Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels, Belgium

Formerly the Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels, the reimagined Belle Epoque landmark now comprises 126 beautifully designed rooms and suites, an exquisite restaurant, and a subterranean spa. At the centre of the interior, Palm Court features a hand-crafted stained-glass skylight, extending to an elegant ballroom and intimate private dining spaces.

dpa lighting consultants worked closely with GA Design to ensure that both the refurbished and newly introduced lighting elements preserved and enhanced the character of this historic building, whilst supporting the interior design narrative in tandem with the Corinthia brand.  Due to the sensitivity of the building fabric, it was important for the lighting implementation to minimise intrusion and visual clutter.  The lighting equipment is neatly integrated and concealed where appropriate, within decorative layers, such as chandeliers, wall lights, table lamps, cornices and furniture details, and the extent to which recessed downlights were employed was reduced in the historic spaces.  Extensive lighting trials were undertaken to ensure that the technical lighting equipment specifications worked in harmony with the materiality and detailing, for instance a section of the hand-crafted stained-glass skylight was constructed in a warehouse and lighting tests completed to determine the most appropriate placement and colour temperature range for the lighting, taking in to account the natural light ingress in Palm Court.

The various lighting components are balanced in intensity via the architectural lighting control system, which provides dimming and is programmed to facilitate a palette of lighting ambiances that are curated and correspond to the venue, functionality, and time of day.

The historic facade is beautifully presented externally with its prominence on Rue Royale, having been relit following extensive lighting trials and articulated with sensitively positioned architectural lighting, which celebrate key features that define and celebrate this landmark building.

It has been a privilege for dpa to have experienced the 8-year refurbishment journey, from inception to delivery.

Client: Corinthia
Client Representative: RBW Estate
Interior Designer: GA Design
Architect: Ma2
Project Managers: QPM
Procurement: Argenta Projects Ltd
General Contractor: Group Jansen
Photography: Courtesy of Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels

Christ’s Chapel, Dulwich, UK

As part of the refurbishment works for Christ’s Chapel, Dulwich, a new lighting scheme was required to elevate both the atmosphere and functionality of the space. dpa’s final scheme not only addressed the practical requirements of the chapel but also accentuated its numerous liturgical elements and highlighted the 17th-century architecture.

The chapel’s obvious highlights, such as columns, altar, reredos, and stained-glass windows became integral elements in the design. In addition, dpa aimed to enhance the more subtle elements within the space by employing lighting equipment that seamlessly blended with the traditional architecture.

High-level track-mounted spotlights were strategically placed to offer a discreet yet flexible and functional lighting solution for the altar. Simultaneously, these spotlights accentuated the decorative reredos, serving as a focal point in the chancel area of the chapel.

Recessed downlights were used to illuminate feature plaques along the perimeter, while miniature lighting fixtures were installed to focus attention to the decorative shields and central font at the rear of the chapel.

Soft, warm-toned LED uplights delicately grazed the textured surfaces, accentuating the structural elegance while creating a soothing ambiance to the perimeter window frames and throughout the chapel.

Client: The Dulwich Estate
Photography: dpa Lighting Consultants

The OWO, Whitehall, London, UK

The former Old War Office building in Whitehall, which once served as the headquarters for statesmen including Winston Churchill and, which was the inspiration for writer Ian Fleming to pen his James Bond spy novels, opened in September as The OWO. Situated at one of London’s most historically important and powerful addresses, the Grade II*-listed building has undergone a grand transformation and is home to 9 destination restaurants and 3 bars, a 120-room Raffles London at The OWO, and The OWO Residences by Raffles. The OWO Residences by Raffles is the very first in Raffles residences in the UK and Europe.

The OWO has been reborn as a new culinary epicentre for the capital. Transformed through years of meticulous restoration, it is home to an impressive 9 new restaurants and 3 bars. Led by world-renowned chefs and restaurateurs, each of The OWO’s dining spaces and bars showcases an unrivalled selection of international cuisines and dining experiences. From early morning power breakfasts and lunches with the political elite to glamorous evening rendezvous, this monumental building celebrates a new chapter as a bustling culinary hub in the heart of Whitehall, unlike anywhere else in London.

The Guerlain Spa is home to a dedicated well-being concept spa delivered by Guerlain and members’ health club by movement specialists, Pillar.

