The Centrale

Midtown East residential condominium The Centrale’s design plays with layers and multidimensional arrangements of texture and surface, all while celebrating lofty height and soaring verticality. The 63-story exterior’s theme of alternating planes of contrasting materials continues into the lobby, where dimension and light turn neutral tones into a visually compelling composition, drawing the eye upward and celebrating the volume of the space.

In the lobby, the vertical lines and layered composition of the building’s reflective glass and terra cotta exterior are echoed with a responding combination of materials — in this case wood slats and stone paired with crisp white walls. To add depth to the latter, tiers of drywall with custom-constructed micro-coves were individually lit using Nanometer’s NanoLine fixtures in static white LEDs. The vertical section mimics and accentuates the height of the lobby, while the cascading layers gently guide visitors towards the elevators.

A unique challenge for this project was ensuring all the NanoLine fixtures’ illumination ended at the same point against the wall on the left for a clean finish. To make up for discrepancies between the length of the coves and the LED placement intervals, a custom end-masking lens was created for that perfect edge, allowing for even illumination at every length.

The NanoLine can be used for more intimate applications as well: in the unit kitchens, NanoLine fixtures illuminate the stove and counter workspace areas, places that would otherwise be quite dark, blocked from the ceiling lighting by the cabinets. But the NanoLine’s low profile and light weight mean that it can be tucked into coves and corners, under cabinets, and within shelving for unexpected lighting that doesn’t impose on the streamlined design of the kitchen.

The static white LEDs mean the lighting is functional and sleekly modern, but paired with the natural materials, it never feels cold or clinical—something important in a home and a gathering space.