Built on 6 acres of an 8-acre site in the southwest side of the Dallas Central Business District, magnificent new Omni Hotel has a very appealing and sophisticated persona. A contemporary reflective-glass exterior and rich native textures inside warmly welcome visitors and guests to an incomparable convention hotel.
Hubbell Lighting, a market leader in lighting technology for over a century, was the major provider of lighting fixtures for the Omni. Working closely with lighting designer Lang Lighting Design, the objective was to seamlessly merge fixtures, controls, and daylight harvesting to achieve sustainable lighting solutions. To accomplish this, Jacob Gerber, senior lighting designer, and Andy Lang, president, investigated many – if not all – of the lighting options possible. After their thorough evaluation, the Lang Lighting team chose five Hubbell Lighting brands for interior and exterior lighting applications.
With the decision and foresight of Dallas city leaders, hotel developer Matthews Southwest and lead design architect 5G Studio Collaborative, the project raised the bar on what a convention hotel should look like. The stunning building arose from what was once a parking lot, now home to a remarkable 23 story 1.2 million sqft edifice designed and built complete with 7,000 pieces of original art created by Dallas artists; 110,000 sqft of meeting/event space spread across 39 meeting rooms including two gigantic ballrooms; 1,001 guest rooms and suites; a luxurious spa; fitness center; pool deck and five exceptional culinary venues.
Dedicated to achieving the highest standards of both environmental and energy conscious design for this innovative 21st century hotel, the Omni Dallas Hotel received the prestigious honor as LEED Gold certified by the United States Green Building Council. It is the largest new construction hotel to be LEED Gold certified in the United States; and it is the first and only hotel to be LEED Gold Certified in Texas. LEED specialists at 5G Studio Collaborative designed the building and developed the plan that encompasses the strategic and careful use of lighting in the interior and exterior.
Kurt Versen and Prescolite downlights illuminate the hotel's lobby and three succeeding Podium levels. The downlighting (employing either PAR38, 42W compact fluorescent, MR 16 or LED lamp sources) also illuminates corridors, restaurants, guest rooms, meeting rooms and ballrooms.
Lighting in the back of the house, provided by Columbia Lighting, included 2×2 and 2×4 fluorescent fixtures with T8 lamps in the hotel's executive offices and kitchen. Strip lighting fixtures illuminate mechanical rooms, corridors, and stairwells.
LED exit lighting from Dual-Lite is surface-mounted on ceilings and, for maximum security, guestroom corridors include Dual-Lite exits installed on walls about 3 inches above corridor paths. Garage lighting, provided by Kim Lighting, illuminates the 3-story parking facility containing 720 parking spaces.
Lang Lighting's design included enveloping the exterior of the Omni in a multi-colored LED lighting treatment that generates additional energy and excitement. Lang Lighting, in collaboration with Innovative Lighting, chose a custom-designed linear LED fixture and programming infrastructure on the exterior of the hotel. With the LED system integrated into the recesses of the hotel's 23-story curtain wall, the entire hotel tower takes on a different character at night. A work of art in its own right, the dancing ribbons of LED colored lights surrounding each floor can be seen for miles in all directions.
Summing up the overall lighting design created by Lang Lighting, 5G Studio Collaborative Partner and Co-Founder Scott Lowe noted that the intent was for the lighting scheme to become a communications tool, transmitting the operational point of view of the Omni: linking décor, architecture and service to make the hotel guest feel welcome, comfortable and appreciated. Functionally and aesthetically those objectives were achieved, he said.
Hubbell Lighting President Scott Muse noted, "The Omni is a landmark project for its leadership in sustainable design underscored by its creative use of energy-efficient and innovative lighting. We are proud to have contributed to its achievement of USGBC's LEED Gold certification."
