As part of RAB Lighting’s transformation from a traditional lighting manufacturer into an environmentally-focused tech company that is capable of developing new, innovative products quickly, the company sought to create an in-house testing and prototyping facility at their headquarters in Northvale, NJ.
RAB desired to significantly reduce the time and cost of developing new products by providing in-house facilities for the design, testing, and fabrication of prototypes. Rapid prototyping decreases the time it takes to bring a new product to market, allowing the company to innovate and grow more quickly and effectively.
Rather than treat this as a generic industrial project, we considered this an opportunity to create a design feature to highlight some of RAB’s recently-developed and introduced products because this facility would become part of a campus tour for RAB’s customers during their intense training sessions.
This 3,400 sq. ft. facility contains a clean room, housing an enormous robotic Swiss-built machine that fabricates LED circuit boards using a fully automated pick-and-place assembly line. In addition to prototyping and product design, this machine can be run 24 hours a day to support production and reduce lead-time of the custom orders assembled at RAB’s adjacent factory. The clean room was painted RAB red, and features a random pattern of RAB’s linear BOA fixtures (which had just been released for sale), creating a dynamic and exciting space.
Adjacent to the clean room is an open project area for design engineers which includes a machine shop, 3D printer, and work tables for building and assembling prototypes. This project area is open to the full 22-foot high ceilings, and is partially illuminated by a series of LED panels that wrap one side of the clean room, creating a striking and unusual display of RAB’s LED panel products.
Behind the clean room are the testing facilities which include rain machines, ovens for testing extreme temperature, drop testers, and a UL testing room. These are accessed through a red wall and soffit that dynamically cuts through the space, and is illuminated by a random pattern of RAB’s linear BOA fixtures that appear to flow from the adjacent clean room.
We have received feedback from RAB that during their training tours, the groups are unexpectedly amazed by the striking design of this facility. After visiting the testing lab, visitors are constantly leaving behind enthusiastic “wows”, positive comments, and snapping photos to share their excitement of the facility.