In 2010, Morlights was brought into a GSA-led renovation at the U.S. Post Office Loop Station, part of the Mies van der Rohe–designed John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and Federal Center complex in downtown Chicago.
The mission was twofold: convert the outdated lighting system from metal halide to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and preserve the architectural integrity of one of the most rigorously designed modernist civic spaces in the country.
What began as a budget-driven energy retrofit became something more. It became an opportunity to restore an original ceiling detail, improve lighting performance, and prepare the system for a smooth transition to LED more than a decade later, all while controlling costs.
A Retrofit Rooted in Design
The original retrofit project was assigned to Block Electric, which brought in Morlights to assist with value engineering. At that point, the plan called for installing three-lamp CFL fixtures and a Lutron control system. However, the project’s limited budget meant only half the space could be addressed.
With a combination of creativity and technical precision, Morlights proposed a smarter solution.
Given the constraints, the team found a way to meet the full lighting needs of the post office while staying below the budget. They achieved this by converting some downlights to two-lamp units and keeping the rest as three-lamp fixtures. As a result, the complete design requirements were met without compromise. The team also recommended replacing the Lutron controls with a more maintainable Crestron system and DALI Controls rather than EcoSystem. This helped reduce long-term costs and simplified system integration.
These strategic decisions allowed the full lighting system to be upgraded without sacrificing performance or architectural intent.
In the Details
The most critical aspect of the project was not electrical or budgetary. It was architectural.
The recessed downlights in the ceiling include a subtle but deliberate reveal between the plaster and the fixture. Original documentation showed a three-quarter-inch gap, defined by a minimal aluminum baffle, separating the luminaire from the surrounding ceiling.
In practice, the reveal was often closer to an inch or more. Rather than force the detail to match the drawing, they made careful adjustments to preserve the architectural language. The gap remained proportionally consistent and continued to support the crisp, rational geometry that defines the space.
This level of care acts as an echo of Mies van der Rohe’s belief that “G-d is in the details.” Preserving the reveal, even while updating the lighting technology, became a central act of design stewardship.
The Future is Now: LED Systems
By 2023, compact fluorescent technology had become obsolete. Lamps and ballasts were no longer readily available. The system needed to evolve, and Morlights returned to guide the transition to LED.
Thanks to the groundwork laid in 2010, the shift was straightforward. Fixtures had been designed for easy access and modular replacement. No ceiling demolition was needed. The new LED system brought greater energy efficiency, improved light quality, and longer operational life, all while preserving the existing layout, control zones, and ceiling details.
Morlights’ work on historically significant projects like this shows that preservation is not a constraint. It is a framework for creative problem solving. In this case, the creativity was interpretive. It required understanding the space, the materials, and the intention behind every line. The goal was not to reinvent the room. It was to carry forward the logic already present.
“It is a grid upon a grid with a grid,” said Morlights founding principal and CEO, Avraham Mor. “Every line has meaning. The seams in the stone, the mullions, the lights, the plaster joints - they all align. You change one thing, and you risk losing the rhythm.”
Public Dollars, Public Design
As a GSA property, the renovation was funded with public money. That made fiscal responsibility as essential as design integrity. Morlights restored a historically significant ceiling detail, expanded the lighting scope, and prepared the system for the future, all within the original budget.
From metal halide to CFL in 2010, and from CFL to LED in 2025, the lighting at the U.S. Post Office Loop Station continues to evolve. Thanks to thoughtful and well-documented design decisions, that evolution has remained seamless, cost-effective, and invisible to the public eye.
Morlights did not just change lamps. They carried forward the current - of energy, of logic, of design, and of Mies’s enduring commitment to detail