Wayfinding the Future
John Williams, Founding Director of Manchester-based interior design studio SpaceInvader, discusses the future of hospitality design and the role lighting has to play in it.
For interior designers, lighting is one of our greatest tools, perhaps nowhere more so than in hospitality design, where lighting’s ability to conjure a particular mood, tone or atmosphere is unparalleled. Light, the core element of any artist or photographer’s craft, is certainly one of ours too when it comes to ensuring a scheme has impact, not only when a customer enters a space but also from the outside too, acting as a beacon to draw customers in, aiding wayfinding or serving instantly to establish the personality of a brand or offer.
What are the main trends in hospitality lighting right now? Well, we could talk about micro-trends, such as using layered lighting with three or more types of lighting at once, for example, but we’d rather pull the lens a little further back and focus on some of the challenges we’re facing currently, as well as looking to the future and particularly to the major driver of sustainability.
In the hotel sector, we’re seeing increasing client demand for artful ways to strip back, re-purpose and be imaginative with existing buildings and interior fabric. The result will be that lighting design plays an increased role as a theatrical element in the form of sculptural pieces or installations, with simple and adaptable wall and flooring surface textures playing host to exciting and controllable dramatic lighting, more akin to what we see in event spaces.
The converse major trend is about less, rather than more, and relates to upcycling. Hoteliers, hospitality operators and developers - at the sharp end of ‘selling’ spaces to consumers - are looking to speed up their sustainability credentials and reporting. When it comes to refurbishing an existing space, the onus particularly falls to interior designers, while we in turn look to consultants and suppliers for help. Would it be unfair to say that lighting design and manufacture - beyond the easy win of using LEDs - is one of the disciplines that has responded least to this to date? Flooring manufacturers are definitely the pioneers in our industry, followed by those producing wall coverings and textiles, with both furniture and lighting design lagging behind.
We still want to bring new and bespoke elements to our projects of course, so we’re not talking about the simple, automatic reuse of existing lighting. Could lighting manufacturers instead collect pieces stripped out of old projects and give us more reuse options that way? Or could we alter the lighting temperature and brightness on existing fittings via new control elements that allow for increased flexibility? We’d also like to see much more information supplied on the materials and processes used in manufacturing each fitting, as well as hard pledges on end-of-life recycling.
In terms of energy usage, great advances have been made in daylight-balancing lighting, which emits lower lighting levels near windows and prevents a space from being over-lit, as well as colour temperature control fittings. Cost, however, remains a huge barrier with the latter, with these types of lights one of the first to be value-engineered out of schemes. Could the lighting design industry help make these solutions more cost-effective and also provide research on long-term cost benefits, to help us win the argument on client investment?
As designers, one of our greatest bugbears in hospitality spaces is where the food and atmosphere don’t match. Think of a tapas bar where the lighting is cool and white, for example, instead of warm and rich. A great recent example of a scheme really getting it right in terms of both the type of food/drink being served and a different kind of sustainability - business longevity - is Foodwell/Firefly in Manchester, whose offer transitions from Foodwell - a bright, soft and airy Californian brunch vibe in the daytime - to Firefly, a glamourous cocktail bar, at night. This is achieved mostly through lighting and music, without compromising on two very different atmospheres.
As a studio, we’re also always on the lookout for the cross-fertilisation of ideas across sectors. The shifts in the post-pandemic workplace saw the design of offices moving ahead of the game, certainly in the provision of zonal variety within a single space to accommodate not only different personality types but addressing neurodiversity and age inclusivity too. Lighting is a key element here. We’d like to see more variety of lighting by both interior designers and lighting designers within single hospitality spaces to address different audiences beyond the median or generic.
Integrated lighting and materiality is a really interesting area right now, especially with the possibilities afforded by 3D printing. We recently created a feature wall in a wellness space, for example, which interacts with light settings - particularly the colours of dusk at the end of the day, when the effect is mesmeric. The relationship between light and materiality is another area we’d love some industry help on. When we pull together a palette for a hospitality scheme, we use natural lighting to get the truest colours. Ideally, we’d like to represent exact lighting conditions to show how materials will look in the final space, relative to the proximity and temperature of proposed lighting, especially when we’re creating CGIs. This is very difficult to achieve digitally. It would be amazing to have a physical testing space – perhaps in a showroom location? – where we could test various different material samples under a number of lighting conditions. Is that a realistic request or will we have to await programmable lighting in order to alter and refine lighting on site to achieve true fidelity to our original vision?
