UC Health was featured in LD+A Magazine’s October issue, highlighting the importance of improving the main entry and lobby to create a more welcoming environment for their patients and visitors. TLP Associate Ryan Conover, EDAC, Assoc. IALD discusses how The Lighting Practice strategically back lit the low ceilings, making the space feel less cavernous, balanced the electric light with the abundant daylight, and highlighted architectural accents throughout the space.
“Though design isn’t at the forefront of people’s minds when they accompany a loved one to a hospital, their surroundings and the ease-of-use within the space can shape their experience. At UC Health, Cincinnati, a new lobby greets guests with an abundance of natural and mimicked daylight for a welcoming environment. Lighting design by The Lighting Practice (TLP) in the all-LED renovation project completed in the last quarter of 2022 reinforces architectural accents, and provides increased wayfinding within the facility.
Due to multi-phase construction, the hospital’s lobby was never out of service. When one side of the two-part entryway was complete, work on the second area began.
The original iteration of the site divided the hospital’s entry into two clearly defined East and West lobbies, one awash in daylight due to its high ceilings, the other with limited access to natural light due to its low ceilings. The renovated site, part of a greater master plan, balances the differences between the areas and creates a sense of uniformity with strategically placed 4000K electric light.
‘We wanted to make one holistic brushstroke over the project,’ says Ryan Conover, lead lighting designer with TLP. ‘The question was: even if there is not daylight in the space, how can we make it feel as though there is daylight? That’s where the idea of the back-lit ceiling at the information desk in the West lobby came in.’ A baffle ceiling system back-lit with tapelight by Luminii opens the area— making it feel less cavernous—and adds visual hierarchy to the space. After calculation studies, mockups and discussions of value engineering with the design team and project owner, TLP was able to execute an impactful system that supported the welcoming narrative and architectural motifs, while mitigating cost…” Read the entire feature on LD+A Magazine’s site >