The Savoy is an icon of luxury accommodation in London and in 2007, Lighting Design International were commissioned by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts to provide lighting designs for the complete restoration of the hotel.Their brief for the project was two fold; for the exterior of the building to provide a classical enhancement of the architecture and for the interior to provide a warm, luxurious and intimate feel within the main public areas.
LDI’s general philosophy for the project was to employ light fixtures that were either small, low glare and innocuous in appearance in order to play down the appearance of the light fixture itself and to play up their effect and ambience they generate.
Exterior Lighting: North Façade, Savoy Row and Savoy Court
The existing lighting was looking tired and was lacking in places. It was agreed that it would all be changed to give the hotel a new lease of life and to bring it into the 21st Century.
The main area where the lighting was lacking was in Savoy Court outside the main entrance which could hardly be seen from The Strand. Subsequently lighting was added to the pilasters adjacent to the entrance as a focal point, along with the lighting of a Lalique water feature. The existing back-lit acrylic lighting feature had to be retained and was completely renovated using warm white cold cathode tubing which enables it to be dimmed in the evening to create a more subdued ambience to the area and enable the features to stand out.
The façade lighting was changed from sodium and cool white metal halide to warm white CDM discharge. All lights are fitted with louvers to reduce glare and stray light. The flag poles and the statue of the count were also illuminated.
One aspect LDI influenced was the finish of the lay light ceiling in Savoy Court. This is irregular in its design and was white in colour making it quite unattractive and so in order that the eye is not drawn to it, we proposed that it was painted out black which puts greater emphasis on the façade and features within the space. It also enhances the view up through the lay light to the upper façade from Savoy Court at night.
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