POTENZA
A glass and light installation for Xcel Energy’s new regional headquarters
Denver, Colorado
“POTENZA” is a luminous beacon for the new regional headquarters of Xcel Energy, Denver’s public utility company. Illuminating the main entrance lobby of this LEED platinum building, the piece is made up of several layers of hand-painted Art Glass. The glass is crafted with both integral and applied color, and it is heat “slumped” into custom textures. These glass panels, layered as if in a shadow box, are suspended by braided stainless steel wire cables. Numerous dichroic-coated acrylic rods act as light-transmitters for an intricate and integral LED lighting system. The low voltage lighting design is programmed to change with different times of day and different lighting conditions. These computer-controlled lights, tucked into the cove and soffit of the art installation, emit a multitude of color fields, internally illuminating the acrylic rods and the layers of glass.
As the lobby feature of the new building, “Potenza” embodies the values of the building’s primary tenants, and it expresses the design goals of the Architecture. RNL Architects envisioned a dynamic addition to Denver’s skyline while realizing an energy efficient and environmentally responsible facility. “Potenza” was designed as the lobby’s centerpiece, expressing the dynamic qualities of the new building while providing a luminous, high-energy work of light-based kinetic art.
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