Projects

Located on Goose Island in the heart of Chicago, UI LABS’ new Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) is the product of a collaborative initiative among government agencies, key universities, and industry partners. 

DMDII is a comprehensively equipped technology hub, seamlessly blending the manufacturing areas with adjacent open office and support spaces. The 94,000 SF facility is organized around themes of openness, transparency, industrial might, and environmentally friendly strategies, linking together a manufacturing floor, classrooms, a lecture hall, and flexible work spaces to foster collaboration and spur innovation. 

This exhibit takes visitors on Malala’s journey from her home in the Swat Valley of Pakistan to her tireless global crusade for the right of all girls to have an education, despite harsh Taliban threats and repressive retaliation. The immersive show tells her inspiring story of perseverance and courage in the face of life-threatening opposition and eventual triumph as the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

The McNamara Alumni Center was designed to serve as an entrance and gathering point for the University of Minnesota campus. The unique shape of the space, designed by Antoine Predock and managed by KKE Architects, creates a variety of lighting design challenges.

In order to create an inviting environment as it is viewed from the outside, theatrical and recessed adjustable fixtures were utilized to provide illumination of the interior surfaces. Also, the building’s historic ​“arch” was relocated to the lobby and accented with a light reveal.

This conference and presentation space is characterized by polyplanar surfaces of rich woods and metals. Flexible track lighting is integrated within gaps between finished ceiling elements. Grazing light, both up and down, glows perimeter walls and ceiling planes. Integrated room lighting and presentation controls provides for convenient user operation.

Schuler Shook specified the lighting control system that provides daily and special event settings to account for varying levels of daylight and individual control of the theatrical accent fixtures.

Schuler Shook provided exterior lighting design services for the renovation and adaptive reuse of the Carbon and Carbide Building on Michigan Avenue. Now the home to Hard Rock Hotel, this Art Deco masterpiece originally opened in 1929 as an office building and was designated a Chicago Architectural Landmark in 1996.

The exterior is composed of black granite and dark green terra cotta, a challenge to illuminate. Our designers used on-site mockups to test fixtures against the dark cladding and worked to highlight the gold terra cotta and gold leaf trim. The 40-story building is now a 381-room hotel with restaurant, bar, conference and meeting rooms.

The lighting design for the remodeling and expansion of the airport consisted of several phases. The retail concourse was repositioned to serve the users circulating through the facility. Schuler Shook designed custom lighting fixtures to accent the architecture and provide a brighter and better defined space. Custom pendants, informed by an aeronautical expression emphasize particular areas throughout the facility.

The lighting design supports the architectural expression and is designed to be maintenance friendly, long life fluorescent, metal-halide, LED and fiber-optic systems are utilized.

Schuler Shook provided lighting design services on this fast-tracked project at the historic Hilton Chicago. The hotel’s restaurant, the bar/lounge area, and the grab-and-go retail space were renovated or entirely re-concepted, requiring new lighting designs as part of the brand and ambience for each of the three food and beverage areas.

T‑Rex is an interactive and immersive themed restaurant and retail attraction. Life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, mammoth and other creatures are found in specially themed spaces or ​“zones” such as the Geothermal Kitchen of Fire, the Shark Bar, Fern and Sequoia Forests, and the Children’s Archeological Dig Site. The lighting scheme provides drama and task illumination, complex show programming, and sustainable maintenance.

In the Geothermal zone, natural gas flames erupt from rock fissures. Enhanced impact is provided by flame-effect motion projectors illuminating themed elements. Geothermal activity continues with the fiery LED animation of translucent sculpted lava, juxtaposed behind a cool blue ​“ice melt” waterfall.

The Shark Bar’s giant octopus has animatronic tentacles and provides task lighting through end-emitting fiber optics mounted in its suction cups. LED’s animate the bar in subtle waves.

Other lighting elements include water ripple-effects and ocean tones, internally lit jellyfish providing table lighting, the ice cave’s translucent glowing walls, projected fir and pine cone images in the Sequoia Forest, luminous planets, and internally lit asteroid fixtures in the retail space.

Chicago’s historic Water Tower was completed in 1869 and was one of only several buildings to survive the great Chicago fire. Over the years, the tower’s limestone facade became very dirty and the lighting scheme was in need of modernization.