When we’re busy with projects, we tend to be too close to the task at hand to do more than select the best lighting currently available. It’s great sometimes to step back and think about future needs too, seeking out possibilities for improvement, evolution and innovation. It’s always a conversation. Let’s continue to talk!
www.spaceinvaderdesign.co.uk
Image: Pip Rustage
A New Leaf
Spanish lighting brand LZF's Omma collection was designed by Eli Gutierrez. She turns LZF's well-known wooden aesthetic into a stylish family of lights inspired by trees and books.
Omma is one of the newest collections from Spanish lighting brand LZF. Inspired by leaves on tree branches and pages in books, the collection consists of two table lamps in single and two-leaf versions, a floor lamp, a wall light and four different pendant configurations.
Designed by Eli Gutierrez, the collection uses LZF’s patented Timberlite process, a very thin layer of wood veneer that creates the leaf shape that seamlessly attaches to the metal branch.
darc speaks with Sandro Tothill Caggiati, Co-Founder and Factory Director, about the inspirations and creative process of the Omma collection; its name derives from an old Frisian term meaning ‘breath’.
“Marivi Calvo, LZF's other Co-Founder and Art Director, often looks to work with external designers because they each look at Timberlite with a different perspective. She is also constantly looking to work with female designers, as we believe they’re a really underrepresented group in general design. You have your stars, of course, but generally, it’s much harder to break through for women,” he explains.
“Eli came from a working background with Patricia Urquiola, whom she’d worked with for eight years, Philip Starck whom she worked with for a couple of years, and Iranian-French architect and designer India Mahdavi.
“Eli’s approach to designing with us was very cool. She took into consideration our work with wood and identified a concept. She linked that wood comes from trees, trees have leaves, and trees make paper for books, which also have page leaves. When you look at Omma, it looks like an open book. So, when you think of Omma, it’s a reflection and chain of thoughts that started with LZF’s relationship with wood.”
The collection’s design journey took longer than planned due to a change in the technical team at LZF during the process. “New people who came into the tech office inherited the work of previous people. And therefore, I think that in that sense, it was unfortunate because it meant that they inherited design, which had already begun and meant that any new ideas were not easy to put in. We had to finish what was started and finish it the way it was started because so much had already happened and so much development had taken place. It was literally picked up at 75% completion.
“The new tech office started at 75%, but rather than that meaning only 25% of the development time was left, the developing time was over 50%. That was because they had to understand why it was designed the way it was. They then had to work out how to finish the designs and fix the issues that were happening with the prototypes without re-designing the whole fixture,” he explains.
It also went through numerous prototype stages, which Caggiati describes as “hell”. “Each leaf, or pair of leaves, needed to be able to move individually from one another in order to change the direction of the light. A rotation mechanism allows you to alter the light direction to one flat beam, or various angles and ceiling projection.”
The team were eager to not wrap the wood veneer around any form or structure, yet it would act as an actual leaf. “To do that, we had to create a sort of ephemeral, light, metallic structure, which resembled Eli’s original concept. Once that happened, we had the open book form, which we needed to stick a light source down the middle of. The obvious choice was a recessed LED fixed into the lamp.
“When you look at the light from below, you can’t see the LED light source. The light comes down through the sheets instead. You get a great quality of light on your surface, but you can’t see exactly where it comes from. It creates a much more agreeable atmosphere. “There’s no diffuser, all you see is the natural wood and a light glowing out of it.”
In order to combat the swivel movements of the lamp heads, which ensured they remained in place but weren’t too difficult to manipulate to discourage users, the team came up with a gear-like mechanism. “If they were too stiff, the leaves wouldn’t move properly, and if they were too loose, they would just flop down again,” says Caggiati. “We developed a wheel with little grooves, like a cog, that a small ball point screw would click into when the shade was turned. The challenging part was figuring out the groove depth, and we underwent three different test types to achieve this. We then had to make sure the production team were fully briefed on how tight to make these components to meet the required tension.”
