Light Up The New Year with Stellar Synagogue Architectural Lighting Design

Light Up The New Year with Stellar Synagogue Architectural Lighting Design

We’re right in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and to celebrate this new year, we thought we’d feature some noteworthy Synagogue lighting design!

Inspired figuratively, and even literally, by the Torah, the Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side’s architecture is decidedly something to write home about.

At 52,000 square feet, its guise of solid masonry walls at each end give way to a rolling opaque glass curtain wall in the center that bears a strong semblance to the form of an open Torah with its sacred parchment text wound on two wooden dowels. The double-laminated and insulated glass has a bronze-colored, pleated, sheer woven Trevira fabric encapsulated between its panels. Linear LEDs are positioned at the top and bottom of each panel and provide a diffuse line of light without revealing the fixture hardware. A white ceramic silk-screen dot pattern is then applied to the interior lite of the curtainwall, creating an additional layer of privacy for worshipers.

The circular sanctuary space itself features in-the-round-style seating. The Torah Ark is set in front of the curtain wall and the Bimah—the podium from which the Torah is read—is in the center of the room. The rest of the sanctuary’s perimeter wall is lined with faceted acoustical panels broken by a soffit cove that conceals LED fixtures. These luminaires cast a soft spill of light onto the wall below continuing the wash of illumination around the entire room. Here, too, there is symbolic meaning; the shape of the space is meant to symbolize a tent, recalling the nomadic structures of the ancient Hebrews.

The symbolism continues in the ceiling, dotted with 613 13/4"-diameter LED downlights, an abstract representation of a starry night sky in the desert, and a reference to the 613 mitzvot (commandments) outlined in the Torah. The geometry of the space—articulated walls and convex ceiling—creates a natural sound amplification, eliminating the need for invasive speaker equipment during services.

Architectural motifs pour through the lobby as well. The lower band of the undulating glass ribbon wall from the building’s façade extends inside and becomes the north wall of the main lobby, and sculptural stair at the entrance. The same linear LED fixture used for the curtain wall is present here as well. The planar surface of the wood finish is illuminated by an LED covelight and the overall ceiling height is further emphasized by a T5 fluorescent uplight slot in the opposite stone wall.

The design team, Tillotson Design Associates, New York, has created a holistic design that references a story through light - a contemplative space that respects the Judaic traditions in a completely contemporary setting that allows congregants to bridge the present with the past. The lighting creates a tasteful, well-balanced, uplifting space for worship that combines varied elements to produce a unified whole; all at a conservative budget of $90,000.

Looking to re-vamp the lighting in your place of worship? Visit our website, or give us a call at 888-567-8243 and speak to one of our experienced lighting specialists!

All images by Emille Dubuisson

Shall we send you a message when we have discounts available?

Remind me later

Thank you! Please check your email inbox to confirm.

Oops! Notifications are disabled.

© Content 2002-2024 StageSpot, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Developed by CzarGroup Technologies