The owners of Lakeview Penthouse, a two-story mansard penthouse with stunning 270-degree views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline, recently renovated the space. They hired Wheeler Kearns Architects and the interior design studio Symbiotic Living to create a sophisticated and inviting home. A key feature of their two-story design is a sculptural staircase fabricated from walnut and oxidized steel, with a glowing glass platform that is illuminated from below by Rosco Custom LitePads.
Designers at the architectural lighting firm Lux Populi were seeking a way to illuminate the stairway landing that would harmonize with the natural light entering through the windows. They specified Rosco Custom LitePad CCT LED panels to illuminate the platform in order to add an elegant glow to the staircase.
The 24" x 24" x 0.3” (61cm x 61cm x 33mm) LitePad LED panels were discreetly integrated into the glass base to uplight the glowing stairway.
The LitePad CCT fixtures feature a tunable 3000K-6500K light output. This enabled the design team to program the LitePads to change color temperature throughout the day. A low and warm color temperature in the morning, that rises to a crisp, cool color temperature at midday, then warms back up again as dusk and nighttime approach.
Bespoke louvres were mounted on top of the LitePads to shape the light in an upward-only direction. This technique not only eliminated spill and glare, but it also made the source of the glowing stairway invisible until you were on, or above the landing looking down.
Daniela Flores, a lighting designer at Lux Populi, explained that the intention was “to create a magical moment in the project, where the staircase became a beautifully uplit sculpture. As people can only discover where it is being lit from, if they are standing on it but can just see the glow on it from far away.” Daniela also highlighted the “great light distribution and quality of light” from the LitePads that ensured soft and even illumination across the entire platform.
The luminous staircase, lit by Rosco’s ultra-slim LitePad LED panels, creates a cozy and refined aesthetic that speaks to what Jon Heinert, Principal at Wheeler Kearns Architects, refers to as “a classically contemporary space within an otherwise traditional building.”
Lakeview Penthouse was honored with a 2019 IES Ilumination Award of Distinction and the 2019 "Editor's Pick" in the Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards for Interior Residential. We were honored that Rosco Custom LitePads were a part of this fantastic project.
If you’d like to see additional projects from the Lakeview Penthouse Design Team, please visit the following websites:
Tatiana Massano March 10, 2020 Questions?
Content Marketing Specialist: Based in the Madrid office, Tatiana is ideally positioned to share inspiring stories of how customers use Rosco products to accomplish their ideas in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.