I have participated in the process and contributed to the authoring of the following paper: 3ds Max Design Exposure Validation (pdf – 5835Kb) – which describes the process and results.

This project consisted into developping exterior lighting concepts for the tower of a casino in Quebec City.

Color mixing LED light fixtures where selected for their compact size and ease of control for increased flexibility.

Lighting Design: Martin Gagnon
Conceptual Illustrations, Technical Coordination & Diagrams: Pierre-Felix Breton

Planned in 1840 by architect Richard Upjohn and consecrated five years later, the Trinity Church is one of the oldest church in North America.

Now surrounded by the tall buildings of Wall street in New-York (Upjohn would certainly not have made that prediction!), the construction exposes rich details pertaining to the neo-gothic style: carved stone, sculptures, bronze doors etc.

In March 2001, the city was planning a replacement of the street lighting fixtures. This opened the door for a proposal to illuminate the exterior of the building.

To be able to convince the authorities to accept the project, we created highly detailed lighting simulations with a professionnal 3D lighting simulation package.

One of the most difficult task of the project was to model the church accurately: virtually no data was available, except for a set of hand drawn elevations dating from 1930s!

Unfortunately, the project was put on hold by the 9/11 attacks on the WTC where the church was lightly damaged, although some of the lighting concepts where implemented on the front tower later on.

lighting design:

Martin Shaffer and Associates

lighting studies and simulations:

Pierre-Félix Breton

Established on the UNESCO World Heritage site at the foot of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, the Scottish Parliament has been completed in 2004.

My involvement with the project consisted into working with the lead lighting designers (OVI, Office for Visual Interaction) on the development of a lighting solution that meets television lighting quality, integrates to the unique architectural space and conforms to the global lighting scheme.

The six committee rooms and the debating chamber where lit with a different lighting layout: each space has a distinct configuration of asymmetric vaulted ceilings, suspension cables, trusses and seating layout.

The location and orientation of the luminaires (800+ total) was determined with a combination of high end analysis tools and custom designed 3d modeling tools (more on this subject in the Autodesk Media and Entertainment 3ds max showcase article – pdf).

The lighting of the debating chamber was a challenge on its own due to its asymmetric vaulted ceiling and visible structural elements.

More than 300 fixtures suspended in clusters are aimed in such a way that broadcast lighting conditions are achieved while no occlusion is happening from the architectural elements.

The lighting system of the committee rooms is mounted into “pockets” carved in the vaulted ceiling.

Each luminaire has a precise location and orientation calculated to not be occluded by the edges of the “pockets” and also meet television lighting requirements for intensity and angle.

architect:

Enric Miralles in collaboration with the Edinburgh practice of RMJM

lighting consultants:

Office for Visual Interaction Inc. (OVI) - Jean M. Sundin, Enrique Peiniger

lighting calculations and aiming planning (broadcast lighting):

Pierre-Félix Breton

photos:

Official page of the Scottish Parliament

see also:

Its impressive height and its envelope – a giant semi-transparent screen made with clusters of glossy ceramic bars – will capture environment lighting during daytime in a totally different manner than during night time.

The lighting concept calls for a very even and subtle gradiation of light from the bottom to the top, with accent lighting on the upper part of the building, on the tip of the mast (to meet FAA regulations) and on the structural elements visible on each side of the facades.

My initial task consisted into illustrating the lighting concept with interactive presentations demonstrating the appearance of the building at different time of the night with custom made presentation tools.

The second part of the project was to specify the exact location, count and aiming angle of the chosen luminaires to meet quantitative light levels required by the lighting concept.

Custom designed reflectors for luminaires where used to acheive a reverse wallwasher effect om the entire facade of the building.

architect:

Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with FXFOWLE Architects

lighting consultants:

Office for Visual Interaction Inc. (OVI) Jean M. Sundin, Enrique Peiniger

lighting studies, illustrations and simulations:

Pierre-Félix Breton

The addition of a pedestrian walkway and a 3rd lane was done in 1997-1999. This was an opportunity for the local authorities to transform the bridge into a landmark for Nova-Scotia with the installation of decorative lighting system.

My involvement with the project consisted into developing lighting simulations to validate the design assumptions as well as set of marketing imagery to convince the deciders about the validity of the project.

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The bridge was illuminated in a festive event, the night of January 1st 2000 as a New Year gift to the local population.

engineers:

Morris and Richard Consulting Engineers Limited

lighting design:

Rudy Ponce, Cooper Lighting

lighting validation studies:

Pierre-Félix Breton

photos:

Cooper Lighting
Halifax Dartmouth Bridge Commission

Lighting Design: Martin Gagnon
Conceptual Illustrations, Technical Coordination & Diagrams: Pierre-Felix Breton

A first phase of my work consisted into producing illustrations of various scenarios for the lighting concept of the spires.

The second phase was more technically oriented: lighting requirements called for the creation of a linear gragation of light that goes from 15fc at the base of the spire, to 5fc in the center to 15fc again at the top.

A complete aiming diagram was produced for the spires after having conducted precise lighting analysis studies performed with custom designed tools.

Lighting Design:
Office for Visual Interaction Inc. (OVI)

Conceptual illustrations and Lighting engineering:
Pierre-Felix Breton