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Lighting is the subtle shift. That spark of brilliance. The element that transforms a space from ordinary to extraordinary.
The Reveal is where lighting professionals, residential experts, and designers come together to explore the art and business of outdoor design. From the intricacies of running a design company to the transformative power of lighting itself, this channel gives you the insight, inspiration, and tools to bring every project to life.
Andy Schwindler (00:11):
Hello everyone. I'm Andy with Sandy Beach Lighting and Design. This is Andy's Angle on The Reveal. Today we're going to discuss the business of atmosphere. I've always said lighting changes everything. It doesn't just illuminate a space. It sets a mood, it changes behavior, and it creates emotion. Every choice in design, warmth, tone, shadow, focus tells people something before they ever say a word. When you invest in those design details, it pays off not just how the space looks, but how people connect to it. That's what drives long-term satisfaction and retention. For this particular job at the Purdue Memorial Union, we knew that we wanted to impact as many people as possible. Not only is it an amazing space already, but the architectural features lend itself to be lit appropriately, especially with Christmas and holiday because you get to be a little bit over the top.
(01:09):
In this case, we wanted to combine just the warm tones of warm whites and golds, but the size and scale, right? We want to get high enough on the building and we want to go from end to end. We want to take the arches into consideration, but we also want to have balance in symmetry. So through this concept of creating an amazing space, we wanted to make the Memorial Union not only a place you wanted to stay, but a place you wanted to keep coming back to somewhere where you wanted to go out with your family for a nice bite to eat at the 8Eleven, but also visit to get pictures taken. This should be the most Instagramable place on the planet, and that was our goal here. So the business of atmosphere, let's create a space that not only tells a story of Purdue and its iconic brand, but how we can make it even better and more collaborative to make it a place where people want to gather and to come be a part of.
(02:09):
One of the things that differentiates this particular project with every other project is that we had so many different angles of perspective. We've got our inside angles, right, as we're sitting at the Purdue Memorial Union inside the lobby or the bar, we're going to look out into the courtyard, and we're going to see a magnificent magnolia tree that's going to be branch-wrapped. So that's going to create a scene from outside while you're inside. It's going to completely change the interior space. But then we have the large-scale perspective of the South Memorial Union Hall, where we're going to do huge light walls that are going to line both sides of the stairway going in. So this majestic entryway that calls attention. Plus, we're going to draw attention to the drive-through in the parking area in front of the hotel. So the difference here is that we've got such a grand, vast amount of space from so many unique viewing perspectives and different angles.
(03:13):
The goal was to tie all those together so it didn't feel segmented, but it felt cohesive that way. When we came onto campus in that era, you knew that it was all connected. It was all part of a larger scene. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the space. I know we're excited about it. This has been Andy's Angle. This has been my perspective into the unique project that we talked about on today's episode. If you like what you saw, you can follow us on YouTube, podcast, the Reveal. If you'd like to see more of Andy's Angle, follow us on our playlist for YouTube. If you have any questions, ask in the comments below. Until next time, Andy out.