Case studies

A Minimalist, Contemporary Lighting Scheme for a Loft-Style Apartment in Bristol's Creative Quarter (1/2/2009)

Re:light was commissioned by a local property developer in January 2008 to provide a lighting scheme for a penthouse apartment in The Deco Building, part of Paintworks, a mixed-use conversion of a former paint factory site in South Bristol. The development includes a bar, business centre, studios, offices and residential spaces. The Deco Building is an art deco building (formerly the administration block) that consists of offices and one and two bedroom flats at the entrance to the Paintworks site, and overlooks the entire Paintworks development.

The apartment is on the upper 'Painthouse' level and was minimally fitted out over two levels with wooden floors, a fitted kitchen, bathroom and a balcony. Internal structural details were left exposed: steel-framed gangways with glass floors and balustrades; I-beams and large, black-framed floor-to-ceiling windows offset by white walls and bare brickwork.

Relight's brief was to design a simple and unobtrusive lighting scheme that echoed the semi-industrial internal architecture of the apartment, within a tight budget. It needed to function as an architectural feature that integrated seamlessly with the neutral design and contemporary fittings.

Planning

The industrial structure of the apartment presented a challenge in planning the lighting scheme - double-height ceilings and no ceiling void meant that were no areas in which conventional downlights could be effectively positioned.

Re:light's remit was to incorporate lighting into the fabric of the building: where luminaires could be fixed determined which types we could specify. They could not be too obvious or noticeable, for example fitting twin arm spotlights onto the ceiling beams. With little or no daylight in areas of the apartment, for example in the kitchen/living area, Relight's challenge was to find ways in which to create the impression of natural light.

Part of Re:light's solution was to specify 'design neutral' fittings for the luminaires that had to be visible, fittings that would blend into the clean lines of the minimalist interior design. The next stage of our solution was to create the effect of natural light through the use of concealed lighting, built into bespoke architectural features, such as high-level troughs and slots. Finally, for the areas where there was no obvious fixing point, a bit of lateral thinking generated the idea of placing back-lit panels on the walls, spreading light over the vertical surfaces.

Installation

Installation took place in March 2008 and was carried out by a local electrical contractor. In letting the architectural features speak for themselves, Re:light specified clean-lined, design-neutral light fittings. We used tungsten, matt white Artemide Surf wall up-lights for general lighting in the kitchen.

Artemide Surf wall up-lights

The lower head height in the kitchen lent itself to Wever & Ducré's 'Deep' deep-recessed halogen downlights. Concealing the light source in this way leaves an uninterrupted ceiling line, eliminating glare whilst illuminating specific areas.

Kitchen showing Wever & Ducre ‘Deep’ deep-recessed downlights and Artemide Surf wall up-lights.

Rather than having many local dimming units that could produce excessive heat, both tungsten and halogen luminaires are controlled by Richmond Remote dimming packs hidden in the ceiling. These were connected to an MK grid system which supports multiple channels that can be controlled by modules inserted in a single panel, thus also cutting down on wall acne. The Richmond modules are digitally dimmable so that the user can control the light levels for ambience and mood to suit their own requirements.

We created a slot in the ceiling of the half-landing above the kitchen/living area, and lit it with PJR Engineered Light Solutions' T5 digital dimmable fluorescent tubes to give the impression of natural light flooding the wall below.

Slot in half-landing above kitchen.

On the half-landing and lower half-landing, we commissioned a local joinery company to produce plain panels that were backlit with dimmable T5 digital dimmable fluorescent tubes. With no void space in the ceilings for downlights, the panels replaced conventional light fittings to illuminate the stairwell. The panels act as 'artworks' in their own right and provide a gentle wash of colour across the walls, giving focus to an otherwise dead space.

Half-landing with back-lit ‘artwork’ panel and concealed underlighting on stairs illuminating walls of stairwell.

Continuous T5 digital dimmable fluorescent tubes were fixed to the underside of the staircase. Light shines through the gap where the stairs are offset from the wall, creating a floating effect.

‘Suspended’ staircase, underlit with T5 digital dimmable fluorescent tubes.

We used Tridonic DSI control gears to dim the T5 fluorescent tubes. DSI is a protocol for dimming fluorescent lights, and the DSI dimmers provide on/off control and dimming level control from the same unit, saving the cost of a separate relay unit for switching the light.

On the full-landing on the second floor, we backlit the I-beams on to the walls, defining the building's original features whilst providing completely concealed lighting.

I-beams and troughs on upper landing illuminated by concealed T5 digital dimmable fluorescent tubes.

Experience from the Project

The challenges presented by The Deco Building apartment became opportunities for Re:light to apply the use of light in a creative way. We exploited the apparent problem of the lack of natural light by building lighting into hidden architectural features to simulate the effect of daylight. We worked with the fabric of a building, rather than imposing obtrusive fittings onto it. We had to be innovative with how we could create sophisticated lighting effects on a tight budget: our decision to install digitally dimmable controls was a cost-effective way to achieve this. The low-maintenance, user-friendly system has ensured the ongoing success of the installation.

Conclusion

Re:light's brief was to deliver a contemporary and unobtrusive lighting scheme that merged with the internal architecture of a semi-industrial interior. The finished design has succeeded in highlighting the internal structural details and echoed the minimalist design and fittings, whilst lending a warmth and intimacy to the industrial-style space through the use of dimmable lighting. Our creative design far exceeded Part L requirements in terms of fluorescent lights used in a domestic setting, and has resulted in a simple, yet effective lighting scheme, proving that a light touch can have a great impact!

Equipment List

- PJR Engineered Light Solutions T5 fluorescent tubes for digital dimming.
- Tridonic DSI Control Gear for dimming T5 fluorescent tubes.
- Artemide Surf wall up-lights.
- Wever & Ducré Deep recessed downlights.
- Richmond Remote dimming packs put on MK grid system for tungsten wall uplights and halogen downlights.

Re:light Ltd is a lighting design consultancy that provides bespoke lighting schemes for commercial and residential projects.

www.relight.ltd.uk