Site Lighting: Optical Systems Design and Application Guide for Site and Roadways

Selecting the right type of site lighting enhances building design, efficiency, and safety
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CASE STUDY

The expansion and beautification of the Minneapolis Community & Technical College (MCTC) parking ramp.
Bentz/Thompson/Rietow (BTR), Architects-of-Record

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU) gained control of the MCTC and its associated power plant and parking ramp. However, the parking ramp, having had no true upgrades to its exterior and having had a less than urban-friendly original design, became known as a blight on the area, poorly representing the college and the site's importance. The original ramp, built in 1978 for the Minneapolis Public School system, was one of the first major public design/build projects. The original design, while inventive in the use of long-span precast concrete wall panels, did little to harmonize with its surroundings and little to respond to the importance of the site, which is truly a spectacular location. The ramp is located on the major public thoroughfare through downtown, Hennepin Avenue. This roadway has historically been one of the storied streets in the city; it is the gateway to the city from the west and crosses the Mississippi River to the east, and is known as the entertainment avenue for the city. After a decline in the area that lasted several decades, this downtown street has once again established itself as a major theater district with numerous eating establishments, clubs, bars, and plenty of nightlife.

Early on, the design team resolved that the project needed to reinforce the urban edge. The team also posited that the ramp should have a dynamic façade response that could change from night to day and could respond to differing light and climate conditions. In order to balance the need for an increased height/mass of the façades with the budget, the team began working with the concept of light structures that would provide a layering effect and serve as a theatrical scrim. The material had to be light yet strong, beautiful yet inexpensive, durable yet open enough to provide a safe environment for patrons. Heavily anodized, swaged aluminum floor grating was used because it met all of the design criteria. This material was used in a vertical application for the light columns that march down Hennepin Avenue. The same material was used in horizontal application to serve as the background scrim for the façades. Mullionless channel glass was used at the main stair towers to provide natural light into the stairs and to serve as urban-sized lanterns along the façade.

The design drastically improves the image of the structure during the day and, by using materials similar to ones used on the adjacent campus, finally makes the structure seem to be part of the same institution. The gentle curves at the cornice of the scrim and the bay spacing/proportions of the light columns recall heights, proportions, and details of an adjacent basilica. The ramp takes a background role to the basilica during the day. At night, the ramp takes on a special presence; it becomes a glowing, theatrical piece that calls attention to the campus and serves as a distinct gateway to city and the entertainment district.


Photo credit Phillip Prouse
Figure 14: Photo of MCTC Parking ramp lit at night.

Exterior lighting design was crucial to the success of the project. The team realized that lighting and material had to be synthesized in such a manner that would leverage the design intent without incurring large construction costs. Because the existing ramp had drastically different perimeter conditions in relationship to the scrim motif, the team needed fixtures that could be mounted in a variety of conditions while still having the same photometric distribution on the scrim. The result of this creative and collaborative design can be seen in Figure 14 (Photo credit Phillip Prouse).

According to Gary F. Milne Rojek, AIA Principal at BTR, "Designers need to understand what surfaces are going to be lit, what level of illumination is desirable, what amount of spread and control is required, and how to coordinate with other lighting on the project. On our ramp project, it was extremely important for us to illuminate the horizontally oriented grating in a very uniform and white light. The uplighting that was used had a very wide and uniform distribution that evenly illuminated the horizontal bars yielding the design intent of a theatrical scrim. The curvature of the grating at the top of the bands provides a subtle variation in reflectance. On the vertically oriented column grating, much narrower spread fixtures were used in order to emphasize the column elements in front of the scrim. Both of these design concepts had to be balanced with the distribution and color range of the standard ramp downlights."

The building owner has high praise for the results. Sally Grans, AIA, Director of Facilities Planning and Programming at MnSCU notes, "Other people need to see just how plain beautiful this once-ugly duckling parking ramp has now become a jewel! It is rare to see lighting as a work of art and this parking ramp is now truly artful. My only concern is that people don't get into car accidents as they slow down to look at it!"

 

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Originally published in Architectural Record.
Originally published in December 2005

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