When the Design Team for UC Davis Health’s California Tower began planning the facility’s lighting system, it had a unique advantage just down the road: a university research center with 15 years of experience building and studying full-scale mock-ups of clinical spaces. Rather than joining as commercial consultants, Director Jae Yong Suk and Former Director Michael Siminovitch of CLTC served as faculty advisors, bringing public-service expertise to the design team. Over the course of five years, CLTC’s expertise and laboratories were available to integrated design firm SmithGroup, UC Davis Health as owner, and the contractors who would build the tower. This collaboration yielded far more than a technical specification; it produced consensus across stakeholders to implement comprehensive, building-wide circadian supportive lighting environments rather than limiting it to a single pilot floor or room.
Learn more about the study in the November 2026 LD+A Research article, co-authored by Veronica Then, Matt Alleman, Nathan Sharnas, Cori Jackson, Michael Siminovitch, and Professor Jae Yong Suk.