Schuler Shook’s facade lighting consists of ceramic metal halide spotlights that graze light up the various turrets and towers. Fixtures are located close to the building, allowing the texture of the rough-cut limestone to be revealed, while the 3000K color temperature of the lamps renders the warmth of the stone.

The lighting for the historic Water Tower gives visual impact to North Michigan Avenue’s ​“Magnificent Mile”, one of Chicago’s most visited destinations for tourists and residents alike.

Northwestern University completed significant renovations to this 1928 student residence hall, creating the first LEED Gold certified green student living space on its Evanston campus.

Schuler Shook’s lighting designers strategized and documented new lighting for this renovation, including lighting for the first floor lounges and corridors as well as the building’s dorm rooms and washrooms.

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 neighborhoods and freeways.

The First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1868. After suffering two fires, the current church, designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham — constructed from limestone — was completed in 1895. In 2001, Schuler Shook successfully completed the lighting renovation for the Sanctuary as part of the architectural renovation led by Goss Pasma Architects. 

“After more than two years since completion, the Sanctuary still receives rave reviews from everyone who visits. The flexibility of the enlarged chancel has been utilized in so many additional ways beyond the basic arrangements originally contemplated, yet the basic illumination settings have provided more than enough light in every situation. When necessary, the lighting has been modified utilizing the simple architectural touch screen at our balcony control center. And to our surprise and delight, we have only now changed the original bulbs in all the new and remodeled fixtures, thanks to the extensive dimming systems. The lighting of the stained glass windows from inside has provided a beautiful glow to the illuminated exterior of the building, while serving as a very effective ​‘night light’ when the sanctuary is otherwise dark inside. Bravo to Schuler & Shook for our outstanding lighting results!” Neil Anderson, project representative for First Presbyterian Church

After nearly 70 years, the lighting of the clock tower at the Minneapolis Municipal Building was restored to the original design intent. Using the architect’s drawings as a guide, the glass and the support structure was restored to look as it did when the building was built in the early 1900’s. Minneapolis Architects Long and Keys designed the Municipal Building as a landmark structure, drawing on neo-Romanesque themes of Boston architect H.H.

Richardson. The tower is the crowning jewel of the building, with four clock faces that measure 24 feet in diameter. It is the largest four-faced, chiming clock in the world. The tower also serves as a symbol of great city of Minneapolis.

Using a technique taken from theatrical lighting, Schuler Shook used a ​“bounce drop” – a highly reflective curtain hung behind each clock face. A bank of highly efficient LED floodlights illuminate the drop, and the reflected light provides an even wash of light that back-lights the clock face, without shadows from support structure.

The glowing glass silhouettes the clock hands, allowing citizens to read the time-of-day from miles away.

Hyde Park Bank has long been recognized as an integral part of the historic community of Hyde Park. Over the years, the space had become impersonal, dark and was not providing the welcoming environment that the Bank wanted to offer its clientele. Through architectural and lighting revisions, the Bank hoped to create a modern, flexible workspace that complemented, rather than obscured, the past. Florian Architects was enlisted to restore the banking hall while introducing a contemporary aspect, more in keeping with a 21st century financial institution.

The renovation included the restoration of three monumental existing chandeliers that contribute to the ambiance, and ambient lighting, of the banking hall. Terra-cotta reliefs and bronze shields detailed by focal lighting make a striking impact. 

In concert with JCDA, Schuler Shook provided the lighting design for a tunable white linear art installation. ​“Horizon Light” is connected to the arrival canopy of the O’Hare Consolidated Car Rental Facility (CONRAC), a multi-modal transit center where air travel connects with light transit, rail, bus and vehicular travel.

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.

Schuler Shook designed a lighting scheme that uses 206 LED color-mixing fixtures to illuminate the white walls of the enclosing room while saving energy, reducing heat, and providing the option of programming and storing color 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.

Named in recognition of its neighborhood, the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston is better known as MATCH. The nonprofit group was formed expressly to create new space where artists around Houston could come together to collaborate and present their work. The MATCH facility is custom designed with input from over 40 arts groups. The resulting structure contains four performance venues referred to as MATCH boxes located in two buildings — North and South — connected by a sweeping breezeway to the plaza. MATCH supports dance, music, theatre, visual art, film, performance art, and others in the new facility.

