LUMOS | Interaction Design
Calyx, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
Team project
Lighting Design | Interaction Design
1 month
Rhino | Lumion | Pr | Ae
Challenge
The challenge is to redesign the lighting of The Calyx to improve its functionality, ambiance, and user experience. By analyzing the space’s current lighting, cultural context, and user needs, the goal is to create an innovative and visually appealing lighting concept that enhances the space while addressing its shortcomings.
Overview
This project focuses on redesigning the lighting system for the Calyx at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. The new design introduces three modes—Night Mode, Conservation Mode, and Event Mode—to enhance the space's functionality, safety, and aesthetics. It aims to create a dynamic, sustainable, and visually engaging environment that aligns with the natural surroundings and supports diverse community events.
Final Design Concept
The Night Mode provides a captivating experience for evening visitors during operational hours, ensuring that the Calyx is visible yet with soft, non-intrusive lighting. The main effect is produced by programming the recessed in-ground LED uplights to provide a soft "breathing" appearance. These lights pulse gradually, softly brightening and dimming in a slow, rhythmic pattern that gives the space a calm, livable ambiance.
Light sensors activate these LEDs as natural light fades, smoothly transitioning the building into night mode. Interior lighting is kept at a minimal lux level to emphasize the Calyx’s silhouette against the night sky, highlighting its architectural contours without excessive brightness.
Symbolically, Night Mode “protects” the community, wrapping the space in a soft, nurturing glow. This serene lighting creates an unforgettable experience, celebrating the structure’s form in harmony with the surrounding landscape.
Design Rationale
Active Light Source: In-ground uplighting only
Lux Level: 20-50 lx
Color Temperature: 2700K
Subtle Illumination for Nighttime Navigation: By using a lower lux level and warm white tones, the design provides safe, low-impact illumination that subtly guides visitors without overpowering natural darkness (Australian Standards AS/NZS 4282:2023).
Warm white (2700K) for a calming ambiance.
Minimized Light Pollution: The controlled light spill ensures minimal environmental disruption, aligning with sustainability principles that reduce interference with nearby plant (Tavares et al., 2021).
NIGHT MODE
EVENT MODE
Event Mode provides both functional and dynamic lighting, designed to enhance the atmosphere of gatherings, celebrations, and unique experiences. Flexible track lights enable zoning to illuminate specific areas as needed, allowing for smooth adaptation to different event layouts and sizes.
Symbolically, Event Mode “supports” the community by transforming the Calyx into a flexible, vibrant venue that fosters shared experiences and a sense of togetherness, providing an adaptable space where people can come together in celebration and connection.
The interactive LED panels sync brightness and color with music, creating an energetic, immersive display. Ambient light from the interior green wall subtly highlights The Calyx’s architecture, enhancing the entire structure.
Design Rationale
RGBW customization for color flexibility, tailored to event themes.
Programmable and interactive LED panels respond to movement or sound, enhancing guest engagement.
Versatile Illumination for Different Event Types: Adjustable outdoor track lights and glasshouse track lights provide adaptable lighting that can shift from ambient background light to focused illumination, ideal for diverse event’s lighting configurations.
CONSERVATION MODE
Active Light Source: In-ground uplighting only.
Lux Level: 5-15 lx.
Color Temperature: 2200K
Low-intensity lighting to ensure essential visibility and security.
Very warm (2200K) to minimize effects on plant rest cycles.
Operates at the lowest settings to conserve energy and maintain a restful environment.
Conservation Mode safeguards the well-being of both plants and any visitors lingering after hours. Activated post-closing, this mode reduces illumination to save energy while maintaining essential visibility.
Recessed in-ground LED uplights are dimmed to a soft glow, subtly outlining edges and highlighting potential hazards to ensure the safety of remaining visitors or staff. This gentle lighting offers quiet guidance, nurturing the plants and creating a serene atmosphere of calm guardianship through the night.
In-ground Uplighting
Side View of In-Ground Uplighting Installation
Top View of LED Panel Installation
Interactive LED Panel
In-ground Uplighting
Interactive LED Panels
Overhead Track Lighting
Indoor Track Lighting
Side View of Track Lighting Structure
Track Lighting
https://architizer.com/projects/the-calyx/
Outdoor
In-ground Uplighting: Provides foundational lighting around the structure, maintaining ambient visibility at night (existing).
Interactive LED Panels: Positioned on column interiors, creating responsive visual effects for enhanced guest interaction.
Overhead Track Lighting: Installed along the inner circular structure, offering adjustable lighting for both subtle ambiance and dynamic event illumination.
Indoor (Glasshouse)
Track Lighting: Adjustable lighting for exhibitions, enhancing display visibility and visual impact (existing).
IP Rating: All outdoor fixtures are IP65+, providing resistance to dust and water, ensuring reliability in outdoor environments.
Lighting Setup
Introducing Exterior Lighting: Adds subtle illumination in the evening to enhance visibility and ambiance for visitors.
Removing Ground-Mounted Floodlights: Eliminates current floodlights that may cause glare and are unsuited to the updated flat landscape design.
Replacing Ligman Martini 31 Luminaires: Substitutes the existing 10 luminaires with new track lighting on the inner circular structure, offering greater flexibility and customization for events.
