This luxury book shop unfolds into a complex basement space within a large, historic department store in Knightsbridge.
While the ceiling descends to many different heights above the shelf tops – covering decades of redevelopment consisting of a complex network of pipes and wires hidden throughout – we were tasked with illuminating all shelving and displays uniformly to minimize visual clutter
How do we use the least to create the most? These visual studies through 3D modelling, explore the pros and cons of two distinct lighting strategies, one being integrated into the ceiling, while the other being over the furniture. The visuals allow us to understand where luminaires are obtrusive or not in keeping with the architectural design.
Through this technique and study, models convey how a nuanced lighting consideration can harmonize with architectural detailing or with the furniture, to finalise a design that becomes the latest chapter of the iconic retailer’s story.
Fixing the lights to the bookcases…
…Or to the ceiling.
Bookcases.
Ceiling.