Each ​“box” is slightly different. MATCH Box 1, a flexible theatre with seating for 100 in the round, has white walls that allow it to easily serve as an art gallery. Blackout curtains help return it to a performance space. MATCH Box 2 is an end-stage dance theatre with a permanent resilient dance floor and seating for 159. MATCH Box 3 can seat about 140 and is a more traditional black box theatre. MATCH Box 4, an end stage proscenium space with seating for 329, has catwalks for theatrical support and adjustable acoustic curtains. Boxes 1 through 3 feature pipe grids for overhead support. 

Schuler Shook provided the interior and exterior lighting design and custom lighting fixtures for this retail shopping center and plaza. The lighting design was carefully crafted with the development of the retail center to create a warm and inviting quality that responds to the architecture. The lighting fixtures took their cue from the Prairie style architectural vernacular.

Illumination of ceiling planes, architectural details, and decorative fixtures provides a comfortable and engaging environment.

Schuler Shook worked closely with Cuningham Group and the Alexandria School District to design a state of the art performing arts center for their new high school. The 1,000-seat auditorium has a generously sized stage to support a wide variety of performances including vocal and instrumental music, drama, musical theatre, dance, lectures and assemblies 

A re-development project integrated lighting, across the exterior façade of an entire block, to re-vitalize a fading landmark, address security issues, and add excitement to the area.

Color-changing LED fixtures were implemented to uplight the perforated metal mesh façade with a series of 5 to 8 minute light shows. The color washes and patterns cross-fade, wrapping around the block in a planned sequence, creating an impressive
street vibe. When local sports team are playing home games, the team colors are featured in a sequence that starts with single colors, and progresses to moving blocks of color and change with increasing frequency.

Alexander Calder’s steel stabile ​“Flamingo” was the first work of art commissioned under the General Service Administration’s Art in Architecture Program in 1974. The sculpture’s vermilion color and 53-foot tall organic form serves as a counterfoil to the surrounding three prominent Mies Van der Rohe federal office buildings in Chicago’s Federal Plaza. In its initial installation, it was not lighted for viewing after dark.

The lighting of the ​“Flamingo” was implemented as part of a program to improve the plaza and increase security. The primary challenge was to illuminate as many surfaces and facets as possible using a reasonable quantity of fixtures. All lighting fixtures are buried in the plaza pavers and are identical: PAR38 adjustable uplights with positive locking mechanisms. Schuler Shook performed site testing to test and select the incident lighting angles, source color, and fixture locations and quantities. All of the lighting emanates from the plaza, shining up on the sculpture, which reinforces the weightless nature of the sculpture and suggests that the sculpture floats above the plaza, barely touching the ground.

The initial renovation project won an IALD Award of Merit and an IES International Illumination Design Award. IALD judges remarked that, ​“The graceful and beautiful pattern of the form comes alive…”

The original design used 150 watt halogen PAR lamps with spot and flood distributions. In the second renovation of the plaza, Schuler Shook replaced the lights with more energy efficient ceramic metal halide.

Lighting and architecture are integrated in a minimal, timeless aesthetic for this high-rise building. The law firm’s Chicago headquarters occupies 27 floors (672,000 SF), and our designers created lighting solutions throughout for private attorney offices, open secretarial stations, the conference center, reception areas, elevator lobbies and corridors.

This lighting renovation coincided with an overall renovation of the church. Indirect lighting for the nave was integrated within newly designed architectural extensions of the column capitals. The illumination level in the nave was increased by a combination of this new indirect illumination and by increasing the lamp wattage in existing chandeliers. 

For the chancel, new front lighting was concealed behind the front columns and new overhead lighting recessed into the vaulted ceiling.

The Minneapolis Convention Center expansion began in 1998. Included in the expansion was a large flexible 3,400-seat auditorium to be used for large assembly events. Because it was recognized that a 3,400 seat auditorium would have limited use due to its size, a space capable of reconfiguration from a single large house into multiple smaller spaces was designed.

The lighting design challenges presented by the flexibility of the space were met with the use of dual downlight systems, custom wall sconces located in movable and stationary walls, and a meticulously programmed lighting control system. Area lighting and accent lighting integrated into the room design afford flexibility, task lighting, and accenting of ceiling and wall planes.

