When a global manufacturer with a focus on test, measurement, and imaging instruments built its new facility in the Parc Technologique du Québec Métropolitain in Quebec City, it sought to create an urban experience in a stimulating environment. At its new facility, it combined its office headquarters and manufacturing plant under one roof, designed by architects Planidesign and STGM.
The three-story office space sits adjacent to the 171,000-sq-ft plant. At the facility’s heart is an atrium with a main floor reception area. The second and third floors have lounges and corridors that form a perimeter around the square space, and open stairs sit flush along one wall.
Caroline Ouellet was the senior architect at Planidesign who designed a two-story chandelier for the atrium space. The custom fixture used Eureka luminaires suspended at varying heights. Three 40-in. and two 60-in. cylinders provide the light source, while Ouellet added two black metal panels shaped around each luminaire, framing the lighting.
She designed the chandelier to be symbolic. The manufacturer makes machines that can “look into” metal to detect imperfections. The black panels denote the raw materials the company’s machines are designed to inspect, while the cylindrical lighting represents the technology that it uses to see through the metals. Additional sound-absorbing fixtures made of charcoal polyester felt panels were incorporated into the facility. The material reinforced the design aesthetic to represent the importance of raw materials in the manufacturer's business.
When picking the ideal luminaires for the main lighting feature, Ouellet was drawn to the large-scale cylinders because the final fixture was intended to be suspended high and appear sizeable while also providing efficient diffusion of light to the second and third floor corridors as well as the atrium stairs. It also includes a downlight to direct light to the lobby lounge below.
“Essentially, the idea behind the fixture was light through metal,” says Ouellet, adding that the chandelier is like a piece of art that can be seen from anywhere in the building.
