Brickell City Centre Hotel
Commercial Lighting Design

The Brickell City Centre Hotel project represents PAK LIGHTING's most ambitious commercial lighting design to date in Miami. Commissioned by the hotel's interior design firm, our brief was to create a lighting environment that would define the guest experience from the moment of arrival — through the grand lobby, into the signature restaurant, and up to the rooftop bar overlooking the Miami skyline.

Commercial lighting design for hospitality is fundamentally different from residential work. Every lighting decision must balance guest comfort, brand identity, operational efficiency, and strict energy compliance — all while creating the kind of atmosphere that makes guests return. PAK LIGHTING's approach to this project was to develop a layered lighting strategy that could shift seamlessly between daytime check-in energy, evening dining intimacy, and late-night rooftop ambiance.

The Commercial Lighting Design Challenge

The hotel's 18,400 sq ft of public spaces presented a complex set of technical and aesthetic challenges. The lobby's 28-foot ceiling required a combination of high-output architectural downlights, decorative pendants, and cove lighting to achieve the right balance of drama and warmth. The restaurant demanded UGR <19 compliance for staff working areas while maintaining the intimate, low-level ambient lighting that defines fine dining in Miami.

Zone-by-Zone Breakdown

DALI-2 & Lutron Vive Integration

All 312 fixtures were specified with DALI-2 compatibility and integrated into the Lutron Vive commercial lighting control platform — the industry standard for large-scale hospitality projects in Miami and South Florida. PAK LIGHTING designed 22 independent lighting zones with custom scene programming for 6 distinct operational modes: Morning Setup, Daytime Service, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night, and Cleaning.

The Lutron Vive system also enables the hotel's facilities team to adjust scenes remotely via tablet, reducing the need for on-site lighting technicians and contributing to the project's operational efficiency targets.

Energy Compliance & ASHRAE 90.1

Commercial lighting projects in Miami must comply with ASHRAE 90.1 energy standards — a requirement that significantly constrains fixture selection and wattage budgets. PAK LIGHTING's energy compliance team performed full lighting power density (LPD) calculations for every zone, ensuring the project met ASHRAE 90.1-2019 requirements while achieving the premium aesthetic the hotel brand demanded.

Value Engineering — 28% Energy Reduction

The original lighting specification came in at $387,000. Through PAK LIGHTING's value engineering process, we identified performance-equivalent alternatives for 47 fixture types — maintaining CRI 95+, identical CCT profiles, and matching beam angles — reducing the total lighting budget to $279,000. A saving of $108,000 with zero compromise on the design intent or brand standards.

The project was delivered on schedule and within budget. The hotel's general manager cited the lighting design as a key differentiator in guest reviews, with the lobby and rooftop bar consistently mentioned in 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor and Google. The project has since been referenced in Hospitality Design Magazine as a benchmark for commercial lighting design in Miami.