The first in the UK, the Guerlain Spa spans 27,000 square feet over four floors of Raffles London at The OWO. Facilities and services include a gym and movement studio, a 20-metre swimming pool surrounded by loungers, a vitality pool, and steam and sauna rooms. 9 treatment rooms include 3 VIP Spa Suites and a private hair and beauty space.

Movement specialists Pillar operate the members’ health club at Raffles London at The OWO, constructed around the three pillars of human wellbeing – Movement, Nutrition and Recovery.  Born out of a need for the modern high-performing individual to have their wellness needs consistently met wherever they happen to be on the planet. Members, guests, and residents can train, eat, learn, grow, work and socialise with Pillar. These unparalleled facilities help them excel on their chosen life path.

To find out further information about this project please visit www.theowo.london, www.raffles.com/london, www.theowo.london/restaurants-and-bars and pillarwellbeing.com.

To learn more about the story of this magnificent transformation, click here.

Joint Shareholders: Hinduja Group and Onex Holding
Hotel Operator: Raffles London at The OWO
Architect: EPR Architects
Designers: 
Raffles London at The OWO: The Office of Thierry W Despont
The Guerlain Spa/Swimming Pool and Wellness Areas: Goddard Littlefair
The OWO Residences by Raffles: 1508 London (Public Areas and Apartments Base Build) & Winch Design (Penthouse)
Landscaped Residents’ Garden: Marcus Barnett and The Gardenists
Water Feature in Grand Courtyard: DaeWha Kang Studio
Photography: Courtesy of The OWO and Raffles London at The OWO and James Newton

 

Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO
The OWO Residences by Raffles
The OWO Residences by Raffles
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles London at The OWO

Lower Library Reading Room, Merton College, Oxford

The redesign and refurbishment of the Lower Library Reading Room has brought the space up to modern standards with a refresh which included an upgrade to the previous inefficient and bulky light sources.  The brief called for a lighting scheme that increased functional lighting levels to the bookshelves and desks whilst offering visual comfort.  dpa worked closely with the college and lead designer, Furniture in Architecture to produce a neatly integrated lighting solution consisting of several separately controlled layers, which blend to declutter and compliment this historic interior space.

The lighting installation is reversible with minimal impact to the fabric of the building and consists of bronze finish cantilevered bookcase lighting, concealed linear uplighting to the ceiling and selected bookcases and architectural uplighting to the reveals of the central window, which reinforces the main geometry of the library. Table lamps have also been added to the desks for task lighting. All sources are energy efficient and 2700k warm white LED.

Client: Merton College, Oxford
Lead Designer: Luke Hughes, Furniture in Architecture
Electrical Services Engineer: Darke & Taylor
Photography: dpa lighting consultants

 

The Benefactor’s Arch, Merton College, Oxford, UK

The Benefactor’s Arch project is an exterior historic link connecting the college’s Front Quadrangle which is accessed through the Gatehouse/Porter’s Lodge off Merton Street, and the adjacent St Alban’s Quadrangle.  The space has been transformed from a dark and functional external place that had been more of a storage facility in recent years, and remodelled to form a point of gathering for the college and visitors to pause, sit, stand, and hold conversation, whilst enjoying the architectural features, new urban furniture, and college plaques, which have been sensitively lit.  The new lighting scheme has positively contributed to the public realm in making this piece of the college more accessible, usable, comfortable, and welcoming by virtue of the quality lit environment, which has an atmospheric, warm, and residential feel about it.

dpa worked closely with the project team to develop a sympathetic and integrated lighting scheme with minimal disturbance to the historic fabric, with ease of reversibility for feature needs and alterations.  One key requirement was to improve the functional ambient light levels, but to achieve this in a subtle and measured way.  A brightness hierarchy was established, with the new seating bench area accentuated with concealed lighting to the underside, ‘floating’ this from the existing stone slabs.  The timber panelling was utilised to accommodate concealed uplighting to provide a layer of ambient indirect light to wash up on to the white ceiling, whilst a surface mounted pattress was applied to the soffit to house miniature semi-recessed adjustable downlights with appropriate optics, aimed and focussed at the plaques.  The discreet ceiling downlights are also used to depict the entrance arch architectural stone detailing.  Lighting also brushes down the engraved college shields in the carpentry.  The main plaque was backlit using a ‘Light Sheet’ product, essentially a uniformly glowing lit sheet placed behind the font, with changeable colour temperature, cool to warm white to coincide with the time of day.  The lighting is controlled via an architectural lighting control system, accessed via a smart phone app, as well as being automatically controlled for ease of day-to-day operation.  The various lighting ‘layers’ are separately controlled, so variation and lit composition can be achieved via dimming the lighting channels, using a small number of lighting scenes.