Schuler Shook’s theatre planning scope included the auditorium, its lighting control systems and stage rigging. Schuler Shook provided additional architectural lighting design for all public spaces, meeting rooms, and exhibit halls within the expansion.

Excelsior & Grand is a mixed-use development, with 5 story buildings consisting of residential units, retail space, restaurants, and plazas. The development is centered along a 600 foot pedestrian-friendly, town green.

Schuler Shook developed a unique lighting approach to create a dynamic, yet unified interior and exterior lighting design for this multi-phased project. The exterior lighting design included landscape, building facades, balconies, entries, and sculptures.

Schuler Shook provided architectural lighting design services for a four-story glass box processing center with a mostly open office floor plan. Demountable partitions were used extensively in the project so the lighting system had to be flexible enough to accommodate the reconfiguring of the space.

The control system allowed each fixture to have an individual address so that when walls changed position lighting control zones could be reconfigured to provide discrete control for the newly enclosed space. The project was first designed with fluorescent fixtures for budget reasons, but during the bidding phase the owner decided that the upgrade to all LED was worth the additional cost. 
 

This performing arts center replaced the significant Fine Arts Auditorium on campus. The building includes a 1,000-seat auditorium and music rehearsal rooms with planning for a future recital hall.

While primarily used for music performances, including the Valley Symphony Orchestra, the center also supports dance performances, especially folkloric dance with mariachi accompaniment.

Schuler Shook provided full theatre design services and architectural lighting for the theatre, main lobby, grand stair, second floor lobbies, first floor side gallery spaces and the building façade.

Schuler Shook provided architectural lighting design for MB Financial Park at Rosemont, now Parkway Bank Park, a multi-season park in the entertainment district of the Village of Rosemont, Illinois. The lighting design scope includes the skating rink, plaza, pedestrian paths, and seven new restaurant facades.

The park is situated in a nine-acre development that includes several busy restaurants and pubs, providing a welcome outdoor activity area in combination with dining and retail spaces for a true multi-season entertainment environment.

Southbank Park serves as the ​“front door” to the seven-acre Southbank planned development along the Chicago River. The design team focused on landscaping for a natural habitat open to the public yet maintained by the private owner. The parkland connects to an accessible riverwalk via multiple gently curving walkways. Schuler Shook’s lighting design approach was to work within that ecosystem, creating spaces for people to gather while controlling illumination in areas intended for bird migration and wildlife.

Schuler Shook provided lighting design and theatre planning services for the 450-seat Tower Auditorium in this Global Communications Hub in Charlotte. The room is designed for video production and teleconferencing as well as live lecture and assembly.

Working closely with the architects at Perkins+Will, we created a seating layout and appropriate lighting of the onstage presenter and the audience that works well for those in the room and for those experiencing the room through the bank’s Knowledge Channel video broadcasts.
 

Schuler Shook designed the lighting renovation and the control system for the sanctuary, the exterior, and the chapel. The lighting design accentuates the worship service through the illumination of the sanctuary, altar, and religious artifacts. The exterior lighting design enhances the architecture and provides an evening presence on the skyline. Constraints included integration of the luminaries within the historic architectural fabric and developing a catwalk system above an existing cornice to allow lamp replacement and light fixture aiming at 60 feet above the altar.

Awards: 
CUE Award in 1999
IES International Illumination Design Award 1994

DeVos Hall, the premiere performance space in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is home to the local Ballet, Opera, and Broadway Theatre Guild. Renovation work for the 2,500-seat hall was completed in 90 days in the summer of 2004. Schuler Shook worked closely with Progressive A/E to design new lighting for the perimeter of the house, and patrons seated in the side balconies.

A new control system integrates existing stage and house lighting controls with color-changing controls. 15+ presets can be recalled or changed via a wallstation, laptop, and/or console. The new house lighting is integrated with the architecture, makes the space feel larger, better connects patrons to one another and the stage, and enlivens the space through color.

The refurbished bridge resting at the CTA Red Line 35th Street ​“El” stop carries pedestrians across the Dan Ryan expressway and connects the Illinois Institute of Technology with the US Cellular One Baseball Park. What was once a very utilitarian structure has been transformed into a stunning piece of modern architecture. 

