Hubbell Lighting Relamps Rhode Island Transportation Facility

Hubbell Lighting, Greenville, S.C., recently provided the interior and exterior lighting systems for the new home of the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA). Designed by the Rhode Island-based architectural firm of Robinson Green Beretta (RGB) and Boston-based Architectural Engineers, Inc (AEI), the new $34 million transit operations facility in Providence, R.I., began construction in 2008 and was completed in 2010. Intended to consolidate operations previously spread out in several buildings, the overall RIPTA design-and-build objective was to create a facility to house RIPTA operations for at least the next 80 years, said John Racine, RGB's project architect. In addition to housing administrative offices, the 140,000-sq.-ft. building provides space for total bus maintenance tasks, now to be conducted under one roof. Extensive tests of light fixtures employing metal-halide, fluorescent and LED light sources were conducted prior to final luminaire selection, according to David Walkenstein, a senior electrical engineer at AEI who developed the electrical plan including the lighting design. The tests covered life-cycle studies, distribution patterns and overall costs, he said. Eight of the Hubbell Lighting's 21 brands were chosen to illuminate the new RIPTA building.