1600 Market Street

The entrance to 1600 Market Street needed to be bold and classic at the same time, paying homage to both the rich history and the vibrant present-day culture of Philadelphia. It’s where stately marble and grand ceilings meet pop art pieces and bright, playful colors.

The lighting had make a statement while remaining timeless and meshing seamlessly with the artwork. To that end, Nanometer developed a suite of boldly elegant luminous corner NanoTex Square fixtures that did simultaneous duty as wall and ceiling illumination. They greet the visitor as a vertical plane of light that seems to float over the space, then transition fluidly into a luminous ceiling panel in the elevator banks.

The true challenge was ensuring the light evenly traversed the corner while keeping the structure light and minimal. To make up for the difference in distance created by the corner so that the light remained even and consistent across the 90-degree transition, Nanometer used a single row of LEDs arranged at a 45-degree angle right at the corner where the vertical and horizontal faces met. This angle ensured consistent across the transition.

Further shadows were eliminated by using a square aluminum railing rather than a rounded one, keeping the corner crisp, while the cold-stretch fabric wrapped neatly around the whole fixture for a truly seamless corner.

The aluminum frame of the fixture was mitered together at a 90-degree angle to hold everything together, as seen in the below sample.

The strikingly modern take on the chandelier above the entrance was created by CM Kling.