The backlighting of the transparent canopies highlights the beauty of the stainless steel structural hardware and provides the general transit lighting for local commuters, students, and sports fans using the bridge. Also, backlighting is provided for signage on each side of the bridge making an interesting backdrop for automobile commuters to enjoy as they pass beneath on the expressway.

The Carlyle is a 39-floor residential tower on the Mississippi riverfront in the historic Mill District of Minneapolis. This tower was designed with art-deco design themes reinterpreted using modern methods.

The lighting design considerations included the downtown location within a historic district, energy consumption and cost, and the building’s architecture. The lighting design draws the eye up the façade to the spires at the top of the building.

The ​“Wild Reef” exhibit at the John G. Shedd Aquarium features the various animals, fish, coral and people of the Philippine coral reef — the world’s richest aquatic ecosystem. The $47 million, 27,500 square foot exhibit was completed after seven years of planning, design and construction. Habitats total more than 750,000 gallons of saltwater and feature over 450 species of coral, 2,500 different species of fish, over 30 sharks and live coral. The exhibit also educates visitors about life on Apo Island, a traditional Philippines fishing village.

Schuler Shook worked closely with the architect, exhibit designer, engineers and Aquarium Fishes, Facilities and Special Events staffs to design, specify, focus and program lighting and control systems that meet all of the aesthetic, integration, code, maintenance and budget requirements of the project. The lighting systems in the public areas are dynamic and enhance the colorful signage, interactive displays and exhibitry. The tank lighting is resistant to the corrosive saltwater, but also sympathetic to the color temperature and color rendering needs of the various fish and coral.

As a part of the University of Chicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, Breasted Hall serves as a space for the institute’s events and lectures, as well as lectures and admissions tours. A renovation to the 1931 hall was conducted to restore the historic space and improve lighting and accessibility. The room now complies with UChicago’s ADA+ standards.

The Midtown Exchange development transformed the former Sears building on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Schuler Shook provided the lighting design for the public lobbies, corridors, and building façade for this mixed-use residential, retail, and office development. 

Collaborative Design Group served as the project architect with Ryan Construction as the lead developer. Shea Architects provided interior design services.

Schuler Shook designed the lighting for the restoration of House chamber and skylight. Accent lighting and uplights enhance the historic gathering space while carefully located luminaires light the hall and provide illumination suitable for video.

An extensive renovation of the Concourse B Rotunda provides an energetic and light filled environment for travelers.

The renovation focused on a Memphis Blues theme and is supported with dynamic lighting that emphasizes the architecture, way-finding and music elements. The atrium and concourses were enhanced with increased lighting levels integrated into the architectural design.

Bet Shalom is a 35,000 square foot worship and education facility in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The 500 seat sanctuary is equipped with six 4‑ton panels, which form the walls of a hexagonal sanctuary. Three of these panels slide into the ceiling and floor, opening to the adjacent Social Hall, increasing the sanctuary seating to 1,300 people.

Schuler Shook designed the architectural lighting in collaboration with the architects. A flexible lighting control system allows the space to be adjusted in intensity, as well as to define different areas of the sanctuary.

After completion of the Nature Museum project in Chicago, architect and museum technical staff realized a need for an adjusted lighting scheme within the 2,700 SF exhibition space. Schuler Shook’s lighting designers faced challenges such as butterfly dormancy and inactivity during the exhibit’s most crucial viewing hours.

Now lighted with a combination of daylight and electric light, the exhibition area serves as a safe haven for scores of butterfly species and a wondrous space for museum visitors to interact with them.

This Target store location competes with other mall tenants, with a lower level entry from a busy mall atrium, and needed a unique identity to stand out from the crowd and draw shoppers in. Schuler Shook helped Target create an energetic lighting design to do just that. Bright, backlit side walls and graphic panels, combined with random parallel light slots on the entry ceiling, guide shoppers down escalators from the mall atrium above. The entrance is immersed with color, energy and a bit of excitement. 

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.

The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art is located on the University of Chicago’s Hyde Park campus. The museum showcases special exhibits and a permanent collection of more than 10,000 objects, including paintings by the Chicago Imagists and artifacts from ancient China, the Medieval era, and Renaissance Europe. University students play an active role in the maintenance and preservation of the museum.

