Date Announced: 09 Dec 2010 Allentown, N.J. -– Situated on 28 acres of rustic farmland in central New Jersey is a wedding venue called Ashford Estate. The estate encompasses a historic barn (used for ceremonies), a 12-bedroom main house, a pond with gazebo, a tree-lined driveway and a recently built ballroom—a separate structure which holds 250 guests. The ballroom’s design is reminiscent of the neighboring barn with peaked ceilings and dual slopes found in its gambrel-style roof. Three of its four walls are lined with windows, offering views of the grounds.The two longest walls of the rectangular structure feature seven banks of picture windows separated by columns with an archway above each. Overhead beams sprout from the space where two archways meet—at their descending points—and visually extend the look of the columns upward. There is an alcove created between the top of the picture window and the peak of the archway where decorative molding is punctuated by a pair of small, ornamental sconces. The ceiling slopes just above the archways and, as it climbs to its secondary slope, is interrupted by five sets of clerestory windows nestled between the beams. The wall opposite the door is comprised of floor-to-ceiling windows with two large columns breaking up the expanse of glass. The final wall holds the doorway, flanked by columns, a fireplace and a pass-through opening for the bar and kitchen area. All of these architectural details provide interesting spaces for light to fall. Ninety luminaires from ILUMINARC® are strategically built into the alcoves, archways and column bases. They wash the entire space with colored light while additional pin spots light the table’s centerpieces and moving head fixtures light the dance floor and project patterns on the ceiling. Lighting Designers, Ray Cerwinski and James Fennelli of Fennelli Design Group [link: www.fennelli.com], an event production company located in Allentown, N.J., specified 33 Ilumipod™ LOGIC TRI-1 [link: http://www.iluminarc.com/product/ilumipod-logic-tri-1], 31 Ilumipod™ LOGIC TRI-4 [link: http://www.iluminarc.com/product/ilumipod-logic-tri-4] and 29 Ilumiline™ LOGIC 12 [link: http://www.iluminarc.com/product/ilumiline-logic-12] wash lights for the ballroom’s interior.Fennelli flanked each column with Ilumipod™ LOGIC TRI-1. They are recessed into the base of the columns for uplighting. The flat area directly above the window, which serves as the base of the alcove, features two Ilumiline™ LOGIC 12 linear wash lights. The space where the ceiling beams meet the joints of the archways features Ilumipod™ LOGIC TRI-4 in each corner. The complete left side with all three fixtures makes one channel. Thus the right side comprises another. This facet in the lighting design allows for the same column, alcove and archway to be lit by two different colors at the same time. “During the reception’s first two hours the ballroom is lit by the same color throughout,” said Fennelli. “Later on guests experience a big color change and people are amazed.” Fennelli is no stranger to amazing people. He has been providing event production services since 1986. The industry has changed significantly since then, specifically with the technological advances in LED-based lighting. For the Ashford Estate project, the low heat emission, long life, and efficient energy consumption of Ilumipod™ and Ilumiline™ products were a winning and economical solution. “ILUMINARC was the best choice,” said Fennelli, “because the fixtures were built right into the building—into the architecture—permanently. They just blend.” Fennelli was awarded the project after meeting with the estate’s owner, sharing his vision of what lighting can do and shaving a considerable portion off of the overall budget by using ILUMINARC—and adding twice as many lights to the project in the process.“Lighting makes a big difference,” said Fennelli. “It changes the whole look of the room.”
Contact
Iluminarc
E-mail:[email protected]
Web Site:www.iluminarc.com
