Architectural Record – August 2019

91

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: James Corner Field

Operations — James Corner, Lisa Switkin, Megan Born,

Eric Becker

LIGHTING DESIGNER: Tillotson Design Associates —

Suzan Tillotson, Erin Dreyfous, Megan Trimarchi

ENGINEER: SRF Consulting Group (electrical)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Meyer Contracting

CONSULTANTS: Snow Kreilich Architects (architecture);

Coen+Partners (landscape); Pentagram (wayfinding);

Skyrim Studios (custom lighting design); Premier Electric

(electrical contractor)

CLIENT: Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District

OWNER: City of Minneapolis

SIZE: 12 blocks

COST: withheld

COMPLETION DATE: November 2017

SOURCES

LIGHTING: Bega; Lumenpulse; Targetti; BK Lighting; MP

Lighting; Millerbernd Lighting

credits

PHOTOGRAPHY: © JOHN MUGGENBORG

The design team created
welcoming public spaces:
a reading “room” (above)
with floor-lamp-style
fixtures, and a two-block-
long mirror-topped trellis
(bottom) outlined with
light. Street poles (top)
feature color-changing
beacons, small floodlights,
and sculptural lanterns.

welcoming, safe place to stroll at night was a

big priority for all stakeholders, so lifting the

light source and letting it create an even wash

of light is one of the primary design elements

of this project,” Born says.

The light poles are spaced approximately 70

feet apart on average, and each has four pairs

of small LED floods, each with a warm

3000­Kelvin color temperature and 85 CRI—a

welcome change from the single, glaring light

source often used for such projects. At the

same time, for familiarity, the lighting design­

ers maintained Nicollet Mall’s previous level

of brightness, which exceeded 2 foot­candles.

Cylindrical RGBW beacons located at the top

of the light poles may be programmed in

conjunction with different events, and

unique, globe­shaped lanterns project from

select poles as part of a public art program.

Outside of the walk zones, Field Opera­

tions conceived a variety of outdoor rooms

for destination seekers. These include a lush­

ly planted reading area for fine weather,

where luminaires that look like oversize

floor lamps add to the ambient glow, and a

theater­in­the­round accented by LED points.

At the heart of Nicollet Mall, pedestrians

might gather, find respite, or take a selfie

underneath the Light Walk, a series of con­

tiguous trellis­like armatures, topped by

mirrored fins, that the lighting designers

outlined with color­changing LEDs in chan­

nel extrusions. Stands of uplit birches,

northern pin oaks, and other trees unite the

rooms into one continuous experience and

lend a seasonal diversity to this reinvented

street’s warm, multifaceted scene. n