In order to simplify the focusing process for students, Schuler Shook provided a reference matrix that explained how much light would be provided by various combinations of lamps, mounting positions, and light-blocking screens. This has been a useful tool when the museum focuses the lighting for new exhibits, particularly when artifacts cannot be exposed to too much light.

The Langham Chicago is the international luxury brand’s third hotel in the United States and the first to be built within a Mies van der Rohe skyscraper. The Langham Chicago was named #1 in the continental US by Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2014 ​“World’s Best” awards.

The hotel is located on 13 floors of the protected structure, originally known as IBM Plaza. Architects at Goettsch Partners collaborated with Interior Designers Richmond International to create new, two-story volumes, lending height and daylight to the primary public spaces.

Guest rooms and suites feature warm indirect LED light coves, dedicated reading lights, glowing built-in vanity fixtures, and a guest-friendly control system that allows users to easily control individual zones, or all fixtures at once.

Our lighting scope included the hotel entry canopy, ground floor entry lobby, hotel reception lobby, lobby lounge, hotel guest rooms and suites, ballroom and meeting facilities, Pavilion tea lounge, Chuan Spa and the Health Club with special pool lighting.

The entry canopy and first floor lobby were designed in collaboration with Lohan Associates, and included a full scale canopy mockup that was reviewed and approved by the Landmarks Commission. Long life and energy efficient LED sources were used to create a rigorously ordered marquee announcing the main entry into the hotel.

Hyatt unveiled an upmarket concept hotel branded as Hyatt Place. The focus is on the frequent traveler who requires an extended stay. In addition to spacious guestrooms, Hyatt has focused design efforts on the public areas called Hyatt Place Gallery. The Gallery blends contemporary décor with distinctive architecture, stylish furnishings and unexpected touches to create an atmosphere of casual hospitality.

Schuler Shook worked closely with Aria Group Architects to design the lighting and control systems for the Gallery, starting with a prototype for Hyatt and then designing the lighting for the Hyatt Place in Lombard.

This high concept restaurant in Beverly Hills focuses on the ​“show” of food preparation and a diverse menu of international flavors in a space that brings together contemporary architecture with existing brick and wood details. Lighting design for the 6,300 SF space includes the entrance, bar, dining areas and exterior façade lighting. 

Featured elements include artwork illuminated with a framing projector and an edge lit lighting detail behind the artwork. Illuminated red polymer staircase risers add an unexpected touch of interest. A 2‑story grazing detail at the mezzanine lights the original textured brick wall. Each of these lighting elements is designed to showcase the architectural features and eye-catching finishes.

The 27,000 SF Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) houses Loyola’s Martin D’Arcy Collection, along with other local and international exhibitions. Schuler Shook provided lighting design services for all of the museum’s galleries, which included integrating recessed tracks and sleek track-heads into a visually quiet ceiling. Also included in the scope was the design of the gift shop, which exhibited refined sloped shelves that were internally illuminated to present the merchandise.

The building’s two main lobbies lead to different parts of the building. The east lobby leads to the museum’s galleries and gift shop, and the north lobby leads to the offices and classrooms elsewhere in the building. Both lobbies were illuminated to characterize the spaces they precede.

The north lobby depicts a more formal environment with dark panelized wood walls, a vaulted ceiling, a lounge area, and an information display. Schuler Shook’s lighting design for this space accentuates the architecture, reveals the materials, and introduces decorative sconces to provide a visually comfortable environment that is conducive to socializing.

This 43,000 square foot building sits on 52 acres and features an 1,100-seat sanctuary. The worship space is expandable to 1,800 seats by reconfiguring the balcony as the congregation grows. The church’s program includes theatrical performances, contemporary Christian music and multimedia presentations.

The church also houses educational space and administrative areas. Additional education, childcare, chapel, and youth center spaces have been planned for future phases.

Schuler Shook provided theatre planning and architectural lighting design services for this venue. A collaborative design approach with the owner and architect provided integrated systems, flexibility, and expandability.

