Design Solution

Grain, Uninterrupted

Lexington Ave · Highland Park, Dallas

PROTOTYPING · DETAILING · INTEGRATION

The lighting detail was meant to become part of the walnut architecture, not another object applied to it.

A custom steplight was developed to follow the curved walnut millwork without disrupting its continuous grain. Rather than cutting a conventional rectangular aperture into the paneling, the opening rolls inward through a curved profile so the light appears to emerge from within the wood.

The geometry was also photometric. A simple angled recess would have produced a visibly hotter plane beside the surrounding vertical surface. The curved transition was developed to create a smoother gradation while preserving the visual continuity of the walnut.

Drawings established the laminate build-up, fixture rabbet and continuation of the species veneer into the opening. Physical samples then tested what the drawing could not: whether the curve felt natural, whether the grain remained continuous, and whether the finished assembly read as millwork first and lighting second.

The wood dictated the fixture—not the other way around.

Lighting detail drawing coordinating veneer, curved plywood and fixture channel

Project design correspondence explaining the need for a curved recess and smooth light gradation — Design-direction correspondence: the curve was driven by the required light gradation, not simply by appearance

Unfinished walnut fabrication sample showing the integrated curved recess

Physical prototype used to study the curved luminous opening

Finished Lexington Ave walnut millwork in architectural context

Making the Detail Disappear

The finished result is intentionally quiet. The work is in recognizing that a standard aperture would compromise the architecture, developing a new geometry, and communicating it precisely enough that Morgan Cabinetry could fabricate the lighting and millwork as one continuous element.