Client: Merton College, Oxford
Concept Architects: BGS Architects, Oxford (ceased trading September 2020)
Contract Administrator/Principal Designer: Ridge + Partners, Oxford
Electrical Contractor: N & M Electrical Ltd
Photography: dpa lighting consultants

 

Retail Street, Belgravia, London, UK

Nestled in Belgravia, this Retail Street formed of numerous Grade 2 listed buildings, features a mix of shops and restaurants at the ground floor, with numerous residential properties located on the floors above.

The client wished to illuminate the façades at the entrances of the street to act as a gateway, accentuating the rhythm of the architecture, promoting interest from afar, subtly aiding navigation and wayfinding, and creating a pleasant backdrop to the events happening within the street.

Extensive product research and in-situ testing was undertaken to identify a suitable luminaire that could be used for the uplighting of the buildings, giving consideration to lighting quality, physical appearance, cost, and most importantly, light distribution qualities, to ensure that no spill light would cause distraction to the residents of the buildings.

There were no direct electrical links between the different façades being illuminated, therefore to avoid the need to lay new physical cables, the different façades are all controlled via a lighting control system local to the façade. These discrete control systems all work seamlessly together via mobile telephone network communications, giving secure remote cloud software access, which also assists the client’s facilities and maintenance team.

For normal operation, a white lighting scheme is utilised however, to mark special events and celebrations, a number of different coloured lighting scenes have been programmed. These special lighting scenes are all programmed into a calendar which, using the cloud software access, the client’s facilities team can adjust for changing dates of festivals and to celebrate occasional one-off events. The lighting controls smoothly dim the feature façade lighting to off at curfew, and ensure that, post any special events, the lighting returns to the normal white light appearance, ensuring a fully automated lighting installation is achieved.

Planning Consultant: DP9
Lead Contractor: Grangewood Builders
Electrical Contractor: Solomon Electrical Services
Photography: James Newton Photographs

 

Al Maktoum Residence, Dubai, UAE

The house of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum was built in 1896 and was inhabited by the Sheikh from 1912 until his death in 1958. Al Maktoum Residence charts the meteoric rise of Dubai from regional town to global metropolis. Visitors to the museum will gain a fascinating insight into the history of this pioneering region and its most famous family, history and conflicts.

The museum consists of over 30 rooms, each dedicated to differing narratives of the Al Maktoum Family. From the terraces you can appreciate the historic view of Dubai Creek and the Persian Gulf whilst on the other hand the contemporary city skyline reminds you of Dubai’s ambition and future direction.

Working closely with GSM Project, dpa developed a lighting scheme to help the viewer understand the significant local, regional and global contexts of the Al Maktoum Family, Dubai and their closely interwoven heritage.

In conjunction with the Perfume House and Story of the Creek, dpa developed a robust, pragmatic yet flexible lighting concept that enabled all aspects of the Al Maktoum Residence experience to develop at an individual level.

Architectural features have been highlighted to enhance the traditional building materials and techniques, whilst contemporary exhibition interventions are dealt with sympathetically.

Conservation played a major role in the illumination of certain spaces. Lighting equipment was sensitively located in order to provide maximum function with minimal impact.

Technology has formed a significant part of the realisation of this project. A sophisticated, dedicated architectural lighting control system forms the backbone of the scheme, ensuring the correct operation of the system whilst delivering flexibility along with cost and environmental benefits.

Client: Dubai Municipality 
Interior/Exhibition Designer: GSM Project
AV Consultant: XYZ Cultural Technologies
Photography: Alex Jeffries Photography Group
Visuals: dpa lighting consultants

The Beaumont, London, UK

dpa lighting consultants were delighted to be commissioned by The Beaumont owners to work with the design team on the refurbishment of this very important London hotel. Working closely with The Office of Thierry W Despont, the interior designers, Reardon Smith Architects and Project Managers Gardiner & Theobald, dpa developed appropriately sensitive lighting solutions to the various key public areas and new guestrooms/suites. Inspired by the great hotels of the 1920’s and in an Art Deco building located in the heart of Mayfair and the West End but secluded in a quiet garden square, the property maintains the elegance one would expect of a luxury five-star London hotel.

