SYLVANIA and io Lighting Shine in Chicago

OSRAM SYLVANIA is proud to announce that their LED technology is a primary element in the exterior enhancement of the Residences at RiverBend in Chicago.

Located at a prominent site in Chicago's River North neighborhood, The Residences at RiverBend is a 37-story high-rise residential tower housing 145 condominiums and four townhomes. The building was designed to give residents outstanding views of the Chicago River and the Chicago skyline, and the exterior lighting needed to match the elegance of the architecture.

Architects DeStefano and Partners designed the building with a concave façade that followed the meandering course of the Chicago River. The Radco Companies, the developer, wanted to find an innovative and aesthetically pleasing solution to highlight the architecture. "We needed a lighting solution that would not only enhance the unique design of this building, but one that would also meet our practical needs," said Norman Radow, president of The Radco Companies. "LEDs are both energy efficient and have extremely long life, which helps us keep our utilities and maintenance costs low." LEDs also fade at the end of service rather than burn out completely, which eliminates unsightly dark spots.

Lighting designer Mitchell Kohn of Mitchell Kohn Lighting Design used 16 foot lengths of io Lighting's extremely compact linear LED luminaire; line series .75 fixture, which incorporates OSRAM LINEARlight Flex LED technology, to illuminate the exterior of the high-rise. Each of the building's floors is flanked by a 2-inch by 16-foot ledge, on which Kohn installed the fixture and then outfitted with blue LEDs.

"By using blue LEDs, we were able to highlight, not overpower, the building's distinctive features. The subtle uplighting from the blue LEDs give the facility a contemporary flare without being ostentatious," said lighting designer Mitchell Kohn.

The very tight 10-degree beam angle grazes upward to illuminate 12-foot recessed panels on the exterior of the building. The result is both long life and incredible energy efficiency – the LEDs have an average rated life of up to 10 years with normal use and the fixture draws only 3-watts per foot.

"Our mission is to revolutionize lighting by creating LED luminaries that provide innovative, energy efficient, sustainable illumination, and the RiverBend condo installation is a perfect example of the ideal combination of functionality and design," said Ann Reo, president and CEO of io Lighting.

"The combination of our company's LINEARlight Flex LEDs and io Lighting's fixture was the ideal option for this particular project," said Erik Moser, commercial engineer for OSRAM SYLVANIA. "With the wide array of LED fixtures that have come to the market in recent months, and the number of innovative products in development, the future of LED lighting looks extremely bright."

To find out more about LED technology please visit www.sylvania.com.