Timberlite is LZF’s patented process of treating wood that allows them to use it in such thin layers. Caggiati explains a little more about the process, however, cannot divulge the brand’s secrets: “Timberlite is about half a millimetre thick. We buy the raw veneer and then we use the Timberlite process to treat the veneer. It's not a chemical process, so it's very clean; there are no residues. Really, it's more of a process tied to art and graphics rather than industrial. We don't have to spray it or paint it and there are no solvents involved in its manufacturing. So, once it's been treated, it's very stable and you can store it for quite a long time. It also becomes very easy to then cut without cracking. This allows us to cut it on the digital plotter so we can work with many different shapes.
“We have two ways of working Timberlite. Basically, we have the organic way, which are just shades, which are created using the natural veneer making the shapes. And then the metal skeleton is only there to hold the light source in place.
“Then you have what we call hard shades, which are all the shades that have an acrylic or a metallic frame, which is what gives the shape to the lamp. With the Omma, we had this metallic frame, but it had to be very light, and it had to be bendable. When we were planning on how to glue the wood to it, we decided rather than bring the wood right up to the edge of the metal frame and have it nice flush with the metal, we decided to leave it, so the metal gives it a slight frame.
“Normally, we would've made sure the wood sheet came right to the edge, but then you lose the beauty of that metal, which is an aesthetic quality. So, you get the effect of a metal frame, whether you're looking at it from the top side or from the bottom side. It was a new way of glueing or putting wood onto a structure for us in this sense.”
The collection comes in four main metal finishes for the lamp frames: gold, nickel, matte black and ivory white and is suitable for many various environments from hospitality venues to residential spaces, as Caggiati describes: “I think when you have a family like Omma, it makes it open to everything. The wall sconce is below 10 centimetres, which is a rule in the United States in the disabilities act, which states a wall lamp cannot protrude from the wall more than 10 centimetres in a public building. You've got the table and floor versions, which are good for the home. You've got the ceiling versions, which are good for restaurants, bars, and cafes. And then you've also got the Omma line pendant, which is good for offices. As far as decorating your office with a decorative lighting fixture, it works well as there's enough light on your table from the lamp.”
The Cut & Craft, UK
Using influences from the Titanic, The Cut & Craft in Leeds, UK, has been given a new lease of life by Studio Two and Mistry Lighting.
A historically enriched location found in the heart of Leeds city centre in the UK, The Cut & Craft opened in October 2022. The Grade II listed building, formerly known as Collinson’s Café, was famously frequented by Wallace Hartley, the Band Master of the Titanic. Using this unique affiliation, Cut & Craft’s interiors take inspiration from the elegance of the Titanic, incorporating oceanic colours, textures, and metallic qualities.
Completing the interiors for the new venue was Studio Two, a Yorkshire-based interior design practice. darc spoke with Zoe Wheatley, Director at Studio Two, about the design concept for the new hospitality space. “Having previously worked with the owners of The Cut & Craft on multiple sites for their Italian restaurant brand, we were appointed as the designers on their most recent acquisition in the iconic grade II listed building, Victoria Quarter Leeds. The Cut & Craft have brought their signature flat iron steak and craft beer experience to the city centre, allowing them to make their mark on Leeds’s casual premium dining scene,” she explains.
“The brief was to create a beautiful restaurant that caters to an all-day offering, whilst ensuring the space can transition into a lively venue in the evening. The client was also determined to celebrate the history of the site and use what information we had on the building to turn it into visual stories. With that, we were able to create an underlying design concept around The Titanic, curated from a story of a musician, Wallace Hartley, that was invited to play as Band Master on the ship and was linked back to the site’s previous Collinson’s Café as part of their entertainment team.
“The project was on site for a duration of 16 weeks, however, the planning and designing of the scheme was two years in the making.”
Studio Two brought Mistry Lighting on board to ensure a beautiful lighting scheme was embedded in the design. Krishna Mistry, Founder of Mistry Lighting, explains to darc her involvement in the project: “The building is listed and there were many architectural features that Studio Two wanted to illuminate as part of their interior vision for the restaurant. This included a large feature dome that spans across the bar where they needed a specialist lighting designer involved to bring their vision to life.
