make sure to use dimmer switches K.

Gosh. Dimmers. Hadn't even thought of that. Thanks abra.

WonderK, I can't get past the shining truckload of good fortune that has you working on...a frat house.

Whew, ok now that I've caught my breath.

I like the fixtures from Shaper Lighting. They straddle a residential/institutional aesthetic, and they're inexpensive. I haven't used them since Shaper was aquired by Cooper, so perhaps the quality has changed, but several years ago they were a very good choice for residential/educational/dorm type uses.

I imagine there are plenty of 'necters who can shed some light (haha) on what kind of day-to-day abuse these light fixtures might undergo in a frat setting - can anyone share? Perhaps: no ceiling pendants because they'll be used as trapezes, and certainly no bowl pendant fixtures because they'll end up full of beer, etc. etc....

lb, you have no idea. Good fortune rains down upon me on a daily basis.

Actually given our options right now, this is one of the more interesting projects in the office. I'm not going to tell you which frat it is though.

You should have heard our conversation re: which carpet to use. I believe the word "urine" was included in the discussion.

..and no doubt "vomit" is a carpet-related concern too...

man they're brave using carpet - just give them the slab so they can hose it all down the drain - seriously.

trust the dimmer - your best lighting friend.
these are handy:

http://www.elumit.com
http://www.bartcolighting.com

Thanks rayray!

i like the pendants. but i don't think they'd last more than a week in a frat house. i agree. do a nice polished concrete w/ plenty of floor drains.

i never understood the concept of making t-shirts to exult the party you went to... are there a lot of high-fives at the client meetings?

dude - shots then high fives.

runs led strips beneath muted glass floors with active motion sensors. everyone will be 'tripping'.

When your design is done,
the frat boyz will by trying to 'turn on' ______
or 'light up' ______




(the correct answer is: light fixtures)

Well - I'd use incandescent bulbs in the rooms and fluorescents everywhere else - otherwise they will steal them and the whole place will be dark all the time. - Do a tiny, little, small, yet painfully obvious bit of trick/track/accent lighting to make yourself look good - but know that it will last exactly two days.

I'd use fluorescents everywhere preferably with bulb cages and rated for damp environments. They are going to put halogen torchieres in their rooms anyway.

I miss college.

Urine Carpet.....might want to consider dog oder eater....as a solution to the frat boys who can't hit a toilet....

I love that this thread has gone from lighting design to "overall worst case scenario materials guide".

The worst is in the meetings when I'm the only girl in there and one of the guys mentions the storage room in the basement, and then the frat brothers involved on the project chuckle. At this point I usually say something like, "I'm not asking and no, I don't want to know".

fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son...

vado, two out of three can't be all that bad though.

lots of black lighting to accentuate the white spaces on beer cans =)