At The Pearl Innovation District in Charlotte, North Carolina, outdoor lighting plays complementary roles across the public realm, providing effective illumination while supporting a broader layer of connected technology, wayfinding and civic identity.
The mixed-use healthcare and innovation district is home to Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte, Atrium Health and IRCAD North America. Led by Ayers Saint Gross, with Kimley-Horn providing multidisciplinary engineering and design services, the site design also carries important local history. The Pearl occupies land once part of Charlotte’s Brooklyn neighborhood, a thriving Black community displaced during mid-century urban renewal. References to that history are integrated throughout the landscape, including the central plaza and its tiered “Jacob’s Ladder,” inspired by a prominent stairway at the neighborhood’s former school.
Throughout the district, Rama area lights and SHUFFLE smart multifunctional columns from Landscape Forms work together as part of an integrated lighting approach. Rama provides flexible area illumination in a clean, minimalist form. Multi-head configurations allow several luminaires to be positioned on individual poles, helping the design team achieve appropriate lighting levels while limiting the number of poles within carefully composed pedestrian environments.
“The clean lines and simple forms helped us achieve the lighting levels we needed in a way that still felt contemporary and sophisticated,” says Kyle Baugh, Associate at Kimley-Horn.
Rama’s ability to accommodate multiple luminaires in different positions gives the team flexibility to respond to a range of conditions across the terraced site, while maintaining open sightlines and a consistent visual language. Its directional illumination places light where it is needed, supporting the project’s emphasis on both lighting performance and modern deign restraint.
SHUFFLE adds another layer of capability throughout the site. Offered by Landscape Forms in collaboration with Schréder, the smart multifunctional columns combine illumination with connected features including wayfinding, emergency beacons and programmable illuminated rings, consolidating several functions within a single piece of site infrastructure.
The SHUFFLE columns also connect with Charlotte’s larger Uptown system. Their programmable light rings can coordinate with citywide color schemes for holidays and community events, allowing The Pearl’s lighting to participate in a broader civic network rather than operating as an isolated installation.
Together, Rama and SHUFFLE demonstrate how multiple lighting tools can work in concert across a complex public environment. Rama delivers adaptable, precise area illumination with minimal visual clutter, while SHUFFLE expands the role of lighting infrastructure to include communication, navigation and programmable civic expression. Used throughout The Pearl, the two systems create a cohesive lighting framework closely integrated with the architecture, landscape and everyday life of the district.