The Great Hall at Union Station, an elegant and historic event space in Chicago, hosts a variety of occasions from weddings to corporate functions. The lighting in the space consisted of 400 W HID fixtures that cast a harsh white light. To achieve any type of colored lighting for events, these fixtures were routinely covered with theatrical gels. The gel process was time-consuming and costly, and the color choices were limited. The staff at Union Station wanted the ability to easily respond to custom and dynamic color requests for their events, and turned to Intelligent Lighting Creations (ILC) for help in finding a solution.
ILC immediately suggested an LED lighting system. This type of system would allow staff to change the color of the venue lighting with just the touch of a button, avoiding the time and expense of gels. The LED system would also offer millions of color combinations, more than enough to accommodate any customer request. In addition, the staff would now have the ability to incorporate dynamic color-changing effects to highlight special events or to instantly change the ambiance of the venue from a serene wedding ceremony to a lively wedding reception.
The management at Great Hall agreed that the LED lighting system would meet all of their needs and moved forward with the replacement for their current lighting system. ILC used a combination of Color Kinetics color-changing luminaires to provide the color punch for the room. ColorReach Powercore floodlights (now specified with
ReachElite) were mounted on an existing ledge 50 feet from the ground, while ColorBlast Powercore luminaires were installed on upper alcoves along the walls. To provide accent lighting, ILC lined the perimeter of the room with iW Graze Powercore and iW Blast Powercore luminaires to highlight statues throughout the space. Both now specified with IntelliHue. To allow easy management of the entire lighting system, ILC integrated a third-party Ethernet-based lighting playback controller. A custom iPad interface gives employees the ability to remotely log into the system and select from pre-programmed looks or create custom scenes for the hall.
With its new LED lighting system, the Great Hall now has a new way to distinguish itself from other event venues in the Chicago area.
