LS Group Unveils Lighting Design at Denver’s Populus, the Country’s First Carbon Positive Hotel
LS Group, a Colorado-based firm specializing in residential and commercial lighting and lighting control design, completed the lighting design of Populus, the urban hotel that blends nature-inspired design with environmentally conscious hospitality, now open in Denver. LS Group managed the lighting and lighting control design strategy for the entire 13-story Populus project, including front-of-house amenity areas, corridors, 265 guest rooms and the exterior.
“For Populus to sustain its carbon positive status over time and reduce offset needs, its design dictated ultimate efficiency and sustainably, including energy use,” said Kristen Kordecki-Miller, commercial projects director with LS Group. “Our lighting approach prioritized the buildings’ green ambitions while outfitting the space with layers of light that bring the hotel’s spaces together harmoniously and enhance the ambiance – a vibe that is unmatched in Denver hospitality.”
The fully integrated lighting design is, like all other elements of the project, centered on Populus’ organic and nature-focused design. A street-level focal point of the Populus entry and Pasque restaurant is The Reishi Tapestry sculpture that frames the bar, constructed from nearly 500 sheets of Reishi™, a new category of material by MycoWorks engineered from mycelium – the root structure of fungi (including mushrooms). The sculpture required complex, separately controlled, layers of lighting including continuous, pin spot and wall washing which serves as the bar area’s only light source.
With guest rooms being the highest energy consumers in any hotel, LS Group took steps to reduce the lighting load on those floors by utilizing high-efficiency, low-wattage LED fixtures. In the guest floor hallways, a smart lighting control system allows dimming for reduced load: lighting is dim when unoccupied and triggered to increase to appropriate levels when motion is detected. The lighting design incorporates lighting power density that exceeds the City of Denver code by 22%.
The project features the use of warm dim LEDs throughout, which adjust the color temperature when dimmed to emit a warmer hue.
Urban Villages is the owner and developer of Populus; Aparium Hotel Group is the operator; Studio Gang is the architect and Wildman Chalmers Design completed the project interiors.
