Canadian Interiors Spotlight on University of Toronto – Experiential Learning Commons

ALULA Lighting is delighted in sharing Canadian Interiors’ recent publication spotlighting University of Toronto Experiential Learning Commons, which our team collaborated with architects Lebel & Bouliane to deliver.

The Experiential Learning Commons also known as ELC is located on the third and forth floors of the Theory Condominium located on the edge of the St. George Campus. The intent of the space, is to act as a hub for all three of the University’s campuses, as place to connect students with employers and industry partners.

Article Link: https://www.canadianinteriors.com/2024/09/03/enhancing-interactions-university-of-toronto-experiential-learning-commons/

49th Annual IES Illumination Award - Award of Merit - University College Revitalization

Congratulations to Rebecca Ho-Dion and the ALULA Lighting Design team for receiving the 49th Annual IES Illumination Award - Award of Merit, for the University College Revitalization project. The Award of Merit recognizes meritorious contribution to lighting design, and is judged by a panel of lighting professionals at an international level.

Lighting Designer: ALULA Lighting Design
Architects: Kohn Shnier Architects in association with ERA Architects
Engineering: The HIDI Group
Photo Credits: Doublespace

THE HIDI GROUP ANNOUNCES NEW PRINCIPAL

Please join us in congratulating Rebecca Ho-Dion on her promotion to Principal.

Rebecca has been with The HIDI Group since 2014, and since joining has developed and led ALULA Lighting Design. With seventeen years of overall experience working in Toronto and New York, Rebecca is integral to our team’s success and is a source of inspiration and knowledge to all those she works with. Rebecca is an award-winning Lighting designer who is a leader in and out of the office, serving as the IALD Canadian Regional Coordinator, and a Women in Lighting Ambassador for Canada.

Rebecca’s impressive international portfolio includes institutional, commercial, retail, hospitality, and high-end residential projects, such as the Samsung Experience Store, University of Toronto – University College Revitalization, and Bensimon Byrne/One Method Offices, just to name a few.

We are extremely proud of her successes here at HIDI and are excited to see Rebecca’s growth and successes that will come from her new role as Principal.

The Osler Bluff Ski Club Published in Architectural Record

Thank you Architectural Record for this great piece on The Osler Bluff Ski Club. We are very proud to have provided lighting design on this project.

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ALULA Welcomed Julia Vandergraaf

We are super excited to welcome Julia to the ALULA Lighting Team,

She is a Senior Lighting Designer with twelve years of experience in architectural lighting design. She has worked on high end retail, restaurants, and hospitality projects including Chanel, La Maison Simons, Luma, The W Hotel, and Bisha Hotel and Condo. She is the proud recipient of numerous lighting design awards including an IA Illumination award of Excellence for Murale.

Prior to transitioning to Architectural Lighting Design, Julia worked as a Theatrical Lighting Designer, Assistant Lighting Designer and Lighting Director for 12 years. Her theatre experience includes The Shaw Festival, The Stratford Festival, Charlottetown Festival, Neptune Theatre, Bard on the Beach, and Ballet BC.

Samsung Experience Store takes home 5 Awards at the 2019 SHOP! Design Awards in Chicago

Big congrats to our Alula Lighting Design Team and Quadrangle Architects on picked up a couple awards at this year's SHOP! DESIGN AWARDS in Chicago for Samsung Experience Store located at the Toronto Eaton Centre.

Shop! Design Awards 2019 - Silver Award: Hardline Specialty Store (7,500-25,000 sf)
Shop! Design Awards 2019 - Lighting Award
Shop! Design Awards 2019 - Storefront/Exterior Award
Shop! Design Awards 2019 - Store Fixture Award
Shop! Design Awards 2019 - Store Fixture of the Year

Alula Lighting Design Takes Home Three iNova & Awards of Merit at 2019 IES Toronto Awards Gala

A few weeks ago at the IES Toronto Awards Gala, ALULA Lighting Design received THREE iNova & Award of Merit from the IES for lighting design on our projects: Capital One Headquarters, Samsung Experience Store, & Museum of Duffern Cornflower Gallery - thank you to the entire team and collaborators. Without you we wouldn't have been able to make this happen!

To Infinity and Beyond - LD+A magazine July 2018

Check out Rebecca Ho-Dion and Alula Lighting Design in July's edition of LD+A as she discusses the creative process around designing for the new Samsung Experience Store located in Toronto, Canada.

The Illuminating Engineering Society Toronto announces Alula Lighting Design as winner of two Toronto Section Illumination Awards

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Award: Illumination Award for Interior Lighting Design
Project: Bensimon Byrne / One Method
Lighting Design Firm: Alula Lighting Design
Location: Toronto, Canada

Located in the heart of the downtown core, this spacious 50,000 sf advertising agency occupies two floors within a landmark brutalist building. Originally built for a television/radio broadcasting corporation, it is comprised of concrete structures, soundproof rooms, and dramatic ceiling heights that vary throughout the floorplates. The new office houses three divisions of a creative agency, each with a distinctive style and client base.

A shared reception and open industrial staircase link the different divisions. The lighting is minimalist and architecturally integrated into the reception and stairway to symbolize neutrality between the three brands; cool and edgy digital operations on the ground floor, with a more formal and polished advertising agency and PR firm on the second floor.

Venturing deeper into the ground floor offices, you are greeted with a expansive, unfinished industrial space of varying architectural proportions and ceiling heights, sloping floors, and space usage. This presented a challenge in luminaire selection and lighting technique that illuminate the offices with authenticity while creating a sense of cohesion.

In contrast, the second floor is characterized by timelessness and sophistication. Sleek recessed / pendant linear lighting systems create a consistent lighting language throughout this floor to balance light level, aesthetics and integration with the complex ceiling architecture.

