COLORADO STATE CAPITOL SENATE AND HOUSE CHAMBERS RESTORATION
Denver, Colorado
What started as a simple radiator repair turned into a full blown House and Senate Chambers restoration for the Colorado State Capitol. Done in three phases and completed in December 2015, both Chamber interiors were restored to their historical appearance, which was lost during earlier remodeling projects. Anderson Hallas Architects (Golden, Colorado) led the historical restoration team and uncovered coffered ceilings, revealed ornate skylights, and restored the grand chandelier in the House while working with the team to ensure modern acoustical, lighting and performance results.
In order to modernize lighting, we were tasked with evaluating light levels and to create a modern lighting system which accounted for the newly uncovered skylights while creating minimal impact on the historic structure. New downlights had to be creatively positioned to fit into old fixture openings and carefully aimed and calibrated. Half of the downlight locations were lost when the skylights were uncovered and we were able to achieve nearly identical light levels by working closely with manufactures to find the perfect fixtures which had high lumen packages, wide distributions while maintaining visual comfort, low maintenance requirements and providing good lighting color quality. This was achieved without having to have new downlight openings drilled, preserving historical integrity while modernizing the space.
Historical buildings are often not kept up to code and unique hurdles arise during renovations as new safety standards are constantly being adopted. We helped the Architect and Client successfully navigate the UL Listing requirements when the first of the two massive, historic chandeliers was sent off-site for restoration and safety updates.
Client: Anderson Hallas
Public, Historical Restoration, Lighting Design