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HLS Receives the 2025 IES Raleigh Section Illumination Award for Interior Lighting Design

  • Jan 29
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 14

We are proud of Senior Designer Renée Leskowat and Principal Diane McNabb Rodriguez, whose work on a confidential corporate fit-out in Charlotte, NC, received an Illumination Award for Interior Lighting Design from the IES Raleigh Section. These awards highlight the depth of talent across North Carolina, showcasing work by lighting designers, architects, and engineers. The Interior Lighting Design category recognizes projects that balance technical performance with the artistic application of light to enhance the function and overall human experience in a space.


Renée and Diane's work encompassed a 40-floor, 1-million sf corporate fit-out with 9 specialty floors including a full gym, juice bar, tech support bar, running track, quiet room, meeting spaces, multipurpose room, open office, flexible workspaces and private offices, break out areas, boardrooms, executive suites, classrooms, extensive art program, and an experience hall with an immersive art installation.


The sheer scale and compressed timetable of the project required close collaboration with the extensive design and construction teams to bring the project in on time and within budget. Each unique space deserved its own tailored lighting approach, while maintaining the overall aesthetic with extensive iterations and thorough detailing and coordination.


Lighting design ensures enclosed glass meeting spaces glow from within, specialty finishes are accented, layers of lighting support open and enclosed spaces, and artwork is fittingly celebrated. Careful placement follows architectural rhythms resulting in a beautiful quality of light with minimal hardware. Separately controlled direct and indirect sources reduce eye strain and increase user flexibility.


Daylight harvesting and smaller controls zones exceed code requirements and enhance the functionality and user adaptability of the lighting. Ambitiously reduced lighting power densities achieve LEED Gold status. Hybrid attendance, and a range of options that accommodate diverse users, reduced their footprint from more than twice the space, providing massive efficiencies to the company and its clients.


Receiving this recognition is a meaningful acknowledgment of our team’s commitment to thoughtful, well-executed lighting design. We are honored to be included among a group of peers contributing to the advancement of the built environment through light. We extend our thanks to our collaborators and project partners, whose shared vision and dedication made this achievement possible.


[Halkin Mason Photography]




 
 
 

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