Cuyahoga County Courthouse
Cleveland, Ohio

The interior rotunda renovation received the 2002 GE Edison Award of Merit

The Cuyahoga County Courthouse, built in 1908, is an elegant, classical structure. Tec Inc. was hired to design the exterior lighting for the Courthouse, highlighting the architectural features of this landmark building in a dramatic and dignified manner. The front façade is visible in a direct line of sight from Public Square, and the rear façade is visible from the Shoreway and North Coast Harbor.  Tec illuminated all façades of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse to give this beautiful building a strong presence in the Cleveland skyline.

Uplighting the outer surface of each column creates a dramatic visual effect outlining the mass of the structure and highlighting the architectural details.  Luminaire locations provide a glare-free environment inside.  The rhythm of the column uplighting draws the viewer’s attention toward the central balconies, statues, and pediment above. 

The central exterior balconies are highlighted with a color-changing LED lighting system. This system, designed for long life, low-maintenance, and energy-efficiency, is programmable with eight pre-set scenes for a variety of lighting effects available at the touch of a button.

Renovations in the interior rotunda provided an opportunity to increase illuminance by uplighting the barrel vaulted ceiling with high color rendering, energy-efficient, long life lamps.  Newly renovated skylights, which have been covered up since WWII, not only bring in daylight, but glow in the evenings with light located in the interstitial space.

Historically-significant murals were relighted using state-of-the-art-technology to provide glare-free lighting that remains cool to the touch, blocks damaging UV rays to protect the murals, and matches the high color rendering of the rotunda lighting.

View the complete photo gallery at: /photo-gallery/cuyahoga-county-courthouse/