Schuler Shook

We always enjoy getting out and meeting new and old friends at conferences! Here are a few highlights from 2024, and we look forward to chatting with you at 2025 conferences! What conferences are you going to next year? #lighting #lightingdesign #theatre #theatreplanning #conferences #gathering #peopleofschulershook

Since its founding, the vision of the Chicago Children's Theatre has been to inspire young people and families to live lives of courage, adventure, and curiosity— three qualities that came in handy when adapting a police station into their permanent home in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. Significant renovation was required to transform the former police station into a theatre for young people and families. Today, instead of cells you’ll find the Pritzker Family Studio Theatre that hosts a variety of performances that educate and inspire audiences, including extensive programming for those on the autism spectrum. In addition to the performance space, Schuler Shook worked with Wheeler Kearns to plan teaching studios, support spaces, and a performance-capable lobby. You can learn more about the transformation of this space on the theatre’s website: https://lnkd.in/gFmA_tJk Architect: Wheeler Kearns Architects / WG1 ??: Tom Harris #theatre #theatreplanning #ChicagoChildrensTheatre #renovation #adaptivereuse

The Minneapolis Public Service Building provides a central location to access services the City of Minneapolis offers. This new government building was intentionally designed to be more accessible to the public, to break down stereotypes of inaccessible bureaucratic governmental buildings. City employees now work in one centralized building, rather than in small offices scattered around the city. The City of Minneapolis has a public art ordinance that dedicates 1.5% of capital budgets to art, which provided for the art budget of this new building. Artworks were commissioned primarily by local artists, including seven luminous ceiling sculptures in the elevator lobbies on seven floors. The city commissioned lighting design services to collaborate with the seven artists, integrating lighting as a part of each art composition. Each artist developed a design concept that referenced the function of the city services activity on their respective floors or the city environment they serve. Each art piece is dynamic with programmed animation cycles that vary throughout the course of the day and even change throughout the year. The sculptures provide employees and public guests alike with captivating immersive moments apart from their daily activities. An energy efficient, common controller is used for each sculpture for ease of maintenance and operation. The lighting designs are compatible with the light contribution and darkness needs of the sculptures while meeting egress and emergency code requirements. Henning Larsen MSR Design #architecture #lightingdesign #lighting #publicart

We created a collection of delicious recipes shared by our team for all of you. At the heart of all of them is their ability to bring people together. As our clients, colleagues, and friends, you are the not-so-secret ingredients to our success! We are thankful for you because it all boils down to enjoying the design process with good people. Check out the recipe book for scrumptious fare like Flancati, Pasta Pescatore, mayo (yes, mayo), and more: https://lnkd.in/gzhrP-3t #thankful #together #recipes #cookbook #PeopleofSchulerShook

“Translating architectural details into tangible solutions is one of the most challenging but rewarding parts of the design process. Collaborating with a team to coordinate integrated lighting features can make all the difference for a successful project.” - Travis Shupe #lighting #lightingdesign #collaboration #sitevisit #architecture

The Cedar Rapids Public Library has a long history of improving the quality of life for the community. Opened in 1897, the original one-room free library provided free access to books to anyone, whereas other libraries of the time often required membership fees. Popular from the start, the library experienced many relocations and expansions to provide more books and programming to as many people possible. In 2008 downtown Cedar Rapids experienced a devastating flood. The library lost over 160,000 volumes and the building had to be gutted. The city supported a new library to be built a few blocks away, reflecting the significance of this community resource. Schuler Shook assisted with the lighting design and theatre planning for a multi-use auditorium as well as kinetic lighting for the grand stair and exterior lighting design. The multi-use auditorium has an upstage glass wall for views in and out, as well as a darkening system used for performances. The lighting of the grand stair is interactive with people traveling the stairs and connecting to the variety of spaces within the library. The bright, open, and engaging library contains both day and evening lighting element that support cohesive design inspired by the library’s commitment to remaining a free, accessible, and inclusive community space. Architect: OPN Architects ??: Main Street Studio #architecture #lighting #lightingdesign #publiclibrary #theatre #theatreplanning #auditorium

The 2017 renovation of the 1878 Cincinnati Music Hall presented multiple design challenges for our team. One of the many design challenges for the renovation was reducing the acoustic volume of the hall while preserving as much architectural character and as many seats as possible. The design team elected to add new auditorium walls under the balcony and under the gallery seating levels, eliminating several of the back rows that were deeply “shadowed” by the overhanging balcony or gallery above. Knee walls at the front rows of the balcony and gallery levels were historically significant and needed to remain in place. The lobby floor levels surrounding the auditorium were also fixed in place. With those fixed positions, the elevations of the front rows and last rows on all three seating levels could not change, while the number and depth of all of the rows in between had to be revised. What resulted were fewer rows at every seating level, with greater leg room and increased riser heights. This provided more comfort and better sightlines, but the geometries of these curved seating areas and their new aisles were anything but simple. The decorative plaster knee walls were carefully protected at the face of the balcony and gallery, and new steel reinforcement was bolted to the original timbers. New seating tiers were framed over the balcony and gallery trusses, while new suspended concrete slabs were poured at the orchestra level. The result is a room that looks like a brighter, refreshed version of the Music Hall that audiences remembered prior to the renovation. However, the orchestra level in particular feels more intimate, and all levels enjoy more leg room and greatly improved sightlines. Extending the stage apron and shifting the symphony closer to the audience, combined with an overall reduction in room volume, has transformed the acoustic character of the hall to the benefit of the audience and the musicians. Architect: OTJ Architects / Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel After ??: Whitney Cox #TransformationTuesday #theatre #theatreplanning #lighting #lightingdesign #concerthall #concert #musicvenue #symphony #orchestra #music #renovation #historic

Our Dallas office just volunteered at the North Texas Food Bank! Together, our team packed up nutritious food, making a positive impact on our community. Working together, we helped provide meals to 31,923 people in need. A huge thank you to the North Texas Food Bank for all you do to fight hunger in our area. We're proud to be a part of this meaningful mission and look forward to more opportunities to support our neighbors! #NorthTexasFoodBank #HungerRelief #Teamwork #DallasVolunteers

The Minneapolis office always looks forward to meeting up with some local connections at the AIA Minnesota Conference. Come visit us at the Schuler Shook booth at the AIA Minnesota Conference November 12-13. #architects #architecture #building #AIA #LightingDesign #TheatrePlanning #AudioVideoDesign #AEC #AIAMN

We enjoy creating visual interest with light, and the Village of North Aurora’s Berman Tower provided us with a unique opportunity. The town restored a 98-foot silo tower near the Fox River and wanted the daytime observatory to be a nighttime attraction, too. Rather than simply “wash” the exterior in color-changing light, we studied the seemingly smooth silo for potential points of interest. Windows along the interior stairwell and an encircling ridge at the crown of the silo provided inspiration. We tested ideas and fixtures in full-scale mockups. Our final designs use complementary colors that turn the windows into illuminated accent pieces against the backdrop of the silo’s exterior lighting. Multiple colors can be applied to the surface of the exterior at once, or a classic white light can be called up for an “at rest” scene. Careful fixture aiming allows a highlight of the ridge at the crown, further enhancing and reinforcing the overall architecture. Architect: Muller2 #lightingdesign #lighting #silo #lightart #renovation #design #architecture