Located at the World Trade Centre Abu Dhabi, Tamba is a brand new Indian inspired dining experience with a contemporary twist. The owners, Purple Honey together with interior designers LW Group have created a unique and stylish experience within the loft-style setting. An abundance of decorative handmade lighting pendants and oversize bells form the spectacle of the interior, with individual spaces designed to cater for the casual to the intimate. The rich and intricate theme of the interior flows onto to the terrace where diners can enjoy the views of the Capital City in a sensual environment.

dpa had the pleasure of being invited to join the design team and work closely with the Client and Interior Designers to develop a lighting scheme that would reinforce identity and help bring an emotive quality to the establishment.

Many important considerations needed to be addressed whilst designing the lighting, in particular the daytime and evening operating hours. With the amount of daylight entering the space, the feel of the restaurant dramatically changes throughout the day into late evening. Therefore the lighting needed to address this balance whilst retaining the focus on areas of interest and excitement, this was achieved by layering the lighting so that different elements could come into to play as the natural daylight dissipated. Concealed LED was used predominantly throughout to provide accent to the decorative screens, niches and artwork. Tungsten Halogen was decided for soft illumination of the dining tables because of the warm colour, dimming and most importantly to show case the exquisite food. A touch of theatre is introduced to the terrace with strategically placed gobo pattern projectors to compliment the surroundings and generous use of natural candle light.

All of the lightning is operated by a control system to allow the necessary scenes and seamless transition through the day and night.

Client and Operator: Purple Honey
Project Manager: Al Fara’a Interiors
Interior Designer: LW Design Group