GM Renaissance Center

YESCO's designers used just 16 LBXs to create a dynamic new look that reinforces General Motors's HQ as a beacon for the city and a symbol of the auto giant's resurgence.

Lumenpulse was chosen by illumination specialist YESCO to help transform General Motors' Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit. The dynamic new design has reinforced the building's role as a beacon for the city and a symbol of the auto giant's resurgence.

The ‘Ren Cen' complex comprises four identical cylindrical office towers and a skyscraper hotel that rise from a massive, glass roofed podium. Powerful LBX color-changing LED fixtures illuminate the distinctive slots or keyways that run 20-storeys up the four towers from the podium.

According to YESCO director of special projects, Nick Priest, the LBX was chosen for its ‘performance, aesthetics, weight and price'. The Lumenbeam LBX fixture is an IP66-rated luminaire suitable for architectural floodlighting applications, particularly on tall structures. YESCO's on-site testing showed that only four LBX fixtures would be needed to light each of the giant concrete keyways, ‘a testament to the evolution of LED as a powerful, yet efficient light source.'

When the company looked at ways to light the keyways it realised that limited access and the sheer height would make servicing the lighting an issue. The LBX projectors are mounted on custom poles fixed to the roof and designed to withstand high winds from the Detroit River. Importantly, LBX fixtures utilize Lumenpulse's dual-chamber technology, which dissipates heat and extends lamp life to an estimated 120,000 hours, resolving the question of maintenence.

The Lumenpulse DMX-based control mechanism also ties the LBX fixtures into the YESCO PrismView® control network, so that the keyways color-match perfectly with Yesco's own LED system which crowns all five towers and responds to natural lighting conditions.

Equipment Specified
16 x Lumenbeam LBX RGB (narrow 10˚ optic)

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Location: Detroit, Michigan, United States
Market: Institutions + Workplaces
Client: General Motors
Lighting Design: YESCO
Photographer: Laszlo Regos