Due to the historic nature of the building, the teams faced some challenges throughout, as Mistry explains: “The main challenge we found was the building was grade II listed, which gave us limitations on where we were able to mount lighting. For example, we wanted to illuminate the ornate arches, but we couldn’t recess lighting within the floor. We worked with Studio Two to create a discreet box at the base of the arches to recess the uplights within. Where possible we integrated within joinery items to allow us to illuminate existing and new features of the restaurant.”
Wheatley adds: “Certain challenges arose around the M&E side of the project, as with a lot of listed buildings the traditional concrete construction resulted in a dynamic and creative lighting design, which was undertaken by Mistry Lighting, packed full of joinery illumination, beautiful back-lit features, and perfectly hidden marker lights. The end result of the design scheme is impactful, atmospheric and completely on brief.
“The brief didn’t change over time however the space planning altered slightly as we hit certain challenges with the building. We spent a lot of time before the construction phase designing and working with our client to ensure the brief was fully captured.”
Mistry adds: “We always kept Studio Two’s overarching vision in mind when designing the lighting. It was always a key element to this design and as previously mentioned, as it is a listed building, we couldn’t illuminate every detail we wanted but we prioritised the key elements to ensure the original vision was achieved.”
Using the Titanic as a foundation for the design’s inspirations, Studio Two featured “oceanic hues, glistening water-like metallics, crafted timbers and an abeyance of inviting texture”. These details were key when it came to the team designing bespoke decorative lighting fixtures with Northern Lights to “embellish the scheme with scale and impact”.
Architectural lighting fixtures from Lucent, LightGraphix, LEDFlex, and Anolis were used to create a backdrop for the decorative fittings that took centre stage. “The key decorative features were the large bespoke pendants as you enter the main restaurant. This was in the original visual from Studio Two, who appointed Northern Lights to manufacture the bespoke pendants as well as the decorative pendants across the restaurant. They were all designed by Studio Two to ensure the decorative lighting complemented the interiors perfectly,” explains Mistry. “The lighting played a huge role to celebrate the architectural features of this historical building and creates drama and impact. It draws attention to certain areas of the space and highlights richly detailed elements,” she continues.
“The grand ceilings lend themselves to the suspension of large bespoke pendants, inviting you through the space. The lighting showcases the building’s exceptional beauty and allows it to come alive at night.
“We used layers of light to create the right balance between architectural and decorative lighting allowing us to change the mood of the restaurant from day to night.”
These layers of lighting that Mistry references were an essential part of the design scheme to allow the space to be flexible between times of day and usage. Wheatley elaborates: “The ground floor restaurant and bar, as well as the reception space heavily features hidden joinery lighting, specifically designed to create mood and atmosphere from day to evening. The spaces are then embellished with opal glass bespoke fittings with touches of brass to add a subtle glow to the landscape.
“The first floor is home to the champagne bar, which is positioned under the historic glass dome and is focused mainly on table lighting to allow the colour-changing dome lights to take centre stage.
“The architectural fittings are mainly used to celebrate and highlight the historic features of the building and ensure the space cleverly transitions from day to night. The decorative fittings then furnish the scheme with a selection of materials that complement the overall design.”
The colour-changing dome lighting mentioned by Wheatley was achieved using Arcsource 4MCA spotlights from Anolis. “We could not position any fittings on the historic glass dome at the first-floor level, which is why we and Mistry Lighting opted for colour-changing DMX lighting to add drama and impact for guests dining under the dome.
“Bespoke table lighting was designed to add a secondary glow to every table on the first floor.”
Mistry adds: “It’s not often I have the opportunity to work with a listed building and especially one with so many original features. With other projects you can place lighting wherever you need it but, on this occasion, we had restrictions that made us explore different opportunities to light the space.
“The standout feature has to be the main dome, which is stunning! We lit the dome using a combination of beam angles from the perimeter of the base of the dome to allow it to glow softly.”
Speaking on what the lighting brings to the space, Wheatley explains that without it, their design wouldn’t have been brought to life as it was. “For us, without a carefully curated lighting scheme, our efforts for the overall design concept wouldn’t come to life. Meticulously specified lighting not only adds layers and depth beyond loose and fixed furniture, but it also helps a space transition from day to night ensuring the story of the space is being told. In restaurant design, the space is more than just furniture and new joinery; it’s essential that the visual stories come to life and impact guests as a whole experience.”
