Channel Glass Wall Creates Facility's Inner Glow

A channel glass wall separating a stairway from rec center program areas glows from within.

Photo of the channel-glass wall at Montclair State UniversityAccent lighting can jazz up a space, especially if it shares jazz's improvisational nature. At the Montclair State University Student Recreation Center, a wall constructed with channel glass that separates the central stairway from program areas glows from within using light from LED fixtures sitting within a floor-level aluminum base and aimed vertically through the channels. A programmable system specified by lighting designers with RDG Planning & Design of Des Moines, Iowa, allows different combinations of colors to fade in and out in various sequences, all at the whim of building staff (the control panel is in an adjacent administrative area). The treatment, including double-sided glass wall, lighting and controls, costs about $130 per square foot to install, but gives the space a sense of excitement and movement that's hard to put a price tag on.