A gateway to campus, this advanced research laboratory supports scientific rigor, user comfort, and energy efficiency through a lighting design rooted in sustainability. Achieving LEED Platinum certification, the project integrates detailed daylighting analysis in collaboration with the architect and sustainability engineer. Custom sunshades along the east and west façades modulate solar gain while drawing daylight deep into laboratories, offices, and social spaces, reducing reliance on electric lighting and enhancing occupant well-being.

The electric lighting strategy reinforces the building’s programmatic organization, distinguishing east-facing laboratory zones from west-facing offices and collaboration areas. A cohesive family of linear pendants—integrating microcell downlights, adjustable spotlights, and indirect uplighting—establishes a clear visual language across public and workspaces, highlighting exposed infrastructure and the building’s modular grid. Within the laboratories, wide-lensed direct/indirect fixtures deliver high illuminance and excellent color rendering for research tasks while maintaining low luminance to reduce visual fatigue. A streamlined fixture palette supports flexibility, simplifies maintenance, and accommodates future reconfiguration.

Exterior lighting is carefully calibrated to emphasize the building’s sculpted form while preserving a low-glare pedestrian experience and minimizing light spill. The façade itself becomes the primary luminous element: by day, its sails transmit daylight into the interior; by night, interior illumination causes them to glow softly against the sky. This restrained approach reduces exterior fixture clutter and energy use, allowing the building to read as a luminous lantern—both a beacon of research activity and a respectful presence within its urban context.