Typically, there are always some elements that have to be compromised or removed altogether along the project journey. For Studio Two, this involved the external signage. Due to landlord restrictions, the team were unable to illuminate the external signage, which was included in the original plan. For Mistry, she too wanted to include some external lighting. “I’d like to have explored ways to illuminate the existing stained-glass windows from the outside in the evenings. It is such a beautiful feature that is effective during the day but at night, you don’t get to appreciate it in its full glory being lit from within.”
Overall though, the project has been deemed a massive success for both parties involved in its design. “Working on a unit in the Victoria Quarter was a big moment for Studio Two. Being a local site to us, we have always admired the history and beauty of this building so to be able to bring our vision to this space was iconic. The project was also our first time working with Mistry Lighting, which was a huge success as we were able to see each other’s visions from the outset,” says Wheatley. “Working with Mistry Lighting was a huge success and we have plans to work with them on future projects. We found using a lighting designer really elevated the scheme and brought our visions to life.”
Defining the Circularity of Light
For Workspace Design Show 2023, darc magazine was invited to chair a panel on the circular economy within the lighting industry. darc’s editor Sarah Cullen sat down with lighting experts Faye Robinson, Treacle Studio; Kael Gillam, Hoare Lea; Tom Niven, BDP; and Tulin Kori, Foster + Partners.
www.workspaceshow.co.uk
Resident appoints new Creative Director, Tim Rundle
(New Zealand) - Tim Rundle has been appointed the new Creative Director at Resident.
New Zealand-born Rundle joins Resident with a wealth of experience locally and in the UK where he has held senior positions at Tom Dixon and Conran & Partners.
Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Rundle's role will be to evolve the brand look whilst at the same time maintaining the clear and distinct visual identity which has characterised the Resident brand since its inception.
Simon James is stepping down from this role after twelve years. James has played a fundamental part in making Resident what it is today through his vision and commitment to Resident's clean, pared-back and considered aesthetic. He continues to be a key shareholder in Resident as well as a part of the wider design team.
"It's a real honour to have been given the opportunity to continue and build upon the design vision Simon has created, and that has made Resident a leading light in the design scene both here and abroad. I'm looking forward to working with the talented team at Resident, and the extended family of designers that Simon and Scott have brought together, to keep taking the best of New Zealand design to the world," says Rundle.
Casambi launches new Cloud Getaway
(Finland) - Casambi has launched a new Cloud Gateway for offsite remote control and real-time monitoring of wireless lighting networks.
Global smart lighting control company, Casambi recently announced the launch of its Casambi Cloud Gateway, enabling offsite remote control and real-time monitoring of wireless lighting networks - a move aligned with the firm’s strategy to provide far-reaching freedoms and opportunities for ‘fit-for-any-purpose’ lighting experiences.
This new product allows users of Casambi’s lighting control system to remotely control and monitor the state of devices within their lighting networks from afar over the internet. It affords much of the same end-user functionality as the Casambi App, the latter being the user interface for this gateway. Dim or turn on/off singular or groups of luminaires. Control colour temperature, hue and saturation utilizing the control slider in the app. Create and edit scenes and timers.
"We’re delighted to launch this new gateway. While it affords much of the same functionality as the Casambi App, the product has been designed and launched to meet the demand for robust, industrial-strength remote control abilities – something that the wider Casambi community has requested and we’re very pleased to offer," says Kari Mettälä, CEO of Casambi.
Two product variants are available with the provision of Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections for internet access: CGW-001-PSU and CGW-001-POE. The Power Supply Unit (PSU) version comes with a power adapter that’s suitable for the EU, UK, US, AU and PRC regions. The Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) version comes with a splitter to separate the power from the data and feed it into a separate input. The PSU version comes with a power adapter that’s suitable for the US, EU, UK, AU and PRC regions. The PoE version comes with a splitter to separate the power from the data and feed it into a separate input.
[d]arc awards 2022 winners announced!
(UK) - Last night, the design community once again came out in force to support the [d]arc awards - the only peer-to-peer lighting design awards in the world!
Celebrating in style at fabric London with light art installations, an open bar, vegetarian street food, a photo booth, and UV face paint, the party carried on until the early hours!
More than 17,000 votes were cast, while 312 project entries and 100 product entries were submitted. The 2022 entries came from all over the world, with 40 countries represented.
