Touro University Lobby at 3 Times Square

Lead Designers Anita Jorgensen

Entry Description

Amidst the lighting cacophony of Times Square, monumental lobby signage elegantly and powerfully relies on the absence of light to declare Touro University's presence in one of New York City's most prominent destinations.

Touro University's new campus's lobby holds its own among the flashy lights of Broadway. The lobby is the main entrance to an academic center, and is located directly opposite the iconic and wildly animated Nasdaq LED billboard. In the thick of the screaming, blinking, and animated lights of the Broadway theatre district Touro's identity is revealed in quiet shadow, and sits in stillness, while the riotous illumination of Times Square carries on.

Continuous ribbons of vertically mounted neutral white 3,000 Kelvin, 98+ CRI LEDs contained within a compact cylindrical aluminum housing indirectly illuminate the nearly seven-meter high feature wall. These light bands, mounted directly to the wall with custom stand-offs, have soft diffusing lenses. The indirect illumination is organized in a pattern that forms the University's identity which materializes simply as negative space.

Miniature recessed LED accent luminaires of various aperture diameters add sparkle to the space as well as circulation and emergency egress illumination.

Continuous wall grazers concealed beneath the stair highlight the maple slated wall and draws the eye up to the floors above.

Sustainability Approach

Touro University's 11 floors of education space, including the lobby, not only met the current stringent NYC Energy Code Requirements, it also achieved a 25% reduction of energy use when calculated using the Building Method energy code allowances. In addition, all of the lighting controls include vacancy sensors that automatically turn of the lights when a space is unoccupied. The specified luminaires contain 30% recycled materials.