WE Global Learning Centre

The redevelopment of the WE Global Learning Centre was completed in the fall of 2017, and proudly houses the WE Charity. Toronto lighting design firm Studio 1112 was selected to devise the new lighting plan for the centre and Chris Gagnier and Wayne Thomson were excited by the challenge of lighting this classic historic building.

Prior to its renovation, the building’s exterior was painted bright blue, creating a well-known aesthetic on the corner of Queen Street. Although the WE Foundation wanted to keep this level of interest in the building high, they wanted to do so in a refined way utilizing dramatic lighting instead of color. To accomplish their design objective, the façade was stripped down to its original brick and Tempo’s C6RX Exterior luminaires with 3500K CCT at 910 lumens/foot were used to wash light down from the top floor of the building.

“We wanted to light the top floor to gain attention. Our goal was to have people notice the building and think to themselves, ‘what’s going on over there’ but still adhere to the strict heritage building guidelines” said Thomson. “Additionally, we were challenged with directing the light down onto the brick façade without any of it spilling over onto the windows,” stated Thomson. “By using a Tempo-provided baffle and anchoring the luminaires to the existing ledges of the building, we were able to achieve our lighting design objectives and provide our clients with a beautiful iconic landmark that really stood out in the neighborhood.”