064 PROJECT / QELA, DOHA, QATAR
As examples of national brand building go, few countries can match the speed and suc- cess of Qatar. Over the last fifteen years, the profile of this 11,500km² adjunct to the Arabian Peninsular has rocketed on the global stage, garnering the cautious respect of both international political and busi- ness communities. This rapid rise is in part the result of a familiar process of cultural importing and adopting, be it big name architecture, world class art collections or major sporting events - notably, FIFA’s eyebrow-raising decision to make Qatar the 2022 Football World Cup hosts. But perhaps the most impressive part of the Qatar project has been in the country’s ability to establish itself as an exporter of Arabian culture. The state-funded Al-Ja- zeera news network and Qatar Airways have already reached out to a global audience and now, with the launch of luxury brand QELA, high end fashion has gained a major new name.
Owned by the Qatar Luxury Group, QELA is set to open a series of boutiques across the world offering finely crafted leather goods, shoes, jewellery and made-to-measure women’s couture – all characterised by clas- sic lines and understated Arab influences. The first of these stores opened in Sep- tember 2013 on The Pearl - the man-made archipelago just off the Qatari coastline. Strategic design consultancy Uxus was tasked with creating the boutique – a de facto flagship store that would establish QELA as a global retail presence. As Uxus chief executive Oliver John Palmer explains, this presented an exciting chal- lenge. “QELA was our first project in the Gulf region, which we consider to be one of the most dynamic hubs for retail design,” he says. “The project was also unique in terms of starting our work at the very in- ception of the brand, allowing us to design the retail experience in close parallel with the creation of the first collections – which is extremely rare in the world of couture and luxury. This presented a chance to de- sign a completely bespoke customer experi- ence with a one-of-a-kind service model.” The boutique-cum-gallery is split across two levels connected by a sleek, freestanding staircase and topped by a domed ceiling whose design reflects the architecture of the region. dpa lighting design worked with Uxus to deliver a lighting scheme that blended seamlessly into the architecture of the building and enabled staff to present luxury items at their best.
For the front-of-house areas, the brief was to design a lighting solution that provided a luxurious layered lighting appearance to accentuate the high-quality finishes,
architectural interiors and features, and displays. Merchandise had to stand out from the ambient effect with highly controlled accent lighting. The client proved very for- ward thinking and encouraged innovation in all aspects of the design – including the very latest in lighting technology. All lighting had to be very flexible, controllable, and high colour rendering, with luminaires integrat- ed into the interior wherever possible, as dpa’s Gary Campbell explains: “The client brief included a number of criteria including state-of-the art light equipment in terms of sources, flexibility attachments and lenses, control, flexibility, and energy efficiency,” says Campbell. “QELA is part art gallery and part high-end fashion boutique. The gallery
displays change every few weeks with new exhibitions and the merchandise displays also change from time to time. Therefore a lighting design was required that provided full flexibility and ease of use by the store manager, brand visual merchandising team and gallery curator.”
The boutique comprises a number of distinct spaces: a ground floor art gallery space and merchandise displays, first floor merchandise displays including high end jewellery, a VIP Salon, and fitting rooms. With the exception of the jewellery display cases and decorative fittings, all lighting is LED based and dimmable, allowing not just flexibility, but also significant energy saving qualities to the scheme.
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