Adding Interactive LED Panels: Installs responsive LED panels for enhanced visitor interaction and dynamic visual effects during events.
Key Design Adjustments
(Image source: Created by (AGL)²)
Lighting Layout
Current Lighting Analysis
Initial Concepts
Current Luminaire Types and Setup
Calyx during the day
Current Evening Lighting
Current Event Lighting
Luminaire Type: Megabay Osirion RGBW, recessed in-ground uplights.
Quantity: 74 units installed around The Calyx.
Color Control: RGBW color mixing for dynamic, customizable lighting effects.
Remote DMX Control: Each fixture is DMX-controlled, allowing individual adjustments from up to 60 meters away (Jadecross, 2023).
Durability: IP67-rated, providing high resistance to dust and water, ideal for outdoor use.
Beam Flexibility: Available in various beam angles (spot, flood) for targeted or broad illumination (Megabay, n.d.).
Purpose: Enhances the architectural columns with color, adaptable for different event atmospheres.
74 Megabay Osirion RGBW Uplights
Luminaire Type: Ligman Martini 31 (MN-31671), surface-mounted luminaires.
Quantity: 10 units installed evenly along the top beams of The Calyx’s circular frame.
Positioning: Mounted on the upper framework of structural beams, providing top-down lighting across the space.
Control Options: Available with on/off or DALI dimming control for flexible light intensity adjustments.
Durability: IP65-rated, protecting against dust and water, suitable for continuous outdoor exposure.
Color Temperature: Available in 3000K and 4000K to support ambient, natural lighting (Ligman, 2019).
10 Ligman Martini 31 Luminaires
(Image source:https://jadecross.com.au/projects/the-calyx/)
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Terrace: An expansive outdoor area designed for gatherings, with views over the garden and nearby Sydney Harbour. This space is ideal for open-air events.
Island Lawn: The central landscaped area within the circular layout, providing a focal point for visitors. It’s surrounded by pathways and serves as a tranquil, scenic spot.
Exhibition Area: The main attraction, featuring rotating plant displays and interactive exhibits that showcase rare and seasonal flora. This section is designed for immersive botanical experiences.
Function Spaces: Divided into flexible rooms, these areas are available for private events, workshops, and corporate functions, allowing for various setups and themes.
The Calyx is organized into distinct sections that each serve a unique purpose, enhancing visitor engagement and create a functional, flexible environment for exhibitions and events:
(Image source: https://good-design.org/projects/the-calyx/, re-edited by (AGL)²)
Indoor Lighting Spill: After 4 pm, indoor lights provide the only illumination, leaving outdoor areas like pathways and garden beds inadequately lit, creating potential safety concerns.
Limited Nighttime Visibility: Without outdoor lighting, architectural features and garden details are obscured at night, reducing visual engagement for evening visitors.
Winter Darkness: In winter, early sunsets mean outdoor areas fall into near-darkness shortly after the indoor section closes, heightening safety risks.
Reduced Evening Experience: The lack of outdoor lighting limits visitor interaction with The Calyx’s exterior features and gardens after dark, which could be enhanced with selective lighting.
Modern Radial Design: The Calyx’s radial layout, with steel columns and glass panels, creates a seamless indoor-outdoor connection and a minimalist aesthetic.
Column Details: As visitors approach The Calyx, the columns transform from a unified structure to individual elements, creating a delicate interplay of light and shadow that frames the surrounding greenery (Burke, 2017).
Natural Light Dependency: Glass walls and skylights allow sunlight to penetrate deeply, while overhead louvers reduce glare and heat during peak hours.
Social Interaction: The layout encourages social interaction, with perimeter seating and open views that connect indoor and outdoor spaces.
(Image source: Photo by (AGL)²)
(Image source: Photo by (AGL)²)
Limitations of Existing Lighting:
The additional festoon lights reveal limitations in The Calyx's current lighting design, which lacks sufficient exterior illumination for enhancing ambiance and visibility during evening events.
Need for Flexibility: A more flexible, event-adaptable lighting system would help The Calyx support diverse functions, ensuring adequate lighting for gatherings held after dark.
Dynamic Event Lighting:
Bright colors projected onto columns, overhead structures, and the ground create a dynamic effect, likely using external projectors or LED fixtures outside The Calyx’s standard setup.
Limitations of Current Setup: Added lighting shows that The Calyx's existing system lacks versatility for events needing color-changing effects, highlighting a need for flexible, programmable lighting.
(Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/botanic-gardens-sydney/albums/72177720298391806/with/52080576632)
(Image source: https://www.theeventroom.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-Calyx-Night-Rainbow-2.jpg)
Through our research and analysis of the Calyx’s functional areas and lighting system, we aim to deepen the significance of its name, using lighting to highlight its symbolic role. Our concept introduces two lighting functions inspired by the biological role of a calyx—protection and support. These are expressed through two distinct modes: Night Mode, designed for general visitors, and Event Mode is designed for special occasions. Each mode highlights one of the Calyx’s dual purposes, reinforcing its connection to nature and enhancing the visitor experience by capturing the essence of its protective and supportive qualities.
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