The 333 West Wacker building is a post-modern office tower well-known for its distinctive green glass façade that curves along the Chicago River. This 1983 structure has two separate entry lobbies connected by three elevator lobbies. Pre-renovation, the lobby had dark ceilings, walls, and floors. Spaces felt dim and imbalanced — particularly when compared to the bright, daylit windows beyond. The primary goal of the renovation was to transform the lobbies of this timeless classic into a bright, inviting entry.

Schuler Shook, Perkins+Will and the owner worked together to identify new fixture locations and types that respond better to the dark stone of the lobby. The new lobby lighting features compact fluorescent downlights that bathe the walls with light. Wall panels are polished, so fixtures have regressed lamps in order to minimize reflections in the panels. Floor and ceiling tiles are now white to increase overall light levels and the perception of brightness.

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 centers, 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 motorized winch to accommodate A/V projections.

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

River Spirit Casino and Resort underwent a major expansion project. The massive project included a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant, Paradise Cove Theatre (which is a 2,500+ seat showroom for live entertainment and sporting events), a 22-story 500-key upscale hotel tower, a world-class spa, convention and meeting center, and new restaurants. 

Schuler Shook provided theatre planning services that included performance and architectural lighting control systems design, theatre seating including the VIP suites with open ​“Party Decks”. Seating is flexible to accommodate arena-style seating for MMA events. Schuler Shook also provided the rigging control system for in-house and touring production hoist control and conjunction with advisory services for rigging support steel and for catwalk layouts. 

Architectural lighting design services included house lighting for the theatre and VIP area, main casino lobby and floor, guest rooms and suites, fitness center, hotel corridors, pool bar, ballroom and associated pre-function space and meeting rooms. 

Walton Arts Center greatly expanded and modernized their facilities to be able to more easily fulfill their mission as a major community arts center. Schuler Shook provided theatre consulting and architectural lighting design services.

InnerSelf provides intimate apparel for women. The lighting design is warm and inviting, giving the shopper a secure feeling. Accents throughout the store attract the customer’s eye, making it both appealing to shop and accentuating the architecture.

A cluster of light cylinders highlight an area and draws people into the space.

Schuler Shook designs the lighting for the themed Rainforest Cafés worldwide, usually including the interior and exterior of the restaurant, plus a retail area.

The Rainforest Café pictured here is located in Downtown Disney, Anaheim, California. It is a 30,000 square foot free standing restaurant, bar and retail space. The interior restaurant surrounds a three-story atrium with ​“Atlas Man” and a waterfall. The exterior space is inviting with a trellised patio. Both the interior and exterior theme was inspired by the architectural ruins of indigenous Central American peoples.

As part of the renovation of the Allerton Building, the Art Institute of Chicago commissioned lighting designs for Fullerton Hall and the Prints and Drawings Study Room. The hall’s main feature is a leaded stained glass dome that was originally installed by Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios in 1898. 

The dome exhibits a variation of glorious, warm colors that are cleverly lit by Schuler Shook’s design. Its dense and colorful characteristics provide the elegant room with an enchanting visual element, but posed a challenge for designers in delivering the adequate illumination levels for the auditorium. Additional sconces were provided to supplement the light emitted by the dome’s stained glass. 

The lighting design for the Block Museum incorporates careful integration of natural lighting as well as a flexible system for electric lighting. Natural light is controlled by low-transmission glass on the front wall, as well as light control shades. 

Lighting for the Print, Drawing, and Photography Study Center includes full-range intensity control and is carefully filtered to eliminate ultraviolet wavelengths. In the Auditorium, the lighting is designed to provide appropriate environments for lectures, symposia, concerts and film exhibition.

River Spirit Casino, located on the Arkansas River, captures elements that are significant to the Muscogee Creek Nation’s culture: farming, community, water, air, sky. Along the front facade, specialty light poles guide guests to the entry. 

Inside the front entry, guests are greeted with a beaded curtain, highlighted to sparkle and shimmer like rain. Large cloud shaped elements, using LEDs, mimic the sky over the Nation and draw the guest into the casino. The lounge has a bubbly glow from various sized pendants suspended at random heights. Bordering the gaming area, vertical tree elements are internally illuminated, giving the suggestion of native trees lining the side of the river bank. 

Schuler Shook collaborated with the design team to provide integrated architectural lighting that reinforces the tribal themes and the concept of the casino.