Inspiring Light Illuminates Community Gateway

As a total of 350 new homes were masterfully planned and designed to welcome a new community in Sacramento, California, USA, it was only fitting that every aspect of the development was just as grand. The developer called upon local artists to create artwork including large sculptural components that would be stationed between seven parks around the neighborhood. In addition to the beauty within, developers sought to create an entryway that would stun homeowners and visitors as they entered. This would be done with the power of light.

The underpass serves not only as the main access point, but also as a massive public art installation to welcome people to the new development. With this design objective, ordinary wall packs were not an option. Lighting designer, Michael Sestak of Sestak Lighting Design, was tasked with dreaming up a lighting design that would solidify Luminous Passage as a beacon for the Sacramento region.

The design opted for an LED lighting solution by Color Kinetics to achieve their design goals. Designers used RGBW illumination to provide both white and color changing lights. The design features 60 ColorGraze MX4 Powercore 48” luminaires situated on custom-built shelves in fabricated cages positioned two feet away from the ceiling they illuminate. An additional 48 ColorGraze MX4 Powercore 12” luminaires were used to graze the columns. These luminaires are attached to a custom fabricated “chevron” shaped housing that conforms to the hexagonal design of the concrete columns. The housing conceals the connections and wiring for each set of two lights. The lighting design allows the luminaires to graze the ceiling and columns providing plenty of indirect light to enter and exit the underpass safely by foot or car. The veil of light gives 55 fc to the roadway and sidewalk. The system is controlled by Color Kinetics Light System Manager gen5 (now specified with iPlayer 4) and powered with four Data Enabler Pros.

Designers chose Color Kinetics products to achieve the developer’s vision of the entryway becoming a community beacon. Color Kinetics products were the most suitable option for the job due to their impeccable ability to easily create identifiable color themes for holidays and local civic events.

This project proved to be successful in providing a beautiful and safe entryway to the new community. A year after the installation was complete, the project was presented with the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals’ (AOLP) Gold award in commercial lighting.

Lighting designer Micheal Sestak says, “the lighting of Luminous Passage has proven the ability to artfully illuminate a structure and a city roadway with RGBW LED fixtures that sends a nightly message of safety, welcoming and enjoyment.”