CASE STUDY

CS114 Illuminated Signs Case Study ©2015 Lumileds Holding B.V. All rights reserved.

Illuminated Signs

World’s Thinnest Lighted Signs Fly at San

Jose Airport with LUXEON-Based Noveseo

Light Modules.

Challenge

For a 21st century airport in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, nothing should be

business as usual, including the signage. With that in mind Jacobs Carter Burgess—

the architectural firm overseeing the expansion and renovation of the Mineta San

Jose International Airport—put out a call for a fresh approach to building illuminated

wayfinding signs that would essentially reinvent the category.

The architects were looking for a sleek, modern, eco-friendly sign design that fit the

region’s reputation for technology innovation as well as the overall vision for the

airport facelift. The new signs also had to be illuminated by power LEDs made from

the semiconductors that gave Silicon Valley its name. Those requirements led to a

sign cabinet that is just 4” deep—half the 8” depth of models made with standard

fluorescent, neon or LED backlights—and the slimmest double-faced illuminated sign

ever produced.

The design hinges on a perimeter lighting concept utilizing minimum 100-lumen

LUXEON® Rebel LEDs from Philips Lumileds installed in Noveseo™ LED light modules

engineered specifically for the project by Silicon Constellations Inc. in Santa Clara.

The use of solid-state lighting also provides energy efficiency, longevity and other

benefits that advance San Jose’s ‘Green Vision’ agenda for reducing the city’s energy

consumption as well as establishing the region as a role model for sustainable

development.

Thin Is In

The perimeter lighting scheme driving the new airport signs was cooperatively con-

ceived by engineers at Silicon Constellations and Oakland-based Arrow Sign Company.

The idea proposed to David Mastrandrea, architect at Jacobs Carter Burgess, was to

illuminate the signs from within by placing LED modules along the top and bottom

edge of each sign and use an acrylic dif- fuser panel behind the sign faces, creating

A live demo in early 2008 included side-by-side

comparisons of the Rebellious I and four competing

LED modules. The visible difference in performance

helped seal the deal.