The majority of the photography for this project is courtesy of:
Mandarin Oriental / George Apostolidis

The Hotel du Rhône is located on the banks of the River Rhône in the centre of Geneva.

Originally designed by the noted Swiss architect Marc-Joseph Saugey, the hotel’s ground floor public spaces underwent a major refurbishment in 2007/08, shortly after the hotel was acquired by the Mandarin Oriental Group.

dpa lighting design were responsible for the lighting within the public spaces, including the entrance lobby, reception, lounge bar and two restaurants; “Le Sud” an all day brasserie with a menu by the French chef Paul Bocuse and “Rasoi” an Indian Restaurant run by acclaimed Indian chef Vineet Bhatia

dpa worked closely with the interior designer, Tihany Design, to create different identities for each of areas whilst maintaining visual cohesion between the discrete spaces. Where possible luminaires were concealed from direct view, allowing the rich materials and finishes specified by the interior designer to be revealed, whilst minimising the potential visual distraction from the lighting equipment itself.

A particular challenge of this project was meeting the strict energy usage requirements laid out by the local government. This was achieved through the careful selection of appropriate luminaires and high efficacy light sources and the use of a micro-processor based lighting control system. The control system allowed the mood of each individual area to be determined according to the uses of the space and the time of day.

Operator: Mandarin Oriental
Interior Designer: Tihany Design