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thematic elements of the space. The design goal was to create a
vivid and dynamic lighting system that was essentially transparent
from the exterior. Virtually no exposed fittings were to
be seen from the street. The multi-colored LED globe was to
dominate the facade, even though it sat well back in the space.
The “brand equity” of NBC revolves, in part, on its history of
dynamic news broadcasts. Past history has shown that viewers
selectively choose their network news and morning shows,
which drives “pull-through” for broadcasts that come later.
Certainly, NBC wanted to show its history of great news broadcasters
and coverage of news events, as well as the wealth of
great specials and classic sit-coms. In general, the NBC
Experience was to be designed around the luminous nature of
studio broadcasting and, of course, the television.
One of our biggest challenges was the highly reflective gage
The interior of the space is dotted with massive column
surrounds. The frequency of the surrounds is dictated by the
fact that the space occupies the lower two floors of the historic
G.E. Building in Rockefeller Center, directly across from
the NBC Studio where the Today Show has been a familiar
and inviting attraction for years. The columns needed to be
worked in to the merchandising scheme. The design team
decided to keep the reflective nature of the space flowing by
backlighting the translucent panels with neon. Substantial
testing regarding the location of the neon and the choice of
translucent materials needed to be performed in order to
reduce the columns to their minimum diameter, while not
allowing streaks of neon to be visible.
The IC team worked with the notable store merchandise
designers at JGA in Southfield, Mich., to develop a lighting system
that would complement the
layout. The retail merchandise
lighting plans were quite complicated,
in that the ceiling heights and
undulations varied dramatically.
Moreover, the assortment of video
monitors located throughout the
space could only be properly
Backlighted merchandise
walls silhouette the merchandise
without obscuring detail due to the
proper balance of light levels on
face-out soft goods.
ceiling by Barrisol. It is a hybrid polymer material that has a
reflective surface similar to a mirror. Special mounting conditions
had to be considered. Our team chose to minimize the
perforations to achieve the highest level of continuous, unobstructed
reflections. Similarly, by illuminating the reflective
portrait style floors, we were able to achieve a space that felt
transparent and expansive.
Creating proper levels of illumination, while continuing
the illusion of transparency was very important. No direct
sources were focused on the basketball-shaped LED globe in
order to heighten the anticipation of color and animation on
the exterior of this central feature. Contained within the
globe is a theatre with dynamic sound and short films about
the history of NBC. It was produced to invite all guests to
partake in the full experience of the NBC brand and its evolution.
viewed when there were no reflections
from light sources. Dennis
Vogel at IC worked diligently to
develop precise details for all of the
necessary mounting conditions
required. The store’s merchandising
scheme, as one would expect, was
based on a cable and glass shelving
system that required external illumination.
Around most of the column
merchandise the team used
recessed Reggiani adjustable luminaires with narrow focus MR
16s. For wall-mounted store fixtures and merchandise illumination,
the team chose a Bruck VIA solid rod suspension system
that used 50 W narrow flood MR 16 lamps. The VIA system
mitigates sagging, a difficult problem prevalent with most
cable systems where proper turnbuckles and strain bucks are
not appropriate.
There are many locations around the NBC Globe that are
merchandised. The floors around the globe are cut away to
allow for most of the globe to be seen from many places in the
store. This meant that good “shots” directed at the merchandise
could only be achieved from the ceiling of the floor above the
globe. In some cases, reaching the merchandise with high
quantities of focused light required using narrow beam AR 111
lamps. In order to keep a flush ceiling plane, the designers
chose an Indy recessed adjustable fixture for the AR 111 lamps.
38 LD+A/May 2001 www.iesna.org