at temperatures down to -40-degrees Celsius. Again, a soft warm colour temperature was used to harmonise with the lighting elsewhere around the building base, and to contrast with the cool colour temperature on the façade.

Lines of staggered light mimicking those running down the façade were recessed into the ground to lead occupants from the roadside right up to the building canopy.

Once inside the building these strong linear lines of light flip up onto the ceiling of the reception area to continue the draw into the building. Four continuous lines of light from XAL were used to draw the eye towards the feature wall at the end of the reception space.

This feature wall was created by using continuous linear LEDs with a six-degree optic to graze light up the back wall, which consisted of a suspended horizontal, linear mesh. The front of the wall was constructed from cast, layered glass orientated horizontally. The resulting moiré pattern effect between the backlit mesh and the front layered glass was an intriguing shimmer that continually changed as the viewing angle changed.

Lines of light were also used within each lift lobby, continuing the theme throughout the building. These lines were framed within floating rafts that were covelit along all sides.

The developer moved into the tenth floor and appointed LAPD to illuminate all of their office spaces. Lines of light illuminated the naked concrete surfaces and Italian wooden walls in the reception, waiting and circulation spaces. Square downlights from XAL are also used to provide accent in key places.

Meeting rooms and smaller office spaces use a combination of linear and accent lighting within troughs from Kreon. This allows control to provide bright, uniform levels of light for meetings and low levels of accent light for presentations, along with options for variations between the two. The linear and accent lighting was designed to match in colour temperature.

Open plan office areas are illuminated by suspending Zumtobel Aero luminaires to achieve the desired illuminance levels on the desks and on the ceiling itself.

There was also a strategy written up by LAPD to ensure that tenants within other floors lit their offices in such a way that the building had a homogenous look at night from outside. This included requirements to conform to different orientations of lighting in different areas but still provide flexibility within their design. The strategy included a decorative treatment to all interior columns for all floors.t

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