City of Lincoln, Gallery Alley

City of Lincoln, Gallery Alley

The City of Lincoln commissioned our team to create a promenade linkage from a new parking garage to the historic Haymarket District. The design solution turned a 125-year-old service alley into an entry point to the city’s primary nightlife district. The City determined that if pedestrians could not be stopped from using the alley as a shortcut, they must at least make it safe and more welcoming. Our team was intent on achieving this—and much more.

The alley is draped with an abundance of live and abandoned electrical wiring, meters, conduits, and unused loading portals; and is situated between the Burkholder Art Gallery and a mixed-use facility consisting of a popular ice cream parlor, live performing arts theater, and variety of quaint shops. Using these facilities as design cues, we collaborated with public artists and activated the alley with art pieces mounted to the exterior walls of the buildings with a “wire symphony” consisting of linear LED light wires that mimic the existing electrical system in the alley. Suspended mounting techniques required untried, original detailing. It utilizes traditional electrical hardware including insulator spools anchoring suspension cables and conduit topped “weather heads” to terminate electrical connections. By day, “the symphony” is an artistic exaggeration of the electrical system overhead.

Stats and Results
Location Lincoln, Nebraska
Awards
  • Illuminating Engineering Society, Award of Excellence for Outdoor Lighting Design, 2017
  • Preservation Association, Lincoln City Center Award, 2017

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