Every year, the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recognizes projects for exceptional lighting design — and we are proud to share our design of Echo Global Logistics’ new headquarters has been honored with an Award of Merit in this year’s IES Illumination Awards. The Award of Merit is given to projects that exhibit ingenuity and originality in lighting design; projects are evaluated by a broad spectrum of judges from all corners of the lighting design industry.
This gut renovation for Echo, a company focused on transportation logistics, aimed to create a fresh, vibrant, and productive office environment with a focus on efficiency — in terms of upfront cost savings as well as operating energy consumption. Opting for a minimalistic interior and leaving most materials exposed, the client chose a whitewashed, “clean slate” backdrop — creating opportunities for vibrant graphics and dramatic lighting to help create a dynamic workplace.
Proportioned similarly to semi-trailers, large-scale environmental graphics use bold colors, unexpected materials, and accent lighting to emphasize their messages. Other nods to the nature of Echo’s work appear in the “neighborhood” and “street” layout driven by the space’s large columns. Lighting became a way to help organize the concept, with pools from “streetlights” guiding employees along wide, amenity-laden boulevards to the quieter subdivisions of open workstations lit by an organized system of high-performance linear LED pendants.
The feature piece — the company’s name branded on the lobby’s welcoming wall — appears to to follow the eye as one moves deeper into the space, thanks to a cleverly integrated lighting solution enhancing each letter cavity’s unique shape.