The architectural lighting is carefully integrated into the building fabric whilst splendid decorative fixtures reinforce the design style and character of the property. Each element is separately controlled and linked to a scene set dimming system changing throughout the day and night to provide the perfect atmosphere at all times. The decorative lighting uses appropriate LED lamps as does the architectural elements to provide an energy efficient scheme. Where practical the existing control system was used and adapted to accommodate the new requirements. The Colony Grill with its artificial roof light has the feeling of day time and then changes to a soft warm glow as night falls. The adjacent Gatsby’s Room adorned with books and dramatic art provides a wonderful space to relax or enjoy light food and drinks. The signature Le Magritte Bar & Terrace further reinforces the Art Deco language with an impressive bar and artwork.

Interior Design: The Office of Thierry W Despont
Architect: Reardon Smith Architects
M&E Consultant: Hurley Palmer Flatt Group
Project Managers: G&T (Gardiner & Theobald)
AV Consultant: LMS AV
Photography: ZAC and ZAC; Helen Cathcart

Oceanic House, London, UK

Oceanic House is a Grade II listed building which was formerly the London headquarters for the White Star Line – the company that built the RMS Titanic.

The former office building has been sympathetically converted into seven luxury residences.

Lighting was carefully designed to allow future residents flexibility in how they fit-out the interior spaces of their property, giving consideration to lighting of different activities, furnishing and artwork locations, and provision for future chandeliers, wall-lights and table-lamps. Lighting was also carefully detailed and integrated into fixed joinery elements, such as wardrobes.

Each residence has their own dedicated lighting control system for the creation of different lighting scenes and moods.

The project was awarded 5 Stars for the UK Best Architecture Multiple Residence in the 2018 International Property Awards.

Client: Misland Capital
Architect: BLDA Architects
Photography: Adam Parker

 

Church Project, Worcestershire, UK

This beautiful Grade I listed church set in a beautiful Cotswold stone village dates back to circa 1040, when the massive double row of stone columns was erected.  The chancel is an excellent small scale Early English example: vaulted roof and delicate tracery, carved bosses and capitals and elegant lancet windows. In the 14th century north and south aisles were added, the roof of the nave raised and the clerestory windows above the columns enclosed inside the building.  The pulpit is likely to have been made from the rood screen panels once dividing the body of the church from the choir and chancel and the font is Norman with carved stone panels.

The design brief was to greatly improve the functional lighting levels to the congregation, whilst sympathetically articulating a selection of architectural elements for visitors to enjoy.  Through various lighting trials and close collaboration with the project team, a highly successful scheme using energy efficient 2700k LED sources has been skilfully implemented, controlled by a Rako control system, using under 1200w of energy.

Our Client was extremely pleased with the finished project, as can be seen by this wonderful testimonial provided by the Church Warden:

“The Overbury Church lighting scheme brilliantly created by dpa lighting consultants and so sensitively installed by Hampton Electrical, has transformed our already beautiful Grade I ancient building.  Arches and hitherto unnoticed architectural features have been immeasurably enhanced and being able to use different “settings” means that we are now able to promote the building for lots of secular events in addition to church services.  We could not be more delighted.”  

Installing Contractor: Andy Nott, Hampton Electrical Systems Ltd
Electrical Consultant: Ian Cramp, DAC Lighting and Electrics Adviser
Photography: dpa lighting consultants

 

 

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge – Old Hall, Wilkins Stair & Parker Room, UK

dpa were invited to work with Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (founded in 1321) and NRAP Architects, to design a lighting scheme that would complement and enhance the proposed renovations to the Servery (within the Old Hall), Wilkins Stair and Parker Room.

