by Jbs110509 e5 — November 11, 2009—Boston’s first official skyscraper, the Marriott Custom House Tower, has undergone a long-awaited lighting makeover to reclaim its skyline prominence in a smart and sustainable way.
Formerly lit by incandescent-based fixtures that had fallen into disrepair, the Tower has been restored to its fully illuminated state using LED fixtures that reportedly consume just one third the energy of the previous sources. The permanent installation was unveiled in October as part of illuminaleBOSTON 08, a five-day, citywide lighting festival founded by Lana Nathe of Light Insight Design Studio.
The Tower’s lighting scheme was conceptualized by Lam Partners Inc., which had also designed the former lighting treatment 20 years ago. The design team chose new LED-based lighting fixtures from Philips Color Kinetics that, in addition to consuming less energy, require less maintenance, with a projected lifetime of more than 20 years at six hours of use per day, says the company.
Approximately 125 eW Blast Powercore and eW Graze Powercore fixtures now illuminate the Tower from the 17th floor to the peak, while energy-efficient metal halide fixtures from Philips Lightolier illuminate the building’s base.
The former incandescent light fixtures were essentially replaced one-for-one in their existing locations and mountings, demonstrating the adaptability of the new LED fixtures, notes Philips. They now incorporate Philips Powercore technology to directly accept line voltage, which eliminates the need for external low-voltage power supplies and special cabling previously required to run LED fixtures. Both the LED and metal halide fixtures generate warm white light that closely matches the desired look of the former incandescent sources, says the company.
