The headquarters of the Morgan Lewis international law office is distinguished by an un-usual design feature: a so-called “solar light pipe”. The 12-storey building was increased in height by two storeys and extended at the side. In the new tract, a roughly 20 x 2.5 m courtyard was created, which rises over a height of 50 m. To ensure adequate illumination in the offices and library that overlook this space, James Carpenter and Davidson Norris, the lighting designers, developed a roughly 36-metre-long light column or “pipe”, which extends from the atrium roof to about 4.5 m above the courtyard level. The pipe has a double-skin construction, with an outer layer of tensioned synthetic-fibre fabric and a core consisting of glass prisms – fixed in steel frames and held in position by radial rods. The glass core tapers from a diameter of 175 cm at the top to 50 cm at the bottom. A rooftop heliostat that follows the course of the sun focuses solar light and projects it via a mirror into the glass core, where the prisms reflect the light downwards. The structure is suspended from the roof and fixed by cables at regular intervals to the side facades. The light pipe makes the rhythm of the day and seasons perceptible through changing lighting conditions. When the sky is overcast, artificial light from spotlights on the roof is reflected into the pipe. At night, lights of changing colour temperature lend the column a sculptural character.