John Hancock Center is a 1,128-foot super tall skyscraper. It is one of the most famous buildings at North Michigan Avenue, Illinois, United States. As of now, it has been said the building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in the world with 100 floors or more and stands out beautifully against the backdrop of Lake Michigan. Recently, the building has undergone a lighting transition. Acclaim Lighting has announced an architectural lighting retrofit atop the John Hancock Center.
In order to celebrate holidays, changes in the season or Chicago’s popular sports teams the SSL building-crown lighting is going to play a massive role. It will dynamically change in accordance with the celebrations and illuminate the skyline of Chicago in a beautiful manner.
The new and elegant LED lighting replaced an old and dated Crown of Lights that surround the building on the 99th floor and that can be seen from 360° for miles. The new solid-state lighting (SSL) system is controlled via DMX by an engineer sitting in a comfortable space of his office on the 16th floor of the skyscraper.
“Overall, the biggest accomplishment is being able to change the color and scenes on the Crown by just pushing a button,” said Doug Lombardi, president of Lombardi Lighting. “The John Hancock Center now has the option of 50 different scenes with the touch of switch, which has a positive, major effect on the local community. The lighting can now keep up with all the activities of a magnificent city.”
The project is also giving good return on investment. The new lighting includes 72 4-ft, 24 3-ft, and 8 2-ft fixtures. The total power usage is 9400W for an annual electrical savings of about $21,000. Due to the installation of the new lighting system the maintenance and energy costs have decreased dramatically.
