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Elmington

Designer

Stephanie Ervin and Taylor Fussell, Stephanie Ervin Interiors

Client

Nashville-based Elmington Capital Group (Elmington Construction and Elmington Property Management)

Location

1030 16th Avenue S

Nashville, Tennessee

37212

Date of completion

June 2023

Background

This growing company’s property expansion is a byproduct of Elmington Capital Group’s intensive research to assess and execute relevant opportunities. With multiple projects in the Volunteer State, Tennessee, Elmington’s first out of state application, the Carroll Building in Waterbury, Connecticut, came in 2015, followed by its first project in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2019. In 2021, Elmington expanded into Texas and Alabama during the following year. The company hired Stephanie Ervin Interiors to design its headquarters.

Oversized rectangular pendant LED lights help define team spaces with four workstations positioned within half-walls under each large fixture.

Client

Elmington Capital Group’s Elmington Construction, founded by Cary Rosenblum and Ben Brewer in 2010, has developed and acquired 14,000 apartments as a full service residential and commercial general contractor and construction management company. “We partner with you and overcome any challenge throughout the construction process,” Elmington’s website states. “We manage more than 35,000 apartment units in 13 states with a focus on fostering healthy communities for our residents and neighbors. We create affordable luxury through quality design. We provide advantages to our partners and initiatives through successfully navigating the complexities of both conventional and non-conventional financial solutions, including debt/equity, tax credits, public/private, and beyond.”

Slim LED Ring Pendant Downlight

Stephanie Ervin selected the 8-foot downlight version of Alcon Lighting’s slim ring pendant for Elmington, which delivers high-CRI glare-free illumination with even distribution through a frosted acrylic diffuser.

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A slim LED ring pendant downlight hangs from a round canopy by adjustable aircraft cable over a putting green break space in a property investment office.

Who specified the lighting?

Stephanie Ervin, founder of Stephanie Ervin Interiors, specified Elmington’s lighting with designer Taylor Fussell. As the preferred designer for Elmington Capital Group, Ervin’s design firm reflects Ervin’s passion for transforming spaces with functional, seamlessly blended aesthetics.

Trios of slim linear LED lights hang at different heights and angles from a single canopy, creating depth and dimension over a casual conference room with an oversized coffee table and eight lounge chairs

“Alcon Lighting played a crucial role in achieving our desired outcome by collaborating on the creation of custom fixtures that elevated the entire space.”

What was the overall design goal of the space? How did you go about achieving the client's vision?

“The overarching design goal for the Elmington workspace project was to cultivate an environment that promotes productivity and engagement among its employees while authentically embodying the distinctive work culture at Elmington,” Ervin said. “Our approach to achieving this objective involved a collaborative and iterative process, closely working with the Elmington team to deeply understand their values, workflows and aspirations. The result is a workspace that meets and exceeds their expectations, authentically embodying Elmington's identity.”

What was the lighting challenge?

Ervin continues: “We encountered two main lighting challenges during the project. The first was maintaining the cleanliness of the open ceiling design, and the second was addressing the large size of the fixtures. Through collaboration with the skilled Alcon Lighting team and leveraging their customization capabilities, we overcome these challenges efficiently. Their support not only allowed us to achieve our desired results but also ensured a swift resolution even when time constraints were a factor.”

Three LED pendant lights illuminate a casual office conference room. Each fixture has three linear light bars suspended at different heights and angles to create a three-dimensional lighting effect.

How did Alcon Lighting products achieve the desired outcome?

“Alcon Lighting played a crucial role in achieving our desired outcome by collaborating on the creation of custom fixtures that elevated the entire space. These fixtures were instrumental in defining distinct areas within the open floor plan, establishing symmetry, and contributing to a visually pleasing open ceiling design.

“Through the customization of lights along our workstations,” Ervin continues, “Alcon Lighting helped us achieve unique and impactful lighting solutions that seamlessly integrated with our overall design vision.”

An 8-foot slim LED ring pendant light hangs over a luxury breakroom area overlooking downtown Nashville in the Elmington Property Management headquarters.

Why was 3000K light color temperature selected for this application?

“We opted for a lighting temperature of 3000K due to its warm and inviting ambience,” Ervin said. “We wanted to make sure the lighting temperature complimented the natural lighting coming into the space with the floor-to-ceiling windows that surround the whole office. This color temperature casts a gentle and cozy glow as it creates a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere, which reflects Elmington's office culture.”

A rectangular LED pendant downlight suspended over a long conference room table in a corner office conference room with ample lighting through floor-to-ceiling windows.

A hexagon LED light pendant hangs from a black round canopy, suspended by adjustable aircraft cables, providing ambient lighting over an office break area with a floor lamp for reading light by a couch.

Why choose to exclusively go with downlighting in this space—as against a blend of up and downlight?

“We opted for exclusive downlighting in the space to accentuate the intricate details of the workstation design and ensure a well-lit environment,” Ervin said. “Given the exposed ceilings, the choice to bring the eye downward with downlights serves a dual purpose—highlighting our design elements while diverting attention from the open ceiling, creating a visually appealing and focused workspace.”

An oversized rectangular LED pendant light suspended by aircraft cables provides general lighting over four workstations in an open floor plan office.

Key Takeaways

Elmington Capital Group’s headquarters exemplifies an innovative use of geometric and linear lighting to create an inviting, modern workplace. By addressing design challenges and customizing lighting solutions, Stephanie Ervin Interiors created a workspace that promotes productivity and reflects Elmington’s culture of affordable luxury through quality design. The use of 3000K light color temperature and exclusive downlighting enhances the aesthetic and ensures a comfortable and engaging environment for Elmington’s employees. This project demonstrates the importance of tailored lighting solutions in achieving both functional and aesthetic goals in commercial spaces.

Architects seek light fixtures that offer user-friendly features and support their design goals. These customizable lights, often referred to as architectural or specification-grade, comprise the majority of lighting products used in commercial lighting applications today. Commercial lighting refers to lighting for non-residential application or any space designated for commercial application and use. Commercial-grade lighting denotes products built with features, such as increased durability, vandal-resistance, Bluetooth Mesh systems, WiFi, daylight harvesting and color-tunable controls.