Jon Hoyle recently discussed the integrated lighting controls for the new ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History with ET Now. The Institute for Creation Research conducts scientific research within the context of biblical creation. The new Discovery Center for Science and Earth History is a 26,000-SF, single-level expansion where visitors can explore galleries and exhibits that feature animatronics, interactive displays, a planetarium, and a multimedia theater. The Discovery Center investigates the origins of the universe through the lens of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
Led by The Beck Group, The Lighting Practice was on the design team for all interior and exterior spaces. Jered Widmer, Jon Hoyle, David Seok, and Alina Wolf developed lighting solutions for the exhibit displays, entry-level lobby, lecture hall, restrooms, gift shop, façade, landscape, and garden features. The lighting design fully immerses visitors into each exhibit environment and guides them through the historic journey by accentuating exhibit details and supporting environment changes through dimming controls and appropriate aiming.
TLP utilized an integrated lighting control system to control and create flexibility within multiple exhibit zones. The system allows visitors to trigger lighting sequences through the touch screen displays. In the Grand Canyon exhibit, these triggers allow for the lighting accent of specific areas to guide the visitor’s attention. The daily lighting presets activate automatically from triggers initiated by the show-control system. However, staff can access presets in each area for ease of maintenance.
TLP is excited to have been part of the design team for the new Discovery Center and to enhance the visitor experience.
ICR’s Discovery Center partners with Strand for a flexible, integrated control solution
ET Now | February 2020
The Institute for Creation Research (ICR)’s new Discovery Center for Science & Earth History announced it is benefiting from an advanced, integrated lighting control system from Strand, a Signify entertainment lighting brand. Specified by The Lighting Practice, the system seamlessly combines the needs of multiple exhibit zones, user requirements and technologies.
The control system exploits Strand’s ability to integrate entertainment and architectural lighting in one, seamless system. It combines Strand’s powerful NEO Rack playback controller (with a second as backup), which is responsible for playback of the exhibits’ show lighting, with Strand’s flexible, scalable Vision.Net platform, which looks after the various area lighting zones.
The system includes a mix of individually addressed track lighting units, in-grade uplighters in the exhibit floors and various accent luminaires highlighting the various areas. This variety of fixtures and control protocols across multiple zones, combined with the need for staff to access lighting pre-sets, made the control specification a particularly demanding challenge.