Glowing store attracts new customers
Puerto Rico's largest and oldest producer of aluminium windows and doors, Air Master, wanted to revamp their brand to target a more high-end market, and needed a new store to showcase their products.
Air Master purchased a two-story 279 m² (3,000 sq ft) structure and in collaboration with architects Estudio Hacedor and Urbana, transformed it into an architectural masterpiece. The building was designed in a way that would allow clients to visualize the possibilities that Air Master products can offer in a contemporary setting.
The inspiration for the new design was based on an abstract rendering of a louvered window, the company's first product. The "window design" was enlarged to the size of a billboard, segmented vertically, and decorated horizontally with transparent and opaque elements.
CEO of Air Master, Nicolás Megwinoff, wanted a building that would become a landmark and attract passersby to the store. Gianluca Picardi, of Gianluca Picardi Lighting Designs, knew how to make Megwinoff's wishes a reality. Color Kinetics iColor Cove MX Powercore luminaires (now specified as PureStyle Compact Powercore, IntelliHue) were installed between opaque glass and white enameled glass in the window and were placed in light boxes to protect the luminaires from the tropical environment.
The lights display different shades of green—the brand's color—but on holidays and special occasions, management can display special colors and light shows with a Color Kinetics iPlayer3 DMX lighting controller.
Picardi chose to install an LED lighting solution because it was the only way to generate highly saturated dynamic colors with low energy consumption. The environmentally friendly lighting solution complemented the company's other sustainable initiatives such as a parking lot constructed of demolition rubble and concrete walls that contain recycled fly-ash content.
Completed in August 2010, the installation attracted new customers and provided the perfect platform for the company to show off their products.
"Color Kinetics' expertise on LED color-changing systems, combined with easy programming of the software to acquire the original concept, left us doubtless on our decision to go with their products. The result was simply amazing," said Picardi.
