Nexxus Lighting finishes LED lighting project for spa

7stones Spa Nexxus Lighting’s Advanced Lighting Systems division has just completed a lighting project that incorporated nearly every corner of the Elements building in downtown Corvallis, OR, including the 7stones Spa (three floors) and the Strega bar and restaurant (two floors).

The project used ~1000 feet of LED RGB linear light fixtures, including strategic eLum Cove RGB lighting from Nexxus. With almost all of the lights placed in coves or behind shaded glass as indirect lighting, they allow the spa to perform customized color light therapy. Reportedly, color can be used to enhance relaxation, physical well-being, and mental clarity.

A spa treatment room “The RGB fixtures put out a significant amount of light,” said Chris Cox from Premier Lighting, so “the treatment rooms are primarily lit by indirect coves, and in the evening the bar is also mostly lit by LEDs. The color therapy is mainly LEDs except for the showers, which are lit by fiber optics. Almost every room was installed to be independent from each other so the customer has the option to have multiple atmospheres in each room they walk into.”

“[Nexxus] Advanced Lighting’s eLum Cove RGB lighting was used throughout all three levels of the spa and the two upper levels for the bar and restaurant,” stated Paul Benton, regional sales manager for Advanced Lighting Systems. “Strega Restaurant, a sustainable restaurant and bar on the fifth and sixth floors, made extensive use of the cove lighting for both decorative and ambient lighting.”

Outdoor overhang with starry lights “A star-lit ceiling on a cantilevered overhang can be seen for blocks around,” continued Benton. “Fiber optics were also used in the showers and steam rooms for the day spa, where this type of fixture works well due to the lack of electrical components.”

Design and installation process
The lighting design started in the summer of 2005 and went through many revisions, said Cox. “Deanna Carr, the owner of the building, stepped in with the help of Rob Bloom, the owner of Premier Electric, to finalize the light fixture submittals and the overall architectural lighting look of the building. The final lighting submittals were released one year later and the complete installation took just under one year.”

Apparently, about 50% of the LED coves were originally designed to be dimmable fluorescent fixtures, said Cox. However, after a few mock ups, “the decision was made to use LED fixtures in almost all coves. There are several areas throughout the building where it was impractical to do maintenance on ballasts and lamps so LED fixtures were chosen because the life of the fixture is much longer and maintenance issues would be less likely to occur.”

Cox acknowledged the help of Nexxus Advanced Lighting’s Paul Benton. “He was a life saver as far as ordering and installation was concerned. I would draw up the dimensions of the coves and send them to Paul in CAD and he would build the fixtures to my specifications, send the appropriate power supplies and drivers, and talk me through the termination and installation of the fixtures. Any technical questions or concerns I had were handled in a very timely fashion,” concluded Cox.

LEED certification
The Elements Building is silver-level LEED certified. LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

The certification is in line with the sustainability goals of the Elements’ building, spa and restaurant.

In addition, Corvallis is consistently ranked one of the greenest US cities. It was the first city on the West Coast and only the third city in the nation to receive the LEED Green Power Community designation by the EPA.