Los Angeles, CA, USA — The Illumination Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) announced its list of recipients for the 2016 Illumination Awards of Merit, and Santa Clarita based lighting design firm, Visual Terrain, Inc. has been awarded three prizes this year.
Visual Terrain was recognized for its achievement in all three of its areas of expertise: Architecture, Attractions, and the Arts.
The lighting designs for Dollywood Emporium (architecture), Laff Track (attractions), and Rays (the arts) were all judged worthy of awards.
Rays – River’s Edge Park. Council Bluffs, Iowa. Visual Terrain worked closely with visual artist Dan Corson, interactive specialist Beaudry Interactive, and system integrator Bandit Lites, to create an interactive light environment at a large public park in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Additionally, sound designer Yessian joined the team to provide music for the grand opening event. Brad Haynes provided the programming.
Laff Trakk – Hersheypark. Hershey, Pennsylvania (above). Designed by Ravensun Creative, Laff Trakk is the first indoor, 360-degree, spinning, “glow-coaster” in the United States. The lighting design reinforces the story of being in a crazy fun house with surprises around every corner. Through the use of a variety of UV lighting instruments, and a minimal white light spectrum any structure that wasn’t painted with the specialty UV paint would visually recede and disappear; leaving only the brightly painted scenic pieces illuminated. Visual Terrain strategic partner Bandit Lites was the system integrator. LA ProPoint did the scenery design, engineering, fabrication, rigging and installation.
Dollywood Emporium – Dollywood. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Making the most of a tight budget, and a desire to both improve shoppers’ experience and increase Dollywood’s sales, Visual errain worked closely with Herschend Family Entertainment to ensure new lighting design altered the fundamental feel and flow of an existing retail space. The space suffered from mixture of radically different ceiling heights, and outdated lighting sources and technologies. The new lighting design focuses guests on the merchandise, softens ceiling transitions, and invites guests to explore the entire store. Once again, Visual Terrain strategic partner Bandit Lites did the system integration.
Founded in 1995, Visual Terrain is celebrating over 20 years of lighting design for architecture, attractions and the arts. The company’s main office is located 40 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles at 25217 Avenue Tibbitts, Santa Clarita, CA 91355, with an additional office in Chicago, Illinois, as well as an international representative near Paris, France.