April 2026Project In Pictures

PROJECT IN PICTURES Supporting the Local Library

Elisabeth Martin and USAI Lighting |

Photos: Robert Lowell Photography

Bookworms in Oceanside, NY, can rejoice with the completion of the updates to the Oceanside Library, which serves over 25,000 registered cardholders and offers more than 258,000 items. The design by architect Elisabeth Martin, principal at MDA Designgroup, with lighting fixtures by USAI Lighting, makes this state-of-the-art community hub a sustainable, supportive space for end users. The combination of biophilic design-inspired materials and finishes, abundant natural illumination, and electric light with high CRI values and dimming capability earned the project a Lighting Design Award from the Long Island Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; the lighting scheme not only showcases the library’s resources, it “enhance[s] what we call ‘people space,’ and support[s] staff work needs,” said Martin.

Curvy accent lighting at the welcome desk allows the project to avoid the typical utilitarian aesthetic of libraries-past, while BeveLED 2.2 fixtures fill out the space and avoid “dead zones.”

Powerful, even illumination throughout the project makes it easy for guests to read book covers and spines.

In the site’s “Main Spine,” a cozy area with armchairs, a mix of BeveLED 2.2 fixtures, Micro Multi-Cell fixtures in wood ceiling slats, linear pendants, and circular accents, provide ample and comfortable illumination.

Inside the library’s theater, where events like the “Monday Movie Matinee” take place, LittleOnes Micro 1.25-in. square fixtures with black millwork trim are placed into large wood panels to provide soft illumination, while another use of BeveLEDs provides additional lighting at the point of egress.

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