PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
Attached to the façade is a glass-enclosed escalator with an LED line of light
to convey the notion of upward movement. A color temperature of 5,000K for
this luminous line combines with a 3,000K temperature for the interior atrium
lighting behind it to create an iconic nighttime identity for the museum.
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PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
Cubic Sensation
The square shape of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science had designers
thinking outside the box
BY PAUL TARRICONE
A
t a museum devoted to science, it’s geometry that fuses
decade of planning and construction, the $185-million project
the architecture and lighting design. Straight lines, wavy
opened in December 2012.
lines, unexpected angles and symmetry between the fa-
The lighting design, by New York-based Office of Visual Interac-
çade and interior are all hallmarks of the cube-shaped
tion, complements the cube. Indeed, much of the lighting orches-
Photo: Iwan Baan
Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas.
trated by OVI principals Enrique Peiniger and Jean Sundin is liter-
Designed by Morphosis Architects, the building was conceived
ally and metaphorically woven into the architecture—specifically
as a large cube floating over a landscaped plinth (or base). The
through the use of linear lighting elements across the façade, the
plinth is landscaped with a 1-acre rolling green roof consisting of
main lobby and the museum’s theater. As for the light source, the
rock and native drought-resistant grasses that reflect Texas’s in-
design is a product of its time and symbolic of the sea change in
digenous landscape. Located on a 4.7-acre site, the 180,000-sq-ft
lighting over the past four years. “When we started the design in
museum includes five floors of public space with 11 permanent
2009, we wanted to use LEDs, but there weren’t enough products
exhibit halls, including a children’s museum. After more than a
out there, and the client didn’t have a comfort level with them,” says
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Photo: Iwan Baan
PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
The linear theme of the architecture is best represented by a stitch pattern of lighting in the lobby. These lines match the striations in the exterior concrete.
Peiniger. A fluorescent spec was developed, but in 2011—with the
Perhaps the most striking exterior element is a 54-ft-long esca-
market transformation toward LEDs in full swing—the spec was
lator housed within a 150-ft-long glass casing that emerges from
rewritten for LED. The final installation is roughly 80 percent LED.
the façade and extends diagonally outside the building cube. “The
escalator is clearly a gesture for the museum,” says Sundin. The es-
BURSTING THROUGH THE BOX
calator, which takes visitors from ground level to the lobby/atrium
Precast concrete dominates the 14-story façade and is softly il-
area, is treated with a central luminous LED line (Neoray), rein-
luminated by 150-W metal halide spotlights (Sill Lighting) mounted
forcing the sense of upward movement. Complementing the linear
in the landscape. Crevice-like glazing also pierces the façade, and
theme of the architecture, this single light line inside the escalator
at night, the glowing atrium core visually bursts through this glass,
works in tandem with the striations on the exterior concrete.
accentuating the building’s sharp, sculpted form.
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Color temperature was a critical tool when juxtaposing the
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Photo: Iwan Baan
PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
Lines take a more wavy form in the theater to emulate the curves of the
walls and ceiling.
escalator against the atrium, which is visible through the façade
STITCH IN TIME
glass. To create the effect, the design team used white light at
OVI proposed several alternatives for the lobby lighting. Color-
3,000K and 5,000K. The warm 3,000K light in the atrium core was
changing light was ruled out, as were a crisscross luminaire pattern
achieved using metal halide PAR strip wall washers (Edison Price)
(which again would emphasize the linear theme) and a more dy-
that highlight the multi-story atrium walls. By contrast, the cooler
namic system that would follow and react to movements by visitors
LED line in the escalator is 5,000K. Says Peiniger, “The museum
as they walk through the space. Instead, the architect and museum
can create an iconic but sustainable nighttime identity by turning
opted for light lines of different lengths, arranged in a stitch pattern
off all the lights, except for the atrium lights visible through the
and suspended above an undulating metal ceiling. The staggered
crevice glazing and the escalator.”
lines, one of the few applications that remained fluorescent, echo
the exterior façade’s concrete bands. The random pattern inten-
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PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
tionally distributes lighting where needed most, resulting in “more light lines over areas like the ticket counter and fewer lines at the perimeter of the lobby,” says
Sundin. Other luminous lines throughout the museum
provide ambient light and lead visitors around the space,
creating an intuitive way-finding system.
A 298-seat theater shows 2D and 3D films, educational features, documentaries, animated films and
even Hollywood blockbusters that are appropriate to
the museum’s mission. The theater also gets the linear
light treatment—but this time with a twist. Rather than
straight lines of light, the theater features wavy, fluid
lines that follow the curvature of the walls and ceiling. Continuous LED fi xtures composed of connected
1-ft long segments (Electrix) form these unexpected
waves of light and shadow, evoking a sense of discovery for visitors.
PODS GIVE A NOD
Finally, the lighting concept is about more than lines.
After all, this is a science museum, and science is properly recognized through the use of oversized “pod”-like
sculptures that hover above visitors in circulation and
exhibit spaces. OVI presented six different scenarios
to light the pods, some of which are “larger than a conference room table,” says Sundin. The eventual solution has turned the pods into crystalline lanterns. “The
metal is perforated, but the holes in the pod couldn’t be
too big or you would see the light source. There would
be no mystery,” says Sundin, who specified wet location-rated LED jelly jar-type fixtures (Lumenpulse) for
Photo: OVI
Perforated pods symbolizing the museum’s focus on science are equipped with jelly
jar-type LED luminaires.
METRICS THAT MATTER
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Illuminance Levels: lobby = 20 fc; entry plaza = 5 fc;
classroom = 30 fc; theater = 15-20 fc
Lamp Types: 26
Fixture Types: 40
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the inside of the pods.
At the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, it’s another mystery solved—and created. ■
THE DESIGNERS
Enrique Peiniger Dipl.-Ing., IALD, Member IES
(2006), is a co-founder and principal of Office for
Visual Interaction, Inc., New York City.
Jean Sundin, IALD, Member IES (1994), is a principal and co-founder of OVI. Both are recipients
of many of the industry’s top honors, including the GE Edison Award, Architect magazine’s R&D award, the IES IIDA Award of Distinction and the AIA Project Merit award.
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