project
“Our role is to always be creative and to provide options for discussion.” Bradly Trufen, SMP Engineering
Previous Page An exterior view of the library highlights the building’s ability to glow from the inside out in the night hours, but also picks out the spaces where natural daylight filter into the building during day hours. A large array of exterior fixtures were used around the building including: LED Linear’s XOOLUM linear LEDS, VarioLEDs, Lumenfacade fittings by Lumenpulse for the exterior underbelly lighting and the Lumenbeam fitting for the moon lighting. Selux Olivio pole lights illuminate the building’s surroundings. Left The central atrium and skylight with architecture outlined by discreet recessed luminaires. The luminaires accentuate the architecture whilst preserving the influence of daylight. In the open public areas, Lumenpulse’s Lumenalpha fittings were used, Senso Lighting’s Aqualuc’s were used for the stair railings and inner oculus. In the main vestibule, SMP Engineering selected TLS Static fixtures, Cree’s LS4 for the general interior strip lighting, Nemalux BFLED cove lighting and Contech’s CTL fixtures for the occulus main floor.
“Emphasising the interplay between daylight and
like to dwell; I focus on the ideas that stick. We need to
ever-changing Southern Alberta sky. Lighting should be
the team in this regard is a win.”
architecture, the design approach was to embrace the discreet: enhancing and supporting daylight,
maintaining Calgary’s dynamic natural light as key lighting,” explained SMP Engineering.
“Linear LED luminaires suspended amongst acoustic
baffles provide ambient lighting, ensuring illuminance
targets are met. Sloping walkways are lit asymmetrically
with lines of recessed LED lighting tracing exterior walls. LED spotlights and downlights illuminate public art and areas that are out of reach by the aforementioned
techniques. Elsewhere, luminaires are placed directly
above areas requiring illumination: shelving-integrated lighting for the stacks; stairways lit by LED-integrated handrails. Feature lighting denotes distinctive spaces – areas requiring lighting as unique as the spaces themselves.”
“Throughout the design, we sat down and discussed
integration of lighting into the architecture,” reflected
Trufen. “Our role is to always be creative and to provide options for discussion. I don’t think our creativity was ever stifled in any way. It is a bit depressing when you
come up with an idea you consider brilliant and they are
shot down in a moment! But I am an optimist and I don’t
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look at the bigger picture and any place that we can help The addition of dimming and daylight harvesting
throughout the space helps to maintain the illuminance levels, regardless of the time or weather conditions
outside. End-user digital controls allow for control over the entire design, which also ensures the awareness of luminaire usage and energy consumption. The library was built to be one of the most energy efficient
structures of its kind, which played a vital factor in the
designing and fixture choices made by SMP Engineering. “We needed one of the most adaptable lighting control systems on the market,” explained Trufen.
“That meant no proprietary control hardware;
reprogramming with remote access and user interface and a long warranty and support from the manufacturer”.
In terms of designing a scheme for the Calgary Library,
the SMP Engineering team stepped out of the box and, in some areas, did the opposite of what many designers would attempt.
“There is a current stigma in the architectural world for
having visible fixtures. They want the light to appear out of cracks in the architecture. To make this a reality