While Senior Designer at Focus Lighting, NYC., Sepp Spenlinhauer was part of the team that undertook the lighting design for a new factory retail store for the Crayola Company, the famous maker of children's art supplies. The challenge was to create a space showcasing the idea that customers are not just buying a product, but also creativity and excitement. Rockwell Group Architects created several areas that highlight individual products with activities and an art studio where customers can use products and complete projects with the help of artists on staff.

The colorful, bright and dynamic retail space had three lighting requirements: highlighting the "River of Color" on the floor, drawing attention to the "product activities" and lighting the products.
To prevent the vibrant colors in the river from washing out and to keep the colored lighting from shifting the color of the products, it was important to tightly control stray light. The challenge of how to get the variety of lamp wattages, beam spreads, shielding and fixture locations into one consistent looking system was, after much research into "off the shelf equipment", ultimately solved by developing a custom design. To learn more about the details of this "single system" click here.

The studio area is a large open space where kids can complete a variety of pre-packaged kits that change from month to month. The ceiling of the studio is a series of six white spandex sails stretched at angles that make them appear to overlap. They are backlit with (45) 400watt metal halide floodlights in three shades of blue. Hanging under the sails and around the studio space are 10 "media bands". Comprised of an aluminum frame and stretched fabric, they are internally lit with a fluorescent strip and a custom cut diffuser. To learn more about the media band and how it was developed click here.

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read CASE STUDY 01 > click here
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