Lumenpulse Wins 2014 PIA Award for Buckley Recital Hall

Lumenpulse has won an Architectural SSL Product Innovation Award (PIA 2014) for its LED retrofit project at Amherst College's Buckley Recital Hall in Massachusetts. The award, which was announced in the February issue of Architectural SSL magazine, is in the category of Best Retrofit/Renovation Using SSL. It is the company's tenth PIA in the last four years.

Using Lumenpulse's luminaires paired with its patented Lumentalk technology, Amherst College converted the 45-year-old Buckley Recital Hall to LED lighting and smart digital technology - without costly re-cabling or intrusive remodelling of the architecture.

Designed by Horton Lees Brogden (HLB), the new solution successfully paired Lumenpulse's Lumenbeam luminaires with existing DMX stage lighting controls, adding multiple zones of control, with smooth dimming down to nearly 0%. The lighting scheme has reduced energy consumption and maintenance costs, eliminating the annual lamp replacement process, which involved extensive scaffolding and a three-week closure of the recital hall.

"Lumentalk technology allowed us to use the existing wiring and controls, which gave us a lot of options and helped us overcome challenging architecture. Everything can now be dimmed, zoned, individually programmed and addressed, with a series of separate control points for the stage and the audience," said Carrie Hawley, HLB Senior Principal.

"The previous house and stage lighting, mounted approximately 30 feet above the audience, would frequently burn out and required the construction of scaffolding each summer for relamping at a cost of $50,000 per year. The move to LED has also reduced energy consumption by 60%," she said.