The architectural transformation has restored the medieval space to its former splendour; rediscovering the beautiful, original features that had been hidden for many years.  dpa’s aim was to provide a lighting scheme that was not only functional, but also discrete and sympathetic in the techniques used to highlight these historical characteristics; such as the elegant timber beam frame and elaborate stone corbels of the Servery and the gothic stone arches and intricate moulded plaster ceiling of the Wilkins Stair.  The lighting scheme in the Parker Room now provides complete flexibility for use of the space, from lectures to private dining and the portrait collection that had never been illuminated before, is now fully admired, adorning the walls with prominence.

A sophisticated, automated control system ensures the lighting is set to the most efficient and effective levels throughout the day, whilst the simple and intuitive control panels in each room give the College further flexibility to create appropriate lighting scenes for the various functions that are held.

Client: Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Architect: NRAP Architects, Cambridge
Photography: David Valinsky

 

Perfume House, Al Shindagha Museum, Dubai, UAE

Located within the dynamic and ever evolving Shindagha district this new addition to Dubai’s renowned cultural quarter, the Perfume House represents a valuable insight into Emirati Culture, Social Rituals and Heritage.

The re-appropriation of the building, consisting of one main covered gallery with smaller galleries and an external courtyard, help to trace and define the narrative of scent and perfume making through the ages.

Individual galleries tell the story of the regions complex and personal relationship with scent and perfume whilst detailing the geopolitical and demographic impact associated with the inevitable trade routes that developed and strengthened over time.

GSM Project developed a blend of traditional, contemporary, unique, interactive and immersive spaces that delight the senses whilst delivering a strong educational and heritage message.

dpa responded to this brief through the development of a robust yet flexible lighting concept that enabled all aspects of the museum experience to develop at an individual level.

Traditional exhibits such as vessels and stone work were illuminated to enhance their tactile and material qualities. More contemporary exhibits such as interactive screens and scent stations demanded a less intensive approach to illumination.

The building itself is a canvas upon which the exhibition is cast.

Extensive use of existing architectural features have been highlighted to reveal colour, contrast, form and texture helping to complement and reinforce the sense of heritage within the building.

Technology has formed a significant part of the realisation of this project.  A sophisticated, dedicated architectural lighting control system forms the backbone of the scheme, ensuring the correct operation of the system whilst delivering flexibility along with cost and environmental benefits.

Client: Dubai Municipality
Exhibition Designer: GSM Project
AV Consultant: XYZ Cultural Technologies
Photography: Alex Jeffries Photography Group

Dubai Creek: Birth of a City, Al Shindagha Museum, Dubai, UAE

Located within the dynamic and ever evolving Shindagha District this new addition to Dubai’s renowned cultural quarter, Dubai Creek: Birth of a City represents a valuable insight into Dubai’s historic and remarkable contemporary story.

The exhibition, consisting of several main galleries and an interactive cinema experience help to retell the story of Dubai Creek and its most important asset, it’s people.

GSM Project developed a blend of traditional, contemporary, unique, interactive and immersive spaces that delight the senses whilst delivering a strong educational and heritage message.

In conjunction with the Perfume House, dpa lighting responded to this brief through the development of a robust yet flexible lighting concept that enabled all aspects of the museum experience to develop at an individual level.

Traditional exhibits such as maps and chandlery were illuminated to enhance their tactile and material qualities.  More contemporary exhibits such as interactive models and history stations demanded a less intensive approach to illumination.

Architectural features have been highlighted to enhance the contemporary exhibition interventions against the more traditional building fabric whilst still revealing colour, contrast, form and texture

Technology has formed a significant part of the realisation of this project.  A sophisticated, dedicated architectural lighting control system forms the backbone of the scheme, ensuring the correct operation of the system whilst delivering flexibility along with cost and environmental benefits.

Conservation also played a major role in the illumination of certain spaces and artefacts within this exhibition. dpa worked closely with the curators to deliver precise amounts of illumination to specific sensitive exhibits.

Client: Dubai Municipality
Exhibition Designer: GSM Project
AV Consultant: XYZ Cultural Technologies
Photography: Alex Jeffries Photography Group

Exeter College, Oxford, UK

dpa lighting consultants were approached by Exeter College, Oxford to design a new lighting scheme for their Margary Quadrangle and Entrance Lodge, which formed phase one of their external lighting improvement strategy.

The existing heritage lanterns were refurbished were possible utilising modern LED light sources and additional replica fixtures were installed in key positions to enhance the lit appearance of the quadrangle.

