The intersection of light and architecture is the essence of projection mapping.

The skyline, made new. Light makes a city more beautiful, more interesting, harder to forget.

Art out of the gallery. Off the venue wall and onto the building, written large for the whole street to read.

1 story or 40. NOVA Light Labs illuminates them all.

Projection mapping is built for architecture

Nothing is seen without light. NOVA takes that further, turning a building into an animated mural after dark. A full facade the street stops to watch.

Few formats pull a crowd like this. A lit building on a dark night is a rare public event, let alone one alive with color, particles, and flowers. A feat no ordinary screen can attempt.

People stop. They stay. They share it with anyone who walks by. They remember it long after the next sun comes up.

Custom visuals shaped by the building itself.

The building sets the rules. Windows, cornices, ledges, doorways, every edge a mark to hit. The constraint is the gift, and the mapping is the magic. Those hard outlines are exactly what give the work its form.

From there, anything. Flowers climb from a window. A waterfall breaks through the front door. A whole facade becomes a palace of neon lights.

Any look imagined, NOVA makes real.

One pioneering method goes slower and stranger. A scale model of the facade, cut in laser board and painted from above in stop motion. Mapped back to the building, a 3 story hand appears to paint it in the sky. Handmade, high tech, larger than life.

System design for architectural projection.

Architecture spans interior and exterior alike, from the inside of Union Station to the face of MoMA. One rule holds across them all. Projected light needs a pale base, so white and light walls read best. Brick, sandstone, and painted murals all map well. True black, mirrors, and open glass do not, since the light finds nothing to hold.

Interiors are pristine. The light stays controlled and the weather stays outside. Some of the richest canvases are ornate, high ceilinged interiors.

Exterior adds variables. The rain, the sun, the seagulls. Street lights, window spill, even a bright moon compete with the projection. NOVA plans for all of it.

This is not an overhead projector and a stack of slides. 5 projectors, 15, sometimes 30, all high lumen, all mapped as 1. That scale demands precise 3D models, site prep, and calibration before the evening, so every angle is solved before guest 1 arrives.

Architecture also suits permanent installation, where NOVA works as the system architect. The studio designs the system, specifies every component, oversees activation, and delivers the documentation and training that keep the light burning for the ages.

"We have a thriving arts community here in Bellingham and it’s always been important for our company to help contribute to the arts in whatever way we can." 

Kane H.
Former Owner
Daylight Properties
The Herald