Hotel Landscape Seasoned with Light

By Michelle Kaminski

Quartz T4 150-watt and 250-watt underwater line-voltage fixtures provide varying levels of light to the main water feature, where high-wattage fixtures accentuate taller waterfalls and low-wattage fixtures focus on smaller rock formations.

Step inside any Four Seasons Hotel, and you are greeted by elegant surroundings and dramatic lighting architecture. The Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village, California is another example in this upscale tradition.

Lighting Design Alliance (LDA), with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Collins and Dubai designed the lighting for the Four Seasons Hotel landscape project. LDA principal Kyllene Jones and designer Kristin Pickar-Knussmann led the firm?EUR??,,????'?????<

Lighting The Way

LDA focused light on only the most attractive elements and most colorful plants, and designated where to install fixtures in the landscape, carefully selecting which trees to light. LDA chose HK Lighting Group fixtures, which feature integral ballasts (or transformers) and a long whip fully wired and ready to go. This was done so that the electrician just had to wire them to concealed J-boxes in the general vicinity indicated. From there, the fixtures were powered on, and LDA located and aimed the fixture at the desired elements. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

To capitalize on water?EUR??,,????'?????<

Choosing Color Temperatures

LDA used specified 3000K color-temperature sources designed to visually coordinate landscape design with the warm colors of the hotel?EUR??,,????'?????<

Low-voltage 50-watt MR16/IR illuminators, placed throughout the hotel attic, feed custom fiber-optic housings that down-light the exterior columns and up-light the parapet.

Lighting Special Elements

To maximize the water?EUR??,,????'?????<

LDA did not attach lighting to the handcrafted Chinese pagoda to respect the original structure. Instead, in-grade 50-watt MR16/IR fixtures up-light the interior structure and surrounding rock wall. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

LDA focused light on only the most attractive elements and most colorful plants, and designated where to install fixtures in the landscape, carefully selecting which trees to light. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

A combination of Quartz T4 150-watt and 250-watt underwater line-voltage fixtures create multiple levels of light at the main water feature of waterfalls. Controlling these fixtures with several circuits in a staggered wiring layout provides a cost-effective ?EUR??,,????'?????< Low-wattage metal halide lamps come in small envelopes and pack quite a punch. You want to conceal the fixture as much as possible so your attention goes to the beautiful object you are highlighting, not the fixture that is doing the work. Low-voltage IR halogen is a great source for smaller plants, especially flowering ones in the red hue.

In-grade 50-watt MR16/IR fixtures up-light the Chinese pagoda and surrounding wall. Designers did not attach lighting to the handcrafted structure.

Mock-Ups, Mock-Ups, Mock-Ups

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The project design began in September 2003. Construction was complete in January 2007. Visit the company online at: www.lightingdesignalliance.com.