July 8, 2014

CRL Nantong Wins WAN Award

Congratulations to the design team for CRL Nantong’s World Architecture News Award in the Unbuilt Commercial category!  We are proud to be partners with MulvannyG2 on this large-scale project.

According to the WAN editorial statement, “The winning scheme in Nantong incorporates retail, office space and entertainment facilities (including an ice skating rink and a cinema), set over narrow but lengthy 500m-long site, encompassing nearly 300,000 sq m of commercial space. It was highlighted by the jury that the scheme had taken note of the surrounding landscape well in that ‘there’s an intelligent analysis of the city in the detailing’.”

July 1, 2014

June 25, 2014

June 6, 2014

Oculus Wins at 31st Annual IALD International Lighting Design Awards

Oculus becomes one of the select few lighting designers on the West Coast to win a prestigious IALD award at the 31st annual International Lighting Design Awards. Out of over 200 entries from 10 countries, AKA Beverly Hills was selected as one of five Award of Merit winners for the the way “[it] demonstrates the power of light to transform architectural space,” according to one IALD judge.

We are thrilled at the honor, and hope to continue pushing the envelope in design and technology on our projects. Many thanks to our collaborators, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Asfour Guzy Architects and Pamela Burton & Company Landscape Lighting. And of course, the AKA team, lead by Larry Korman.

Read the IALD Press Release (pdf download).

June 3, 2014

Archit Jain Judges Lightfair Innovation Awards

Oculus Principal Archit Jain was one of three judges representing the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) for the Lightfair Innovation Awards, presented in a ceremony on June 3, 2014 in Las Vegas.

In all, over 250 products were judged by a panel of 7 judges representing the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and the IALD. The products were divided in 14 categories with a top award in each category, and 4 other main awards.
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May 10, 2014

I’m a Lighting Designer

“I make the invisible visible. I give rooms their own soul. Light transforms the building into architecture brought to life.”

There are many such gems in the “I’m a Lighting Designer” film produced by international luminaire manufacturer Erco. While we certainly are a more diverse group, and do have a slightly different accent, we do agree with the general idea.

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April 7, 2014

St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Opens

By Scott Hatton

Today is the St. Louis Cardinals home opener and as part of the festivities they opened up their new Hall of Fame!

We designed the lighting for the Cardinals Hall of Fame in collaboration with PGAV Architects and the Cardinal’s Organization.   Adjustable LED track lighting built into the casework and concealed in the black ceiling grid is carefully aimed at artifacts that bring the history of the Cardinals to life.  In a few of the galleries the lighting is programmed to change along with the audio visual program.  In these pictures, you can see a replica of the old Busch stadium roof with uplights that change from Anaheuser-Busch blue to Cardinals red when the highlight reel starts.

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March 25, 2014

Pirch Glendale Wins Another Outstanding Award

Our project, Pirch Glendale has been selected as the A.R.E. Design Awards 2014 Grand Prize winner in the category of Hardline Specialty Store (7,501-25,000 square feet). The project was described as “smart, modern and fresh, from the refined elegance of ceiling elements and linear trough lighting  to a white porcelain main floor… ” While we designed the lighting, the overall design was by FITCH, and this is the second top prize for Pirch, which won First Place in a similar category in the Retail Store of the Year competition.

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March 20, 2014

LAC-USC Wellness Center Grand Opening

We recently worked with Chu+Gooding Architects on the LAC-USC Wellness Center, which had its grand opening ceremony this past Saturday.

The Wellness Center is an adaptive re-use project located on the bottom floor of the existing General Hospital in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles. First District Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina spearheaded the project with support from The California Endowment and other sponsors. The Wellness Center provides a home for nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing social services consisting of preventative healthcare and culturally sensitive wellness education.
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March 18, 2014

March 5, 2014

AKA Beverly Hills in Interior Design Magazine

AKA Beverly Hills received an honorary mention in Interior Design’s “Best of Year” issue, and our lighting design was noted as its “standout” quality: “Perforations in the concrete facade are echoed in the lobby by the constellation of LED-lit oculi hovering over the oak floor.”

February 15, 2014

February 1, 2014

January 25, 2014

January 20, 2014

200,000 SF Department Store Here We Come

We’re excited to be designing the lighting for a luxury department store. At over 200,000 sft. this is a large space and the challenge is to reduce the vast expanse of lighting in the ceiling to a more human scale. LEDs would be used extensively for reduced maintenance and energy use. A majority of the luminaires will be adjustable, and field ceiling lighting designed in a way to ensure that the product can be highlighted from all directions. High contrast, with merchandise illuminated to much brighter levels than the surroundings, is needed to create a high-end feel. Several days of aiming would definitely be needed!

The exterior will feature an interactive lighting installation, visible from the parking lot and providing character to the building distinct from the mall behind.

See you there in the fall of 2015!

January 17, 2014

Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach

We will be working with SMS Architects on the renovation of the Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, California. The site, which recently has been mostly vacant, has already garnered much interest from restaurants and retail vendors based on the proposed re-design, which will upgrade the Lido Marina Village into a contemporary, upscale shopping and dining center.

January 6, 2014

The New Scalable and Adaptable Web Presence

As you know, we pride ourselves in being Scalable, Adaptable and Collaborative. And part of being collaborative is being accessible to our clients.  Our new website, launched today, takes this to our web interface as well.  Designed by Randy Karels, this website uses leading responsive web technology to adapt and scale the content to the device accessing it, whether it is a small mobile device or a high resolution monitor.   So, now we fit your needs in more than one way.

If you are interested in seeing how this works, whip out your iPhone, iPad, Macbook Air, and your 27” iMac and load oculuslightstudio.com. Or just use Responsinator to see all at the same time.

December 30, 2013

Lighting Today features YouTube Amphitheatre

Our design for YouTube’s outdoor “Moonlit Theater” has been featured in the landscape lighting segment of Lighting Today’s newest issue. Lighting Today is an architectural lighting magazine based in Singapore and our project appears on page 75 of the latest issue.

The full text of the article is available here.

December 18, 2013

Westlake Plaza and Center

We are happy to be partnering with Callison again on a new project. This time we will be working together on the renovation of The Westlake Plaza and Center in Thousand Oaks, CA. The ideally located neighborhood plaza has been a key area for lifestyle shopping and dining, and we are excited to update the charming plaza with a fresh look.

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December 17, 2013

A Good Sign for YouTube

“Can you specify some floodlights to light our sign?” That was the directive given to us to light the YouTube sign located on the side of their office/sound stage complex in Playa Vista, CA.   We looked at the sign and thought that floodlighting would not be a great solution, because the sign was offset from the wall and that the shadows would be distracting. We felt that halo-lighting would be a better solution and make it easier to read at nighttime.

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