050 PROJECT / ME HOTEL, LONDON, UK
restoration of the adjacent 1904 Marconi House, whose interior has been entirely re- structured to accommodate 87 apartments. The new hotel building occupies a triangular site and is clad in Portland stone, corresponding in height and scale to its neighbour.
As well as the guestrooms, the hotel consists of a bar, lounge (Marconi Lounge), two public restaurants (the Cucina Asellina and STK London), banqueting hall, meeting rooms, gym and a roof top terrace (Radio Roof Bar), all over ten dynamic floors. The attention to detail extends to the lighting design, for which many aspects of the lighting is integrated within the fixtures and furnishings and is embodied with the very fabric of the building. Farhad Rahim of ChapmanBDSP was responsible for the lighting design of the front of house areas in close co-operation with Foster + Part- ners to deliver a scheme that would unite the building’s architecture with its interior design.
“The lighting design for the ME Hotel was as much challenging as rewarding,” states Rahim. “Having previously worked with Fos- ter + Partners on various projects, this was a great opportunity to provide the lighting design for all the front of house areas of a hotel.”
Much of the feature lighting has been integrated in the bespoke furniture and interior designs, for which a great deal of co-ordination had been taken between the architects, the interior furniture manufac- turer (Mivan) and ChapmanBDSP. The interior concept fuses contemporary detailing with classical traditions, its dra-
matic monochrome palette a combination of rich textures and luxurious natural mate- rials. The experience draws on the idea of yin and yang, as guests move from dark to light spaces – the crisp white bedrooms are reached by reflective black marble corri- dors, sculpted by the angled walls of the central pyramid.
The lighting follows the architectural concept with as much attention to the illumination of the vertical plane as to the horizontal and localised task illumination throughout the building. Vertical illumina- tion of surfaces plays an important role in creating volume in the spaces.
EXTERNAL ENTRANCE
The silo-like corner tower forms the en- trance at its base, above which floats an elliptical shaped chandelier providing a general subdued ambient level of illumina- tion, two narrow beams of light fall on the sculpture drawing attention to its form. The elliptical chandelier is a bespoke design de- veloped by Fosters and ChapmanBSDP, con- sisting of a handmade chrome trim, within which sits bi-directional side emitting LED strips with opal diffusers top and bottom to provide both upward and downward light distribution within a very small profile to add a sense of lightness to the structure. The centrally located sculpture is illumi- nated via recessed directional spotlights to provide vertical illumination. The entrance canopy edge detail is integrated with flexible light tubes to enhance its curvature and supplement the suspended entrance chandelier.
The Marconi lounge features handmade chandeliers designed by Foster + Partners and ChapmanBDSP and manufactured to their specific requirements by Aktiva. The lighting is supplemented with Viabizzuno Dagli Retta luminaires adding illumination to the dark finishes of the perimeter walls.
MARCONI LOUNGE
The main hotel lounge area on the ground floor is embraced with curved screens of illuminated polished chrome rods that form a transparent partition between it and the circulation space adjacent. The space avoids the use of downlights to provide a clean ceiling profile and allow the feature lighting to provide visual interest. The chrome rod screens are illuminated from above and below via the use of inte- grated fibre optic lighting recessed within the floor plates of the screen structure. Due to the restrictions of access to the luminaires, other lamp sources were not a viable option for maintenance. The light distribution of the fibre optic heads is spe- cifically chosen to provide a ‘sparkle’ from the chrome rods yet avoid any undue glare or visual discomfort to occupants. The central space of the lounge is resident to three handmade feature chandeliers again made bespoke to designs by Foster + Partners and ChapmanBDSP and manufac- tured to their specific requirements by Ak- tiva. Providing both upward and downward illumination, the beam angles were specif- ically chosen to project rings of light onto the ceiling to replicate the chandeliers and also provide an ambient illumination of the space below. The lighting is supplemented with wall recessed luminaires (Viabizzuno
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