Award-winning green wall highlights Luxottica’s Long Island headquarters

The coolest element in Luxottica’s Long Island headquarters built by J.T. Magen was the green living wall in the two-story atrium, says Hank Hintze, project executive. “The plant foliage colors actually spell out the name Luxottica across the green wall.”

Plant size at installation date was a tricky detail. “To ensure the exact plants at the right size, we went to the grow house six months ahead of installation to select the plants and place the order for the number of each variety to be at a certain size by the delivery date,” Hintze explains.

While the plants were growing, J.T. Magen was building the structure to hold the plants, with integrated water filtration system, drainage and waterproofing, grow lighting, and a timing system for lights and watering.

Living wall earns accolades

The green wall is the centerpiece of the Luxottica build-out, and earned an award from Interior Design as a finalist for Green Solutions in the 2015 MakeItWork Awards.

The Port Washington, NY headquarters for the Italian eyewear manufacturer designed by Mojo Stumer Associates started with the complete gut of an existing building. J.T. Magen re-built the infrastructure and added a new exterior façade with large glass panels.

Carving out an atrium

The new interior required cutting out a section of the floor to create the two-story atrium. It’s topped with a faceted skylight that provides natural light to the ground floor seating area and central green living wall.

The ceiling designs presented yet another project element that required exacting attention to detail, says Hintze. The encased floating ceiling pods with recessed lighting and stainless steel surrounds required custom metal fabrication. They create a nice effect in the spaces, he adds.