Awarded the coveted [d]arc awards ‘Best of the Best’ for 2022, was Plas Y Brenin, UK by Dark Source, which won the Spaces – Low Budget category. This award is given to the project that received the most amount of votes out of all the project category winners. Congratulations to Dark Source again for this amazing achievement.
Look out for the full [d]arc awards coverage in our dedicated magazine, which will be sent out digitally in the upcoming weeks. Once again, a massive thank you to all of our design team partners, sponsors and supporters - particularly Light Collective, who we couldn't do the awards without!
Full List of Winners
[d]arc awards ‘Best of the Best’: Plas Y Brenin, UK by Dark Source
Places – High Budget: Basilica Cistern Yerebatan Sarnici, Turkey by Studioillumina
Places – Low Budget: Kindai University BLD, Japan E by Sirius Lighting Office + NTT Facilities
Spaces – High: Exchange Square, UK by Speirs Major
Spaces – Low: Plas Y Brenin, UK by Dark Source
Structures – High: Ice Cube, China by Pro Lighting Consultant
Structures – Low: Espenes Rest Stop, Norway by Light Bureau
Art – High: Cloud 9, Australia by Jan Flook Lighting
Art – Low: Chiang Mai Private Gallery, Thailand by Infusion
Art – Bespoke: Battersea Power Station Washtower, UK by Jonathan Coles Studio
Event: Lights in Alingsas 2022, Sweden by Alingsås Energi
Kit – Architectural Interior: Occular Axis by Phos
Kit – Architectural Exterior: Water Effect In-ground RAD 180 WE System by Radiant Architectural Lighting
Kit – Decorative: Wave Collection by Curiousa
Kit – Technology: Control Switches by Focus SB
Humanscale - Horizon
When introduced in 2011, Horizon became an instant icon and was honoured with the design industry's prestigious Red Dot Award. Its innovative Thin Film LED Technology and striking minimal design earned it a place in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. Humanscale has improved this classic’s functionality, light quality, and energy efficiency to ensure it remains at the forefront of sustainability and performance.
Humanscale - Nova
Designed to complement any work surface and enhance any workstyle, the Nova task light offers endless adaptability in a striking, sculptural form. The custom lens and LED array create a uniform pool of glare-free light that can be adjusted exactly to each user's preference. Energy Star-certified to benefit people and the planet, Nova is a lighting solution for today and the future.
Greek Ceramix Contemporary present lighting exhibition
(Greece) - Greek Ceramix Contemporary presents an exhibition titled Ceramic Design Vol. 2, FOS, from 2 March - 2 April at Mon Coin Studio.
Greek Ceramix Contemporary aims to promote the work of Greek or Greece-based ceramic artists and designers. This second exhibition on contemporary ceramic design presents artworks from Greek ceramicists and designers with their inspiration on light. Approximately 50 ceramic artists and designers from all over Greece were been invited to give their perspectives on lighting, expressing the dialogue between utility and design in the form of lamps and candle holders. They were invited to play with the shape and functionality, colour and texture, that combines materials and techniques with a traditional and/or contemporary aesthetic. At the same time, they were asked to capture in their work a sustainable approach to design and highlight natural raw materials familiar to people.
Keramiko design vol.2, FOS presents functional, decorative, traditional and contemporary artworks. Being presented are ceramic wall, table, floor or ceiling lamps, oil lamps and candle holders. The exhibition FOS will take place at Mon Coin Studio, in the heart of the historical centre of Athens, in Monastiraki. The space was created by Eleonore Trenado-Finetis, herself being a ceramic artist, to house works by contemporary Greek ceramists, as well as thematic exhibitions like this one.
Lutron – Athena Wireless Processor
Lutron has introduced the Athena wireless processor to its Athena lighting control system. The new processor is right-sized for smaller spaces, and yet easily scalable for use in larger projects. With the Athena wireless processor, Athena systems do not require panels, and work with a wide range of both wireless and wired devices, saving electrical closet space and giving designers, architects, and engineers greater flexibility.
Design professionals have come to expect increased versatility from the building systems they use. As the latest enhancement to Lutron’s Athena lighting control system, the Athena wireless processor empowers designers and their clients with tools that support future-proof lighting systems, and insights that drive efficient business decisions.
