The 85th Anniversary Hall of Chuo Institute of Technology, called "Step," is planned as the axis of a series of eleven buildings.
The multi-purpose building, which serves for lectures, plays, and exhibitions, has the illuminating walls on both side of the interior. Owing to their importance as the main light source, the walls have to provide a flat, ample luminance without glare. Even when the lamps are turned off, the walls should keep their white opaque surface in order to conceal the naked mechanism inside. After much experimentation, the lighting designer selected low transparency diffusive glass, frosted and white colored; and, at the same time, installed 55W compact fluorescent lights at the top and the bottom behind the glass.
The large staircase, in the center of the facility, is not only the node connecting buildings around, but also a space to display students' works. Although natural light can leak in to some extent, even during day, it does not meet sufficient luminance without artificial support. In order to provide harmless light for pedestrian and vivid light for exhibits, 150W compact metal halide spot lights (WDL) are installed on both side of the staircase, which illuminate opposed wall with each other.
The designer paid attention to the maintenance of the lighting by using minimum quantity of lamps with maximum energy-saving quality, and by installing fixtures considering possible repairs; besides, the lighting made the hall an axis of the whole institute and generated an atmosphere of dignity and creativity.
