Eccles Theater’s “Starry Sky” Lighting wins 2018 Lumen Citation

CBB’s imaginative lighting design for Salt Lake City’s George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater has been honored with a Lumen Citation. Upon entering the performance hall, theater patrons are transported into an awe-inspiring nighttime rendering of the landscape surrounding the city. The showpiece is the re-creation of the Utah night sky.

To evoke the natural drama of a clear, starlit night, LED strings are stretched across frames and arranged in layers two deep. Within each horizontal ceiling section, the strings are separated into nine different dimmable zones, allowing for random control and cross-fading. The sections of the ceiling are carefully angled to avoid nearby theatrical equipment. This, along with the physical distance between the layers of lighting and the different sizes of the LEDs, creates a three-dimensional sense of depth.

As one moves from the building’s urban setting into a “wilderness” shimmering with stars, the transition is both unexpected and thrilling.