Modern spotlights were utilised in the Entrance Lodge area to illuminate the ornate vaulted arches and breathe new life into the stunning architecture.

 

Client:  Exeter College, Oxford
Architect: GBS Architects, Oxford
Electrical Consultants: RT Harris, Oxford

 

Hackney Town Hall, London, UK

Over the last 10 years, Hackney Town Hall has undergone an extensive refurbishment of the interior areas, the final phase of which was completed this year, celebrating the building’s 80th anniversary. Working closely with Hawkins Brown Architects and London Borough of Hackney Council, dpa developed a sensitive lighting approach to the Main Entrance and Reception space, Marriage Suites, First Floor Lobby, Council Chamber, Mayor’s Office and the newly created Atria spaces.

Throughout these spaces a number of the existing art-deco heritage luminaires were refurbished by Madson Black, including the stunning feature chandeliers in the Council Chamber. dpa provided technical input into the integration of new LED light sources, to ensure the luminaires provided an improved light level, lit appearance and longevity, to reduce the need for maintenance. As well as the refurbishments, a number of luminaires were newly manufactured in the same art-deco style, taking key design elements from the existing heritage luminaires, to maintain a sympathetic approach to lighting the refreshed interiors and work within the installation constraints of a listed building.

The previously unused courtyard areas have been completely transformed into a covered atria. The introduction of an ETFE roof structure offers fantastic additional event space, whilst maintaining excellent daylight ingress allowing use throughout the entire year. The lighting to these spaces is very flexible, to respond to the various daylight conditions and multitude of events that the Town Hall hosts, including recessed uplighting to brickwork, custom wall mounted spotlights, decorative wall lighting, narrow beam linear projectors to the feature wall panelling and colour change lighting to the roof structure and lift shaft.

As part of the repurposing of the courtyard areas, building services run through new risers constructed within each courtyard. The new riser constructions closed off two large existing windows, reducing the natural light levels within the first floor lobby area. To help negate this and generally improve the light levels in this space during the winter months, dpa designed lightboxes to the rear of the existing windows, containing tuneable white light sources to mimic the effects and colour temperature changes of daylight throughout the day and continue a warm white lit effect into the evenings. In conjunction with this, a series of transparent light sheets were installed behind the frosted glass panels within the adjacent skylight in this lobby, allowing natural light to pass through during the day and then emit a homogenous backlight during hours of darkness. Again, tuneable white lighting was used, to be able to match the colour temperature between the windows and the skylight throughout the day, through the use of the lighting control system.

Client: Hackney Council
Architect: Hawkins Brown Architects
Design Consultants: Turner Bates
Photography: James Newton

Night of Heritage Light – Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, UK

dpa were invited to take part in an event on 29th September 2017 showcasing the talents of the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) (and CIBSE) and in particular the local members, the wider community and research expertise within Oxford. This event was part of another Night of Heritage Light & Pockets of Light (NoHL & PoL) organised by the SLL and CIBSE. It was also in collaboration with the Curiosity Carnival as part of the European Researchers’ Night across 25 Countries celebrating research and science.

Lighting is an art form as well as a science and as lighting designers we are challenged with new technologies, which ultimately provide an improvement to our ability to design creative schemes. Science and technology play a huge role in lighting development and provide us with more incredible tools in which to design, sculpt and paint our environments with light. Our Oxfordshire studio was delighted to be given the iconic Radcliffe Camera to light as part of the NoHL & PoL, along with other local lighting design practices and artists working on several other notable and significant buildings.

For ‘The Camera’, as it is fondly known in Oxford, our story starts with the beautiful neo-classical architecture and our desire to expose this at night, as it has never been artificially lit as an architectural treatment since it was built in the early 1700’s.

Our design approach therefore started with darkness. We looked at key architectural features and how ‘layers of light’ could best represent the building at night. We only lit half of the building to express the significance of how lighting intervention could expose the beautiful and intricate details, materials and marks of its history. Coincidentally a ½ moon fell on the night so that influenced our thoughts too during the design process. We also controlled the ‘layers of light’ with the use of a lighting control system which we sequenced every ½ hour running through the various ‘layers’ from a dark building to a fully lit one, from the ground up and back. Again, this little nod to the power of light was intentional as part of the overall night to showcase the importance of light, science, and art or however individuals interpret our medium.

