Wilde Lighting
Dublin based apart-hotel operator Staycity Group recently unveiled their latest Wilde property in London.
Inspired by the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde, the brand redefines the apart-hotel experience across Europe, giving guests a mixture of locally inspired décor with all the modern comforts of home.
This London site, located in the historic Spitalfields & Petticoat Lane market district, is the first to showcase the redesigned brand offering.
DesignPlusLight were commissioned to design the lighting to the front of house and amenity space.
Conceived by interior designers O’Donnell O’Neill, it showcases a rich and warm palette of burgundy, tan and terracotta, expressed in wood, felt and sumptuous handmade tiles set amongst luscious planting.
The ground floor is zoned into three areas to maximise the use of space: lobby, cafe seating and bar, with a self-service deli behind.
Interior designers O’Donnell O’Neill created a retro-inspired painted patterned ceiling.
This softened the rectilinear dimensions as well as cleverly disguising the ceiling services.
DesignPlusLight took inspiration from this unique feature and suspended track-lighting, with the addition of a linear up-light to further enhance the ceiling artwork.
“The painted ceiling is such a unique and striking design. Using track lights help to demarcate each zone whilst keeping the impression of the ceiling clean and clear of downlights. It also allows for flexibility in where one positions and focuses the light from above.” explains Sanjit Bahra (Principal).
“We elected to use the latest in warm-dim lighting technology to emulate the feel of tungsten light, to make for a relaxed and cosy atmosphere at night”
Upon entry the guest has an almost panoramic view of the ceiling through Crittall style glazing, as the ground floor is raised by a few steps.
The first impression is of the up-lit ceiling and then the eye is drawn down the dramatically lit textured tiles on the partition columns.
Glimpses of illuminated fig trees, chevroned timber and leather provide a visual connection into each zone.
A sense of intimacy is created at the cafe banquette seating area by soft up-lighting to the chevron timber panelling.
The warmth and texture of the panelling provides a reflected soft glow into the space which balances the up-lighting effect on the ceiling.
The track spots pinpoint photography by local artists.
A curved display shelving sits squarely at the end of the seating to frame the window and visually tie in the finishes.
The bar canopy appears to float effortlessly above the counter. Linear up-lighting enhances the canopy’s curvature, echoing the lighting effect to the bar front, and provides a contrasting green colour from the illuminated planting.
Concealed lighting within the back bar shelving enhances the ribbed glass window to the deli behind, whilst discrete mini downlights in the canopy provide a sparkle to the hanging glassware.
The challenges of an ‘all-day-dining’ space, especially one that is flooded with so much natural light, is how to create a varying ambience to ensure the space feels welcoming and visually different throughout the day and into the evening.
Lighting is the only design element that can instantly change the perception of space at the mere touch of a button.
During the day natural daylight floods into the room.
The lighting is set to balance the contrast that is often created by daylight as one moves further into the space, away from the windows.
As darkness falls the lighting scene automatically changes to reveal soft halos of light to illuminate the window treatments.
With warm-dim LEDs the colour temperature changes from a crisper hue during the day to a warm tungsten-like glow at night.
The lighting scenes respond to the time of day and further soften towards the evening, producing a soft and intimate tone to the seating areas.
Successful lighting design and control brings seamless changes in mood which adapt to the functional requirements of the space.
