TECHNOLOGY / RETAIL LIGHTING
RETAINING RETAIL FOCUS
As part of the IALD Enlighten Europe conference at The ARC Show, Maida Hot, Lighting Design Director at NDYLIGHT, presented a paper outlining the principles of retail lighting
NDYLIGHT was engaged by Selfridges to work alongside Jamie Fobert Architects to develop an interior scheme for the Shoe Galleries in their London store that would exhibit the merchandise in architecturally coherent and legible spaces
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The working environment of retail projects is very often all about the brand, customers and instant response to design challenges. Accordingly, lighting consultants apply their creativity, design skills, and project experi- ence to produce visual results. One could argue that Richard Kelly’s design approach of addressing the ‘play of brilliants’, ‘focal glow’ and other ‘first principles’ of lighting design, most certainly applies in retail light- ing scenarios.
The rapid development of LED technologies and the physical properties of the lighting equipment have, to some extent, influ- enced the scale of design details. However, what remains paramount in retail is ensur- ing the customer’s focus remains squarely on the merchandise.
Lighting spread needs to be precise, lighting should not be a glare source and its colour
rendering and colour temperature have to be absolutely right. Retail is a constantly evolving environment and the science of lighting must adapt in equal measure. The ability to change a position of the light source, have a crisp light beam and swap the beam angles quickly – simply by chang- ing lamp – is invaluable in retail. MR16 and AR111 lamps were once considered lighting ‘royalty’ until energy efficiency became a major design requirement. Even with LED advancements, HIR111 remains the optimum replacement as it can be easily built into the luminaires with its own glare control.
Flexibility with built-in furniture/shelves lighting poses another set of challenges. Here, the initial selection of light sources and their location is key. This is where LEDs currently have a great advantage, given
their size and hidden welcome sparkle they can create by lighting the objects in close proximity. Heat sinks can be hidden in the furniture and, as long as there is sufficient ventilation provided, it all works beauti- fully.
The Selfridges Shoe Galleries case study in this article follows the life of the retail project and the rationale of design respons- es to the clients brief. Located on the second floor of the landmark Grade II listed Selfridges London store, cur- rently the largest shoe department in the world, The Shoe Galleries elevate the shop- ping experience to a new level. The vision of the store owners was unique - treating shoes as gallery exhibits within state of the art interiors and using light as a key ele- ment for emphasis and drama. NDYLIGHT was engaged by Selfridges to
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