We were fortunate to attract the artist Emma Safe who drew ‘The Camera’ over the 3-hour period of the event. The stunning charcoal drawing can be seen here along with the photographs of the lit Radcliffe Camera.

We would like to thank the University of Oxford for their kind permission and assistance to allow us to light this magnificent building as well as the assistance from Monard Electrical who were responsible for the sensitive installation of the lighting equipment. We were also grateful to a number of manufacturers who supported the project with lighting equipment.

Photography: Courtesy of Sotirios Stamatopoulos – dpa lighting consultants and Matthew Hicks (last image of artist Emma Safe)

H&M Barcelona, Spain

On 3rd February 2017, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) launched their brand new Flagship store in Barcelona, Spain, which is situated on Passeig de Gràcia, one of the major avenues in Barcelona and one of its most important shopping and business areas, containing several of the city’s most celebrated pieces of architecture.

dpa undertook the lighting design of the historical lobby and the newly introduced Flax & Kale café within the heritage spaces of this 1950’s property,  a former HQ for insurance company Banco Vitalicio de España.

The lighting scheme for the historic lobby features decorative custom pendant luminaires with dedicated, directional lighting to the merchandise displays. At the same time, finely integrated linear lighting solutions accentuate the important architectural features within the space while respecting the building’s heritage.

The Flax & Kale café represents an innovative new concept and experience for H&M.  The lighting provides a clean, airy yet warm space that compliments the interior architecture and distinguishes itself from the adjacent retail areas.  At the same time, the design seamlessly combines the bright and fun character of H&M with the warmth and design lines of the Flax & Kale tradition.

The lighting installation is fully reversible with minimal disturbance to the historic building fabric while achieving a theatrical lit result for customers to enjoy.

Client:   Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)
Café Operator: Flax & Kale, Barcelona
Flax & Kale Interior Designer:  Estudi Francesc Pons, Barcelona
Photography: dpa lighting consultants

Corpus Christi Chapel, Oxford, UK

dpa lighting consultants were approached by Corpus Christi College, Oxford to design a new lighting scheme for their chapel as part of a major refurbishment project. The restoration of the chapel was deliberately scheduled to complete in time for the college’s quincentenary year celebrations in 2017.

The Grade I Listed Chapel has many varied uses, each with unique requirements from the space and in turn the lighting. In addition, showcasing the stunning architectural interior, stained glass and the painstaking work of the restoration team within this magical building, were primary design considerations. It has been a very special journey with a great ending, to be enjoyed for a very long time as the chapel continues to enrich the life of the college with a deserved and bright new outlook to the next 500 years.

Client:  Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Architect: GBS Architects, Oxford
Electrical Consultants: RT Harris, Oxford
Historic Consultant: Oxford Conservation
Specialist Finishing: Cliveden Conservation, Maidenhead
Photography: Matt Livey

H&M Sydney, Australia

The store is located on the east side of the pedestrianised section of Pitt Street (known as Pitt Street Mall) between King Street and Market Street.  Located in the central business district of Sydney the street is described by Lord Mayor Clover Moore as “Australia’s premier retail destination”.  The street has around 65,000 people passing through daily, and the surrounding buildings are a mix of historic and contemporary façades up to approximately 6 storeys in height. Set back from the street are taller buildings including the Sydney tower at the south east corner of the street.  Pitt Street contains a number of large shopping centres including Westfield Sydney, Strand Arcade, Mid City Centre and Sydney Arcade which are home to many international fashion brands and around 500 speciality stores.

H&M Sydney is located in the Glasshouse red brick building and dpa have provided a sympathetic architectural lighting scheme for the exterior, together with lighting to the internal voids.

Client: H&M
Photography: dpa lighting consultants

 

Night of Heritage Light – Blenheim Palace,
Oxfordshire, UK

dpa Lighting Consultants were delighted to be involved in creating the Night of Heritage Light on 1st October, and seeing one of these World Heritage sites in a way that nobody has before. This project shows the potential of light to present the world around us in a completely new way, but it also demonstrates the versatility of light and the technology behind it.

Lighting is an art as well as a science, and it’s been really exciting and a lot of fun for us to take part in this event with the SLL. We hope it will inspire the next generation of lighters, and remind others of the huge role lighting plays in their daily lives.

Client: Blenheim Palace