Diverse lighting types, sources, functional spaces, and architectural nuances make the lighting controls of this office more challenging than typical commercial projects. To provide maximum energy savings and flexibility to suit the dynamic nature of the three corporate divisions, lighting is individually controlled. All lighting controllers are networked together to enable lighting control via mobile application.

Lighting was delivered 33% below ASHRAE-IES 90.1-2010 standards and within budget constraints. The design helped define the unique style of each creative division, providing staff with a collaborative atmosphere despite the vast cultural differences between the brands.

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Award: Illumination Award for Energy and Environmental Lighting Design
Project: Ajax Library Lighting Upgrade
Lighting Design Firm: Alula Lighting Design
Location: Ajax, Canada
 
Originally constructed in 2002, this 23,000 sf public library is an architectural beacon set in a small town. The community facility was over-illuminated and difficult to maintain, necessitating a lighting upgrade to suit patrons and staff impeded by the harsh visual environment. 

The existing lighting utilized bare lamp T5HO fluorescent striplights regressed into architectural slots, providing direct illumination and ambient lighting to the space below. High-consumption halogen accent lights, outdated large aperture CFL downlights and non-staggered fluorescent cove strips were used throughout. The resulting space was too bright and uneven, particularly in the evening amidst drastic interior/exterior contrast. The lighting design team was tasked with improving the quality of the visual environment and enhancing energy efficiency while maintaining the unique architectural aesthetic. The construction budget was to be minimized by respecting existing ceilings.

Finding a balance between aesthetics and technical performance, the new LED lighting solution utilized 4000K 1.75” wide narrow continuous linear luminaires with 2” drop opal lens over the stacks and seating areas. The drop-lens reduces glare and illuminates ceilings and vertical stacks to maximize functional performance. Additional LED fixture replacements were implemented to augment energy savings and rebalance task objectives versus visual brightness. 

Existing non-dimmable lighting controls were reused in a majority of areas to minimize budget impact. Daylight sensors and dimming controls were added adjacent to windows to reduce energy consumption during the day when daylight is abundant.

The new design offers a visually continuous environment and preserves architectural integrity, going insofar as to reveal architectural details previously concealed by excessive glare. In addition, the lighting upgrade reduced the connected load by 57% while maintaining IES recommended light levels for libraries. Community and staff now enjoy a pleasant, visually comfortable milieu that maximizes the library experience. The project was completed on schedule and within budget.

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IES Toronto Interior Lighting Design Award for Parkside Student Residence

May 25, 2017, Toronto, ON – Parkside Student Residence wins the Guth Interior Lighting Illumination Award at the Illumination Engineering Society (IES) Toronto Section Awards, handed out at the York Mills Gallery in Toronto on Wednesday, May 25th. The award is granted by the IES in recognition of ‘exceptional interior lighting projects that balance the functional illumination of space with the artistic application of light to enhance the occupant’s experience’. “It is an honour to have worked on this exciting conversion, utilising light to embody the transformation at Parkside,” states Rebecca Ho-Dion, Director of ALULA Lighting Design. “We worked closely with the design team to maintain a delicate balance of sophistication and playful whimsy to brighten students’ day to day, offer student utility, and showcase the architectural renewal.”

Parkside Student Residence offers state-of-the-art student housing to Toronto’s diverse student population. Centrally located to Ryerson University, University of Toronto, George Brown College, and other Ontario educational institutions, the edifice was formerly a brutalist 23-storey hotel that dates back to the 1970s. Developed by Knightstone Capital Management and designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the new Residence is airy and contemporary, projecting a bold new identity that celebrates this exciting milestone in student lives.

The piece de resistance of the $25M conversion is a glass box addition that connects students with the urban streetscape. Amenities include a 24-hour fitness centre, all-day dinning, roof-top patio, public and private entertainment spaces, on-site bike repair, and state-of-the-art study spaces that cater to student’s health, wellness, academic and social needs.

Student experience was at the core of the transformation. The lighting evokes a sense of play and comfort that resonates with the youthful residents, yet is mature and stylish to give students pride of place in their first home away from home.

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ALULA Lighting Design is an award-winning design studio that offers architectural lighting design consultancy to meet clients’ vision for the built environment. ALULA is a division of The HIDI Group, a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, and offers a unique blend of art and science. The studio is led by international lighting designer Rebecca Ho-Dion, bringing a new dimension of creativity and experience to the retail, commercial, entertainment, performing arts, educational, civic, museum and hospitality sectors. Recent projects include the Samsung Experience Store, Rogers Communications Workplace Transformation, Bensimon Byrne creative agency, University of Toronto University College Revitalization, and Bay and Scollard residential development.

Alula Lighting Design in Business Elite Canada Magazine

The HIDI Group and the launch of Alula Lighting Design are featured in Business Elite Canada's Best Managed Companies issue. Click here to read more about the lighting team's global experience and ability to synthesize visionary design concepts with rapidly-changing technology. 

Two IES Illumination Award of Merit Wins for Alula Lighting Design!

Further to their selection for IES Section Awards earlier this year, the Quinte Consolidated Courthouse and the Fort York Branch of the Toronto Public Library have both won IES Illumination Awards of Merit, recognizing excellence in lighting design amongst a pool of projects across North America.  These projects were designed in conjunction with WZMH Architects and KPMB Architects respectively. 

Alula Wins Two IES Illumination Section Awards!

May 2015 - We are excited to announce that the Quinte Consolidated Courthouse and the Fort York Branch of the Toronto Public Library, for which we provided lighting design in conjunction with WZMH Architects and KPMB Architects respectively, have been selected for IES Toronto Illumination Section Awards in recognition of our achievement in lighting design.