“Choose happiness” is the motto for Society Las Olas, an apartment community in downtown Fort Lauderdale, FL, where the good times extend to a breezeway below the parking garage that connects the two residential towers. The massive breezeway is home to various restaurants and retail stores, and also serves as the entranceway to the complex. The developer hired HLB Lighting Design to create a signature lighting experience for the breezeway. “They were seeking a ‘wow’ experience,” says Simi Burg, associate principal of the Miami office of HLB Lighting Design. “We were looking for something inviting—something that would engage passersby and draw them into the retail plaza.”
Burg specified 24-in. and 48-in. high ceiling pendants (Luminis’s Lumistik fixtures) for the space. The 3000K pendants are suspended in random patterns across the concrete ceiling. The lighting couldn’t be too dim during the day or too bright at night with visitors transitioning from very bright or dark adjacent spaces. Light levels are managed by pairing the fixtures with an automatic dimming system with photocell.
Photos: Chad Baumer
The LED light source is contained in an acrylic sealed cylinder to provide a uniform column of illumination. The 6-in. luminaire diameter was ideal, as they appear graceful and uncluttered in the 30-ft high space, rather than bulky and imposing. “The lighting effect is a feeling of floating candles,” Burg says.
Photos: Chad Baumer
To withstand extreme weather conditions, the pendants are made of corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy. Fixture mounting had to account for wind as well as vibrations from the cars moving through the parking garage above. A safety cable is housed inside a secured stem.
Photos: Chad Baumer
The architects carried the cylindrical lighting design aesthetic beyond the breezeway. Lumistik columns and bollards illuminate the driveways and pathways around the perimeter of the property. The pool deck also features illuminated columns.
Photos: Chad Baumer