Together, Let’s Light the Path Ahead
Cushing Terrell’s lighting design team aims to illuminate spaces with creativity, efficiency, and precision. We are committed to crafting lighting solutions that enhance aesthetics, functionality, and sustainability. Through innovative design, cutting-edge technology, and a dedication to client satisfaction, we aim to bring brilliance and ambiance to every environment we touch.
Our Process
Our integrated design process brings all disciplines to the table throughout the project, allowing enhanced communication and superior end-results.
Research + Education
Lighting is a rapidly changing industry; we strive to educate ourselves, our clients, and the broader industry about best practices for employing innovations in lighting design. In addition, ongoing question-and-answer sessions with owners and stakeholders aid in the creation of goals that address the needs of every unique project.
Design + Implementation
Integrated lighting design blends the expertise of electrical engineering, interior design, and architecture. Our multidisciplinary approach ensures every lighting solution enhances aesthetics, optimizes energy efficiency, and complements architectural elements, delivering spaces that are beautifully lit and thoughtfully designed.
Assessment + Refinement
Our lighting design concepts are refined via an attentive and iterative process that incorporates testing concepts and improving applications through client feedback at every stage. We listen closely to insights and preferences, using them to finetune lighting solutions that perfectly reflect clients’ visions and end-users needs.
Evaluation + R&D
Our design expertise is backed by the vast, ever-expanding knowledge of our Post-Occupancy Research and Energy Services groups, which focus on performance, utility incentives, building commissioning, and more. We constantly research new and emerging lighting technology and designs, which leads to innovative solutions for every client.
Project Spotlight:
Alberta Bair Theater
Billings, MT
Alberta Bair Theater is a historic Fox Theater built in 1931, the last of the Fox Corporation’s vaudeville and motion picture houses to be constructed before the Great Depression. A vital landmark to the downtown community of Billings, Montana, the theater serves as a performing arts center. A renovation sought to restore the pageantry of the theater while boosting its infrastructure to support more substantial productions.
The $13.6 million renovation, spearheaded by architects Cushing Terrell, included the expansion of the lobby and box office, an elevator, and enhanced lighting and technology in the main theater itself. Its expanded footprint includes vast windows that surround the perimeter of the building. From the inside lobby and staircase, there are incredible views of the downtown core. And from the outside, on one of the busiest intersections in town, the architecture connects the building to the rest of the downtown.
Choosing optimal lighting for the lobby and main staircase was key. Cushing Terrell designers had worked through many iterations with the theater’s board, but when Eureka released its Drop Celeste fixture, the design team was elated to find the perfect solution for Alberta Bair Theater. Balancing all the natural light versus electrical light was a challenge. And the team sought something that would effectively fill the substantial volume of the 2-story space while being visually stimulating from inside and out.