Projects

Valparaiso University’s Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources is a four-story, 115,000 square foot building featuring a wide variety of spaces, including library stacks, reading rooms, computer labs, writing centres, classrooms, a café, a community room, and a conference room. Schuler Shook designed the lighting for all of these spaces to provide a warm, inviting place for students and faculty.

The Heritage Room, a 30-seat conference room, features a custom rectangular pendant suspended from the curved wooden ceiling. A combination of halogen lamps within the pendant and linear fluorescent uplights can be independently controlled. The pendant can be raised and lowered by a motorised winch to accommodate A/V projections.

Awards: AIA Chicago Citation of Merit 2005 IES IIDA Regional Design Award 2004

MCTC uses fluorescent perimeter cove fixtures to uplight into wooden coffers, giving it a warm established street presence on Minneapolis’ Hennepin Avenue. Excellent stack lighting ensures student’s visibility of book shelves’ bottom row. Decorative pendants are randomly located in the main conference room, giving the space a festive atmosphere

MCTC’s illuminated parking ramp provides a dramatic entrance to the college and Minneapolis Arts District. Schuler Shook also designed the lighting for MCTC’s library located directly across from the parking ramp.

Eckstein Hall is a four-story, 200,000 SF contemporary building for modern law. Schuler Shook provided lighting design for the four-story central atrium, library reading room and mock court.

The central atrium required flexible lighting for multiple activities including studying, lectures, and recognition dinners. The space is highlighted with pendant clusters, providing visually comfortable ambient light on vertical and horizontal surfaces. Integrated downlights with glare shielding provide multiple light level options for the variety of activities in the space. Indirect uplight completes the space.

A linear sconce at the stair tower visually reinforces the strong vertical architectural form and helps illuminate the stair treads

The lighting design in the spacious third-floor library reading room provides users a visually comfortable experience through a combination of slender bookshelf task lighting, downlights and wall wash accents, and custom pendants that acknowledge the traditional chandelier of the former Law School. In addition, the pendants create a beacon for the school visible from surrounding neighbourhoods and freeways.

The Mapparium, a three-story stained-glass globe found in the heart of The Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, has been a popular attraction for over 60 years. It was originally lit in 1935 with 300 60-watt lamps attached to the frame on the outside of the globe. 

The new Schuler Shook designed lighting scheme uses 206 LED colour-mixing fixtures to illuminate the white walls of the enclosing room while saving energy, reducing heat, and providing the option of programming and storing colour sequences to create stunning effects on the globe. The LED fixtures and all associated wiring were meticulously installed along the outer bronze framework to avoid fixture and wiring shadows. 

This unique, three-dimensional perspective is enhanced by A World of Ideas, an artful and penetrating multimedia presentation, which gives visitors insights into how our world is connected and shaped by ideas.