By OFFICE SNAPSHOT • 2020
Firm: Urban Foundry Architecture
Client: Ketra
Size: 28,000 sqft
Year: 2020
Location: Austin, Texas, United States
Industry: Manufacturing
Horace Ho of Ketra, Vlado Pejic of Lutron and Urban Foundry Architecture collaborated to complete the Ketra headquarters to model their product in Austin, Texas.
Putting its industry-leading technology to the test within its own office, Ketra uses unique lighting design to enhance the human experience within its new headquarters. A Lutron company, Ketra has thoughtfully applied the Lutron HXL approach throughout the space, installing lighting, shades and controls to create a dynamic, personalized environment where employees can work and feel their best, and is now using these capabilities to help evolve its space based on the latest guidelines. Ketra HQ provides employees with the capacity to create vastly different environments within a single space, creating a unique level of flexibility to support employee functions. With the push of a button, Ketra can switch gracefully between color temperatures and scenes, completely transforming the space. This flexibility allowed Ketra to create an open office space and has helped the brand adapt to the current environment – moving desks six feet apart without needing to reconfigure walls or remove furniture and shifting design plans as needed amidst evolving guidelines. What’s more, Ketra’s wireless products allow lights to be reconfigured with a much higher degree of flexibility. With tailored solutions throughout workstations and common spaces, Ketra provides user-friendly tools to shift lighting for any need, whether amplifying to a bright white for added focus or warming to provide ambiance for a brainstorm. Ketra also pairs with Lutron’s automated shade solutions, which can adapt to the sun’s position throughout the day, providing employees with the perfect blend of sunlight and Ketra Natural Light. High-quality light not only enhances the style of the space but inhabitants’ feelings within that space, and can help employees feel more control over and satisfaction in their space amidst a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty. Our time in quarantine has reinforced the importance of access to and connection with the outdoors, and Ketra’s Natural Light setting mimics the shifting color temperature and intensity of sunlight, dynamically shifting throughout the day to amplify the effects of sunlight indoors. Research shows that employees value access to daylight and views – and in fact prioritize it over other amenities – and that increased access can improve both productivity and satisfaction at work.* By extending Natural Light throughout the office, Ketra employees can benefit from sunlight’s impact regardless of window proximity – and this universal access to natural light provides an ideal backdrop for increasingly popular video calls. What’s more – Ketra HQ’s design incorporates thoughtful use of glass walls, so that even interior spaces can see outside and employees can feel connected, regardless of physical barriers. Ketra can achieve any color on the spectrum, from pastels to hues high in saturation. Within Ketra HQ, this capability provides the ability to bathe spaces in hues that create moods, boost employee spirits, and create dramatic installations to further inspire – whether backlit signage or the show-stopping stairway light installation of nearly 500 bulbs at Ketra HQ. Creating an engaging environment that best showcases corporate culture through custom lighting – whether an inviting entryway or bright and airy work areas – can help new recruits or returning employees feel at home and bolster a sense of connection and comradery even amidst social distancing.
Design: Horace Ho of Ketra, Vlado Pejic of Lutron and Urban Foundry Architecture Photography: Jake Holt
Originally Posted on OFFICE SNAPSHOTS