on view
Overland Park Farmers Market – Overland Park, KS
The newly redeveloped Overland Park Farmers Market brings a fresh look to one of the community’s most beloved destinations. Located in the heart of Downtown Overland Park, the revitalized space features a new year-round market pavilion, expanded gathering areas, improved accessibility, additional amenities for vendors and visitors, and a flexible event space designed to serve the community beyond market days. The project enhances the market experience while creating a welcoming destination for residents, local businesses, and visitors to connect and enjoy for years to come.
As visitors arrive at the Overland Park Farmers Market, they are welcomed by Landscape Forms Motive Path Lights lining the entrance walkway and Cooper Lighting Solutions LuxScape Post Top luminaires illuminating the site. The market building itself is accented with Ecosense Rise, while Pilot Cove luminaires from Insight Lighting provide the vibrant blue glow throughout the structure. Further into the space, the staircase leading to Clock Tower Landing is highlighted by Kelvix tape lighting, guiding visitors into the heart of the market.
At the top of the stairs, the iconic clock tower serves as a centerpiece of the market. Acclaim Dyna Accent Color fixtures highlight its architectural presence, while iGuzzini Trick fixtures introduce visual depth and definition within the tower, enhancing its appearance after dark. Overhead, Structura’s catenary lighting system enhances the plaza’s atmosphere with dynamic color and visual impact, helping to transform the market into a welcoming gathering place day and night. Also contributing to the project’s cohesive lighting design are solutions from Brownlee, Experience Brands, KW, Myers Emergency & Power Systems, Selux, Spectrum Lighting, Vista Pro, and Vode. ETC’s Paradigm and Pharos control systems bring the entire lighting installation together, providing flexible control and dynamic lighting capabilities throughout the market and gathering spaces.
The Players:
Architect: PGAV Architects
Engineer: Henderson Engineers
Electrical Contractor: Barts Electric
General Contractor: McCownGordon Construction
Photographs By Brad Hull
insight to light
Why Over‑Bed Lighting Controls Go Sideways — and How to Prevent It
By Brian Diltz, Controls, Mercer Zimmerman
Choose one control path — digital or low‑volt — not both. Mixing them guarantees RFI’s, rework, and unnecessary cost.
A patient’s pillow speaker can do a lot: call a nurse, change the TV, and control the lights. But here’s the real reason over‑bed lighting controls so often go sideways — and the simple choices that prevent rework.
Understanding the Fixture Itself
Over‑bed fixtures typically include several illumination elements — Exam, Ambient, Reading, and Night Light — and each ships with its own driver so it can be switched or dimmed independently. These are usually standard 0–10V drivers; nothing exotic, just multiple zones packaged inside one housing.
So far, so good.
Where Problems Begin
Many fixture manufacturers offer an add‑on called a Low‑Volt Interface or LVPC/LVC module. It’s a small board inside the fixture that accepts simple contact‑closure inputs from devices like pillow speakers. On paper, that sounds convenient. In practice, it introduces several challenges:
- The module has its own built‑in sequence of operations, which may not match the engineer’s intended room‑wide SOO.
- Programming options are limited to a few dip switches.
- Synchronizing multiple fixtures becomes difficult — they can drift out of sync.
- Dimming behavior can be confusing for patients.
- And most importantly: it doesn’t play well with digital control systems.
This is where projects lose time, money, and patience.
A Better Digital Approach
If the project uses a digital lighting control system — Wattstopper+, Wattstopper DLM, ILC EVO, Cooper Wavelinx, ETC Paradigm — you don’t need the fixture’s Low‑Volt module at all.
A device like the Wattstopper LMIN‑104 Input Interface accepts the pillow speaker’s contact closure and lets the technician program any desired sequence of operations, including controlling other room zones beyond the over‑bed fixture.
In other words:
- It replaces the Low‑Volt module
- It enables the pillow‑speaker input
- It keeps all control logic inside the digital system, where it belongs
And because this is the part people miss:
If you’re using a digital lighting control system, do not order the fixture’s Low‑Volt accessory. They cannot coexist.
When a Contact-Only Approach Does Make Sense
There are cases where the Low‑Volt module is perfectly appropriate:
- The over‑bed fixture is the only fixture being controlled
- The desire is to use basic analog lighting controls throughout the room
In these situations, the module’s built‑in SOO may be acceptable — as long as it’s intentional. Just pair it with compatible contact switches (Curbell WPA, Wattstopper LVSW, etc.).
fact-ology
Why TM-30 Matters
Ever bought a light fixture that claimed an 80+ CRI rating, only to find colors still looked a little… off? You’re not alone.
For years, CRI was the lighting industry’s go-to color metric, but it only evaluates 8 color samples. TM-30 takes things much further, analyzing 99 real-world colors and showing not just how accurate colors appear, but also whether they look more vivid, muted, or shifted in hue.
Think of CRI as checking a light source’s report card. TM-30 is more like watching the game film—it tells the whole story. By measuring color fidelity (Rf) and color gamut (Rg), TM-30 helps designers and specifiers better predict how people, products, finishes, and spaces will actually look under a light source.
The takeaway? When it comes to color quality, one number isn’t enough anymore. TM-30 gives us a clearer picture—literally.
Interested in learning more? Mercer Zimmerman’s Brad Hull has a great AIA presentation on TM-30. Complete the form, and we will be in touch!
lighten up
Stepping Up to the Plate in Omaha
The Nebraska office hosted our MZ College World Series Blur Tailgate in Omaha. With beautiful weather and a great turnout, it was a fun and easygoing night. Customers, partners, and friends came together to enjoy good food, great conversation, and the energy of the College World Series. We appreciate the support of our sponsors—Above All, Fluxwerx, Nulite, and RP Lighting.
