A renovated one-story 1960’s building in Glenside provides a beautiful studio for BEAM
The iconic 1960’s design: I-beam steel support with flat roof leading to center drain; narrow floor-to-ceiling windows, austere panels of brick and tile, were virtually untouched for over 60 years. BEAM’s owner discovered the vacant building and visualized a new home for BEAM’s growing lighting design firm.
Originally built for a pediatric office, the interior of the 1800sf building was immediately demolished to create an open workspace, leaving a center core for pantry, restrooms and huddle room. ACT ceilings were removed to expose the original sloped wood beams, allowing for BEAM’s lighting design to take center stage.
Fourteen workstations sit along the perimeter, allowing daylight to spill into each employee’s space, with black direct/indirect pendants that sit in contrast to the white painted ceiling. The pendants provide task light at each desk, highlight artwork in between the windows and illuminate the rhythmic nature of the ceiling. In addition to high performance optics, the luminaires are tunable white, and in combination with a robust control system, provide a circadian lighting solution for the BEAM team to experience daily and demonstrate to visiting clients.
A color-changing cove that indirectly lights the ceiling surrounding the core of the building and the DMX individually controlled RGBW downlights in the large conference room offer BEAM a fun way to accent the spaces and support various causes and sports teams throughout the year.
A unique installation in one of the restrooms highlights BEAM’s creativity for integrating lighting in a small space. The recessed line of light travels up the wall, across the ceiling and back down the wall, providing excellent vanity lighting in an unexpected way.
The selected decorative pendants utilize atypical materials including acoustical shades and plants. The pendants provide interest and complement the lounge furniture.
BEAM also set the control system to provide a low-level scene that allows the building to provide a soft glow at night, adding to the vibrancy of the neighborhood.