The Athena system has been designed to bring a connected lighting solution for smarter spaces and more human centric experiences, and now the Athena wireless processor expands system capabilities to enhance the simplicity, value and flexibility of projects.
Ideal for both small, luxury boutique applications and large office projects, the Athena wireless processor makes Lutron Athena the most complete, versatile, Ketra-ready control system for your most innovative and sustainable projects. Each Athena wireless processor can easily marry third-party fixtures and Ketra in the same application, layering in any control strategy – occupancy, vacancy, and daylight sensors, as well as touchscreens, keypads, and Pico wireless remotes all in a single control package.
With the Athena wireless processor and its advanced software and app control, designers can exceed clients’ expectations while respecting their budgets and schedules. The single-device processor combines all the Athena cloud-connected benefits and features and does not require separate Lutron panels or hubs. System software, controls, shades, and drivers can now communicate wirelessly to the Athena system, increasing design flexibility, minimising required closet space, and delivering a cloud-connected solution.
The Athena wireless processor complements system enhancements introduced in late 2022 to make Athena systems even more capable.
Athena wireless node is an ultra-small, individual, wireless fixture control packed with technology to ensure you can easily and quickly adjust light settings by fixture, zone, or a combination of both. With this new option, the Athena system can be wired and/or wireless and controlled with granularity down to the individual fixture.
Athena dashboard is an analytical software that visualises complex occupancy and energy data in intuitive reports and makes them easily accessible to inform business decisions and occupant-friendly lighting adjustments. Designed to be cloud-connected, the Athena dashboard offers automatic and continuous updates.
The upgraded, cloud-connected Athena system allows designers to do more with a single system and expands data-analytic capabilities. Ongoing Athena system enhancements support the need for connected solutions that deliver building management insights, simplify ongoing system adjustments, and continue to add value over time.
In an era when building technology can struggle to keep pace with innovation, connected Athena systems receive regular software updates, ensuring the system gains functionality and capability over time.
Chris Udall, Senior Product Manager at Lutron, said: “The beautiful thing about the new Athena wireless processor is its ability to serve a wide range of space types; it is equally at home in smaller, boutique applications and large, multi-story office buildings. Regardless of the application, all the software and analytical features are at your fingertips. The new processor delivers a cloud-connected Athena solution without taking up closet space or requiring new wiring.”
Co-founder and Vice-president of Santa & Cole Nina Masò dies
(Spain) - Interior designer and Editor, Co-founder and Vice-president of Santa & Cole, Nina Masò dies aged 66.
In 1982 Masò met the designer Gabriel Ordeig Cole. Together they began a personal and professional relationship, carrying out various lighting and interior design projects for emblematic Barcelona bars and nightclubs such as Boliche, El Café del Sol, Cibeles, the Al Dente restaurant and the Sísísí bar.
In 1983, Masó opened the Paspoc shop in Cardedeu where she offered her personal selection of interior design products and gifts. In 1985, together with Javier Nieto Santa and Cole, they founded Santa & Cole, design editions. This was a new concept in Spain at the time, applying publishing to the field of industrial design, and seeking to promote a warm light that was not typical for the time.
Since 1985, Masó was the editor at Santa & Cole, and the soul of the company. She designed all the showrooms and stands for the main international trade fairs in the sector. She collaborated with Cole in the creation of the Sleeping Beauty lamp, a revolutionary proposal that coloured fluorescence.
Masó was an ambassador for the idea of warm and welcoming light, "a friendly light because good light makes you better. It's about making people look beautiful in the light". Her vocation led her to travel around Spain and abroad defending this light in a travelling presentation inspired by García Lorca's La Barraca, which she made her own. Masó led other projects as an interior designer, including the Embassy of Local Democracy in Sarajevo, promoted by Barcelona City Council in 1996, the Telefónica Corporate University in La Roca (Barcelona) in 2007 and the Casa Bonay hotel in Barcelona. Her last major project was the restoration of the building that houses the headquarters of Santa & Cole, in Parc de Belloch (Barcelona). Her hallmark as an editor was based on a sensitive and warm look at the environment where objects are the protagonists.
Nina Masò, Barcelona, 14 April 1956 – 27 February 2023.
www.santacole.com
