The Grosvenor House in Dubai is already well established as an excellent hotel together with its iconic Buddha Bar. Grosvenor House Tower Two was completed in 2011. dpa lighting consultants worked closely with LW Design on the Embassy Club, Siddharta Lounge by Buddha Bar and Toro Toro. The hotel states it is “Poised to turn up the heat considerably in the city’s already famed dining scene, it pioneers tastes from Buenos Aires to São Paulo and offers a multitude of Pan Latin dining experiences paired with an infinite Cachaça Bar”.

The multi-layered lighting provides an appropriately evocative atmosphere for such an important restaurant. The circular coffers in a burnt orange are illuminated with concealed light, the backlit stone walls create a striking feature, pendants over key tables offer intimacy, features are high-lit with adjustable spotlights, etc. Every element on the interior has had the lighting carefully considered to reveal surprises throughout the restaurant complex, which is spread out over two levels. As ever, decorative lights and candles are as important as any other lighting device to create the ambience.

As with almost all dpa projects, the control of the lighting is activated by a scene-set system that has pre-determined lighting scenarios.