Daylighting the Dalai Lama
The translucent clerestory. The angle of the sun. Striking.
Consecrated by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet and home to the largest collection of Buddhist books and golden statuary outside of Tibet, the Deer Park Buddhist Center offers a gathering place for Buddhist education, outreach, and interreligious programs.
AEI’s Sustainability group and Pivotal lighting design practice provided lighting and daylighting design to the Center for a new 25,000 square foot temple that blends traditional Tibetan architecture with contemporary sustainable design, contributing to the tranquility in support of monastic activity and Buddhist teaching.
AEI modeled the two-story, 300-seat assembly space, designed the fenestration, and specified glazing to allow for complete daytime use of the temple without the need for artificial lighting. Nighttime lighting to support a variety of uses of the worship space is served by efficient ceramic metal halide lighting. Exterior egress and architectural accent lighting employs miniature LED fixtures, minimizing energy use to approximately one third of the Wisconsin energy code lighting load density allowances.
