The Providence skyline is a bit more vibrant this summer.
Exterior lighting featuring LEDs, which has transformed landmark buildings in cities around the world, is newly installed at 100 Westminster, one of the tallest buildings in downtown Providence.
Building owner Joseph R. Paolino had the small, highly efficient LEDs installed in the two arched windows near the top of the building, which is the headquarters for Paolino Properties. The light-emitting diodes come in multicolor capacity and are capable of being programmed for up to 1,600 shades.
But on most nights, a crisp white or a vibrant blue will be the choice for Providence.
Paolino, whose building is between two taller structures, illuminated the arched windows on the building on June 30.
“Right now, this building kind of gets lost in the dark,” said Paolino, who is managing partner for Paolino Properties.
He also plans to install architectural lighting at three other buildings he owns downtown, including at 150 Washington St., where it will be a part of a major renovation, at 76 Dorrance St., also known as the Case-Mead building, and at 30 Kennedy Plaza, a historic brownstone building. In the case of the historical structures, the lighting will showcase the natural materials and architectural elements of the buildings.
“We are going to light these buildings up and make them part of the fabric and streetscape of Providence,” Paolino said.
The electrical efficiency of the LED and its ability to project a multitude of hues has made it an increasingly popular choice of building owners. Within the past several years, several notable buildings in Boston and New York have had the visuals installed, illuminating upper stories, architectural details and highlighting their form.
In Boston, the Liberty Mutual tower, at 157 Berkeley St., and the Custom House tower near Boston Harbor were illuminated with exterior LEDs within the past several years.
In New York, colorful LED lights grace the Empire State Building and the Helmsley Building.
Architectural lighting makes the buildings more visible at night, and showcases their facades and architectural lines, according to Haley Darst, a lighting designer with Cannon Design in Boston, who is a coordinator for the New England region of the International Association of Lighting Designers.
The LED technology adds the option of color vibrancy. In Boston, the Tobin Bridge, a span connecting Boston to Chelsea, has been illuminated in color for several years. Some building owners opt for holiday-themed lighting combinations.
Building owners have different needs in lighting design, but many also enjoy the sense of community that can come when the lights are designed for a particular color, to showcase a cause or a movement. One of Darst’s colleagues at Cannon Design handled an installation for a cancer-treatment hospital in Arizona that lights the building in a different color weekly, representing the colors chosen for various awareness campaigns.
After the musician Prince died, building owners across the country recognized him by illuminating their structures with his signature color, a deep purple.
In Providence, several other buildings have lighting downtown, but none appear to be LEDs that can be programmed for different colors.
At 100 Westminster, the illuminated windows cover three stories each – from the 19th through the 21st floors. They face north and south, making the highlighted windows visible to people driving through the city on Interstate 95, as well as Interstate 195.
Depending on the program, the LEDs can be set to a static display or a vibrant, pulsating sequence, more like a light show. On the Fourth of July, the building lights were set to red, white and blue. On St. Patrick’s Day, expect a vibrant green.
Paolino was in negotiations to buy 100 Westminster when the lights went out at the skyscraper next door, the iconic “Superman” building. From that point on, the four-story spire light would be the only illumination visible on the skyscraper.
Before that, its upper floors were bathed in a soft, gold lighting, showing off the spires of its structure.
“It always bothered me that the downtown Providence skyline was going to disappear from the night sky,” Paolino said.
100 Westminster used to have exterior lighting, but they were inoperable when he purchased the building in 2012. The LEDs are efficient, easy to maintain and will allow the illumination of the upper windows through the winter, said Steven McLaughlin, director of information systems and technology for Paolino Properties. •
