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The lighted glass block wayfinder system also was incorporated into other areas within the parking garage. The parking lot elevators are encased within lighted glass block. The surrounding glass block section sparkles more brightly when a selected elevator car is ready for boarding. Glass block pylons were built as information/help stations that direct passengers to various locations, and offer call boxes where passengers can call for assistance.

To showcase the lighted glass block while keeping the lighting system hidden, Hartman-Cox used a different patterned glass, which uses a fine grid of closely spaced ridges for maximum privacy, while providing moderate light diffusion.

Illuminating Results are Above PAR

For assistance in lighting the glass block, the design team turned to Candace M. Kling, an architectural lighting expert whose firm is based in Alexandria, Va. Her charge, said Kling, was "to capture your eye, so you know where you're going." Although she had no previous experience in lighting glass block, Kling followed the same treatment she uses for back lighting stain glass windows.

The lighting system for each of the lighted areas is situated in narrow corridors created between the glass block wall and the concrete foundation wall. Originally, the project's electrical engineer attempted to install straight-strip fluorescent lighting, with poor results. Kling said fluorescent lighting was not conducive to the curvature of the walls, and that using straight-tubed fluorescents created bright lighting at the bottom of the glass block wall, but the light would fade as it reached the top of the wall. "It created an uneven, striped effect," said Kling.

Instead, Kling's solution was to install a socket-strip system utilizing PAR lamps - the same type of lamp commonly used as flood lights on people's home garages. The PAR lamps shoot a fairly tight beam of light up the wall, then bounce back downward. The result is an even, well-lighted effect.

"The par socket system helped us enhance the curvature of the glass block and gave us more control over the ability to effectively light it," said Kling. "The result is a warm, crisp, white color - it's not blue, pink or yellow." Using a PAR lamp socket system also makes it easier to change light bulbs and to perform maintenance, Kling said.