Those walking down a quiet stretch of Erie street in the Highlands at night are noticing something new among the vacant construction sites and old brick houses nestled in the hillside above the city – the smooth silhouette of a modern building, lit from within by an ultramarine glow. A large wooden pergola spans the front entrance, where lines of light change colors in the pavement.
It isn’t a new art museum or an avant-garde aquarium, as curious onlookers might suspect.
The building is home to The Lighting Agency, an architectural lighting firm responsible for illuminating some of Denver’s most iconic structures – from Union Station and Sports Authority Field to the new hotel and transit center being built at DIA. While the building itself has undergone a major renovation much like the neighborhood that surrounds it, the people running this LoHi-based company have remained the same for over 30 years.
Instead of cashing in on its existing neighborhood property and moving to another location, the company, which tapped award-winning firms ME Engineers and Open Studio Architecture for the unique project, has created a workspace that seems to solidify the Highland’s status as a burgeoning design hub.
Lit entirely by LED-technology, the new facility aims to showcase and educate the design community and their customers on the vast capabilities of the product lines they represent.
“We didn’t just design a big empty box and put desks in it. This thing has living nerves. We wanted to contribute something to the design community that was unlike anything they’ve seen before,” said CEO Arthur Fisher, who started the company with six employees in 1980 and has since expanded to 45.
“We built an educational facility where customers can come and experience lighting in an application setting as opposed to a large scale showroom with thousands of fixtures on the ceiling. We want to show people how lighting can affect the entire mood of a building, whether the project is 1,000 square feet or 1,000,000.”
In an open reception area, a large glass wall emanates with colored light as it flows through the entire color spectrum, while an industrial space features a “cloud” ceiling that can be lowered and raised to demonstrate various light forms at different ceiling heights.
The new office space highlights the technological advancements made in recent years by LEDs, which can reduce energy consumption by 50-80 percent, and even more when integrated with lighting controls. Costs associated with the technology have dropped dramatically in recent years, powered by initiatives like Xcel’s energy rebate program, which offers incentives for lowering energy use.
As this unique company continues to grow along with Denver’s bustling economy, its roots remain the same — firmly planted in the neighborhood where they began, and grounded in the same customer-based values upon which the company was founded, 35 years ago this spring.
