106 LONDON RETAIL / LACOSTE, KNIGHTSBRIDGE


When tasked with creating a flagship store concept for a major retailer, a lighting designer often has to think well beyond the four walls of one specific site. In addition to delivering a scheme that confidently ex- presses the identity of the brand, consider- ation may have to be given to the scalabil- ity and transferability of a design, ensuring that any aesthetic choices can be recreated in smaller stores across the retail chain. This was the challenge facing the team at Into Lighting when they were asked to work on the new Lacoste flagship in London’s Knightsbridge. Located just metres away from the iconic (though perhaps none-too- subtle) glowing outline of Harrod’s, the new store is Lacoste’s largest, spanning three floors and providing 7,470 sqft of retail space. Formerly a French Connection out- let, the site was rife with spatial challenges posed by not four, but several perimeter walls enclosing an irregular, L-shaped floor- plan. In addition to this, each of the three floors has differing ceiling heights ranging from 2.6m to 4m, so the lighting solution had to be flexible enough to provide a simi- lar light level throughout.


The first issue to tackle was the position- ing of ceiling lights in such a way that they could meet the required illumination with- out appearing messy or random. Working alongside the interior architects, designLSM,


Into devised a pattern of inter-connecting troughs that would cut the ceiling into geo- metric shapes. By placing recessed gimbal downlights along these troughs, a sense of logic and even dynamism was introduced to the space.


Equally critical was the choice of light source. Lacoste are well known for their brightly coloured polo shirt collection and so it was essential that a suitable colour rendering was achieved. The Lacoste man- agement team from both France and the UK


Top The lower ground floor’s reduced ceiling height (2.6m with no recess depth) required an alternative solution to the gimbal downlights used on the floors above. Enigma Lighting track-mounted spots were installed with decorative feature lighting provided by Original BTC’s Paxo pendants.


Above Philips Elite 930 metal halide lamps were chosen for their 3000K colour temperature, 90+ CRI and a higher lumen output than standard metal halides.


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