A multi-family residential community strives to bring five-star resort elegance to its residents. The 500-unit development has amenities and finishes that place it in a rarified tier of rental housing. The challenge was to provide a level of detail and integration to the lighting that would match the finish and harmonize with the Palladian architectural motifs while creating a serene, visually comfortable, yet safe nighttime environment. To do this, we tightly controlled the color temperature of all luminaires to a warm, residential 2700K, and we took care to accentuate key elements while providing sufficient contrast between lit and unlit surfaces to create dramatic interest. Hewing to the country’s most stringent energy code, with maintainability a priority, every luminaire on the project is LED. The entry drive and gatehouse are lit to provide a sense of warmth and welcome using 2700K sources while preserving a formal symmetry. The gatehouse is uplit with LED in-grade luminaires to provide a focal point, while decorative poles provide sparkle and a formal rhythm along the walkways. Custom pendants provide a sense of elegance, while uplit columns allow for silhouetting the cypress trees, using light and shadow for dramatic effect. Custom pendants mounted to trellis structures enhance the formality of the walkways, while discreet step lights and vertical illumination on the foliage ensure safe light levels. Double height breezeways have their verticality accentuated with decorative backlit panels. Elegantly ornate armatures on decorative sconces provide a sense of architectural detail. Internally illuminated columns support a canopy structure next to one of the five pool decks, while integrated miniature LED downlights provide task lighting. The central pool deck is elegant in its formal simplicity while providing owner-mandated light levels for safety. A dramatic colonnade of uplit palms provides a central spine to the property and provides visually comfortable illumination of the main pathway. Luminaires integrated into the walls of the bocce court allow for nighttime play.

This master-planned apartment community in San Jose encompasses over six city blocks, with almost 1,800 units of residential luxury, a large community park, swimming pools, and retail. The project included roughly 26,000 square feet of retail space-oriented along North First Street, Lyster said. A five-acre city park is also part of the community. Faced with the sustainability measures set forth by Build it Green standards, Crescent Village is among the first Northern California communities to implement the state-wide stormwater treatment requirements while using recycled water to irrigate the landscape. tk1sc provided electrical engineering and architectural lighting design services for all phases of this project.

Pacific City Apartments is a new high-end LEED-registered residential apartment community located on 14 acres with a design inspired by the crashing waves of the nearby ocean. The project consists of six buildings sitting atop a two-level continuous underground parking garage. Residents can see our lighting design team's work throughout the property, which includes 516 units with resort-style amenities such as a 5,000 square foot outdoor pool, fitness center, clubhouse, and conference facilities, with cohesive landscape architectural features throughout the 17-acre site. This project also includes a two-acre public park. ‍The team was challenged with making the many areas sexy, hip, and inviting while adhering to a strict energy code and appeasing a client who wanted the world but didn't want to spend too much money. The entire property uses LED sources, standardizing at 3000K or warmer. Simple dusk to dawn photocells controls the lighting. The pool deck is the focus of the property, while multiple courtyards spread throughout the property between the apartment buildings bring interest while keeping light focused on those spaces as not to impede on the tenant's private spaces. Coordination with the architect and landscape architect was essential to gracefully incorporate the lighting into the fun while bringing the project at thirty percent under California's Title 24 Energy Code.

tk1sc’s boutique lighting design team, studioK1, provided architectural lighting design services on this new, mixed-use project. This development is comprised of 332 apartments, amenity spaces, and 10,000 square feet of retail. The apartments are geared towards the student population at SDSU. The complex consists of a 4-story contemporary building arranged in courtyard configurations. Connections from the pedestrian spine to the internal courtyard spaces link the community gathering spaces with the more passive courtyard spaces. Internally, the project provides a variety of amenities and spaces that enhance the user’s experience. Amenities include a clubhouse, pools, a social lounge, a chill zone, and plenty of outdoor recreation areas for residents to gather for a game of sand volleyball, bocce, or picnicking.

The Potter’s Lane transitional housing development is a unique solution to help address the continuing homeless crisis in Southern California. The first project of its kind in California, the units are comprised of single-use commercial shipping containers. Each 480-sf studio-style unit is constructed from three 20-ft containers. The development features 15residences, one manager’s unit, a community room, courtyard with BBQ area, laundry facilities and a community garden. Potter’s Lane development was specifically built to provide housing for homeless veterans.

This mixed-use development is a 41-story apartment tower with a four-story retail and restaurant podium. The building features a pool deck, spa, and fitness center on level 4 and an amenity deck at the roof. A three-story podium linking the development's south side houses double-height commercial spaces on the ground level and residential units and amenity spaces on the floors above. The public plaza along Broadway consists of landscape features, such as a water jet fountain and reflecting pool. Our in-house lighting studio, StudioK1, provided lighting design. The project won an IES Award of Merit for Exterior Lighting Design. The vision for Pacific Gate was to indulge residents in an upscale lifestyle with both oceanfront and urban offerings. Lighting the project's residential portion was executed with hospitality-like refinement, while the exterior podium and retail plaza engaged the vibrant downtown setting. High-end finish selections provide the elevated aesthetic but also tie the building to its core ocean-inspired concepts. The light "stripe" delineates the ellipsoidal building form, effectively redefining the San Diego skyline. The lighting composition reinforces the curved building inspired by sea waves and interlocking arcs of a seashell. The golden earth-toned curved wall at the porte-cochère is highlighted from underwater accents drawing visitors into the lobby where the undulating curved glass walls are grazed to simulate waves. The concave wood-paneled walls on the opposite side are softly uplit by inground recessed luminaires – the walls metal trim catching this subtle illumination creating balance in the space. Brass circles embedded in the terrazzo floor mirror three large interlocking rings of light draw eyes to the high ceiling. Miniature downlights discretely provide ambient illumination throughout the lobby. Various lighting techniques tastefully highlight the elegant natural finish selections that make the project rich with textures and colors from the exterior through the lobby and amenities. The budget was a major concern for the client – the project design being far from simple; the lighting team worked closely with the design-build contractor, the owner, and the architect. By procuring value-engineered alternatives and improvising on installation ultimately lowered costs and maintained the effects. The façade's soon-to-be iconic stripe is an evolutionary fruit of this collaboration, starting as an architectural story, turning into a custom metal detail by the window contractor. Corridor lighting is another result of this effort: the intent was to indirectly illuminate the residential corridors by washing the core walls instead of traditional downlighting. The cost of perimeter lighting on all 41 levels was virtually prohibitive. However, using a value-engineered surface luminaire installed in a cost-effectively built architectural ceiling slot, we achieved the desired results with almost 50% savings. The 41-story glass tower is more than just a visual marvel on the waterfront. The building is an enormous architectural mass on San Diego's Pacific Coast Highway. With such size comes much responsibility to neighbors and the environment. We finely selected the architectural lighting to minimize impacts on both city and neighboring natural habitats. The building's lighting is controlled through a central dimming system allowing for programs to lessen the nighttime effects. This includes the stripe along the architectural edges, which can dim variably along its length to avoid impacting neighboring San Diego Airport residents.

The Grace on Spring consists of a 24-story tower that features 300 apartments, 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and numerous amenities. It follows it’s sister project across the street at 755 Spring Street, which houses 275 luxury apartments. The set of 24-story mixed-use development includes the following Luxury amenities for residents: observatory rooftop lounge, two-story fitness center, yoga studio, and business center conference rooms, resort-style swimming pool and an entertainment lounge. The project, which combines for 563,250 square feet. Tk1sc provided LEED consulting services and comprehensive energy modeling and analysis services and achieved The level of LEED Silver Certified.