Determines Lighting Design

By Gregory V. Harris, Regional Editor

True to the period, the lighting at the Villa Terrace gardens creates an elemental style that is subtle, textural and sculptural, motivated from a palette of warm pools of torchlight with blue shafts of moonlight and the subtle twinkle of fiber-optic fireflies.

When Marty Peck and the team at Creative Lighting Design and Engineering begin a project, one of the first items on their agenda is to determine the mood and reason for the light. "Typically we'll write a narrative to make sure we've got??the character and motivation??right," Peck said of the planning stages of a project.

This philosophy is used on all Creative Lighting projects, regardless of the size, scope and theme of the project. Two vastly different project–a Rocket Garden at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and an Italian Renaissance-style garden in Wisconsin??"exemplify the firm's belief the mood is a key component in lighting design.

The lighting design of the Villa Terrace gardens emphasizes the symmetry and balance of the Italianate garden with delicate romance and charm, while respecting its historic nature and providing safe illumination for steps, paths and grade changes.

The Villa Terrace garden in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was originally part of a grand estate. This mansion was built on the Lake Michigan shoreline in 1923 by A.O. Smith, who was the world's largest manufacturer of automobile frames.

"The terrace gardens had many beautiful amenities such as water features," Peck said. "With the gardens not being taken care of, large trees eventually began growing in the center of the garden. Fortunately, the roots of the trees did not damage the water features."

The black Neptune Gate is grazed with linear-lensed pinspot uplights to bring out details without glare.

While local landscape architect Dennis Buettner was hired to restore the gardens to its 1920's magnificence, Peck was commissioned to design the garden's lighting.

Peck said the idea for the lighting was to maintain the symmetry of the garden and the philosophy of the Renaissance. The many water features in the garden were used to reflect the light, creating a romantic, peaceful space.

 

The classic statuary accentuates the garden roundels, grazed with shafts of uplighting to bring out their texture and add warmth to the quiet and intimate space. MR16 low- voltage fixtures fitted with dichroic glass color filters are used to illuminate the statue.

"In typical landscape lighting, we generally have found three styles of lighting: Classical–a formal style of white uplighting trees and facades; Natural??"a more subtle style that emulates moonlight with occasional warm pools from lanterns, etc; and Magical??"a whimsical style that can allow for pastel color washes on flowerbeds, fireflies, and more expressive ideas like a "druids grove," Peck said. "You'll see natural and magical styles in the Villa Terrace garden."

The idea that torches had been used in Renaissance gardens was incorporated into the Villa Terrace gardens, as torch light designed by Buettner was included in the garden.??Peck said determining the composition of the lighting is essential to designing a successful project.

Uplights lining the Ragnaia light the metal arches and wait for the vines to grow and complete the passage. Lighting similar to that used on the statuary, MR16 low-voltage fixtures by B-K Lighting is used here.

"We don't light everything, but try to create compositions, vistas, frames, and a progression of focal points that lead the eye," he said. "Usually views will be composed of??light in the foreground, midground, and far ground."

Peck noted that several floodlights could have been installed in the gardens to light the grounds, but this would have taken away all of the intimacy of the gardens. Rather than using four or five floodlights to illuminate the football field-sized garden, more than 300 smaller light fixtures were sprinkled around the garden, giving the space the desired appearance. True to the period, the lighting created an elemental style that is subtle, textural and sculptural, motivated from a palette of warm pools of torchlight with blue shafts of moonlight and the subtle twinkle of fiber-optic fireflies.

Sheperd's Crook fixtures that rise 42 inches have been hidden in the shrubbery that line this waterfall, part of the original Villa Terrace garden. The 18 fixtures, all painted green, are designed to give a "concentrated moonlight" effect to the 100-foot waterfall.

Peck said the lighting design for the garden gave the grounds the desired feel, adding that the Villa Terrace garden and museum is a popular site for weddings, formal parties and classic music concerts.

Another Creative Lighting project that used a similar philosophy of determining mood was the lighting of a rocket garden at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The similarities of this project to the Villa Terrace garden end there however, as the lighting design for the rocket garden was a futuristic theme that evoked space exploration.

Floodlighting the rockets would have had a negative glare effect. Instead, a two-ring system of uplights was used to illuminate the rockets. The inner ring, measuring 24 feet in diameter, was fitted with 250-watt Par 38 lights, while the 36-foot diameter outer ring has custom 575-watt quartz lamps typically used in stage lighting.

Kennedy Space Center

A new design for the site had been completed, but Delaware North Parks had not chosen a lighting design firm and time was running out.

Elaborate renderings were made using the Lightscape computer program. This sophisticated technical lighting solution helped keep the project within the five week schedule. Lightscape also verified the precise aiming and placement of uplights in two ring patterns for 1:1.5 uniform coverage of each rocket's 100' tall plus fuselage. Theatrical dimming and programming showcases individual rockets and capsules for astronaut lectures, and provides a nightly guest experience that dramatically "launches" each rocket in historic sequence with an animated lift-off effect. PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN PECK

PHOTOGRAPH BY DELAWARE NORTH PARKS

After speaking at a TEA seminar during the IAAPA convention in nearby Orlando, Peck was approached by retired NASA manager Hal Row. Within five weeks after contract inception, the presentation to NASA not only demonstrated Creative Lighting's adventurous and patriotic theme, but included CAD drawings and details, fixture schedules, cost details, and numerous photo-quality Lightscape renderings. Using these models, Peck showcased the sophisticated technical lighting solution, developed custom fixtures and verified their aiming and placement for uniform coverage of the rocket fuselage. A process that normally would have taken months??"concept generation and reiteration, custom fixture development and on-site mockups–was completed "in-the-can" in a few weeks.

White uplighting of the rockets eliminates glare, using an outer ring of custom 18-inch well-lights with VNSP reflectors and HPL 575w stage lamp for dimmable operation, with an inner ring of Q250PAR spots. The fixture styles and finishes complemented the new technological style of the Rocket Garden.

"A live mock-up of the Gemini Titan at the night of the formal presentation showed the renderings to be ???dead on' and confirmed the accuracy of our renderings," Peck said.

"Above and beyond the project's scope and expectations, we also added animated lighting effects for a nightly guest experience to ???launch' each rocket in historic sequence," Peck said.

Red filtered fixtures using Q1000PAR64s were precisely fastened in engine nozzles using custom rubber plugs, while other small fixtures using Q75T4 floodlights were attached to mounts and suggested engine hardware.

Uniform uplighting of the rockets from within their "launch pads" eliminates glare and adds to the dramatic technological presentation. Peck said the elaborate renderings helped justify the project, prove the science, design the custom fixtures and facilitate the installation.

"With creative ideas, detailed renderings and speedy completion, we did," Peck exclaimed. "The ultimate compliment came during final programming from one very young visitor, who came running up when he saw the huge Atlas-Agena brightly illuminated and asked, bubbling with excitement, ???Are you going to launch the rocket tonight?'"

Blue ambience comes from custom sidewalk-grazing fixtures around launch pads using Q35 MR11 lamps and dichroic blue filters with a special linear lens, along with blue-discharge 175w MH lamps in sleek 360 area luminaires. PHOTOS BY MARTIN PECK

Peck said that although the two projects are different in theme, there are many parallels evident in the design.

"I think one philosophy that carries strongly through both projects comes from my theatrical experience,??namely, light, should have a motivation, a reason to be there," he said. "In theater, a practical lamp would cast warm light across the set in the direction from the lamp, even though the lamp itself should only be bright enough so that you know it's lit.??Shadows would actually be illuminated in twilight blue light rather than just left to darkness."