Kollázs Brasserie & Bar, Hungary
The Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest is a historical landmark that combines the luxurious comforts of the 21st Century with the elegance of the past, considered by many to be the best hotel in Hungary. The hotel appointed dpa lighting consultants to design the lighting and work with California-based interior designers EDG Design, when it embarked upon the development and launch of its new restaurant.
The Kollázs Brasserie & Bar is a contemporary European brasserie in a vibrant location, overlooking the Chain Bridge and the Danube River. The decorative interior makes many historical references through beautiful details, sensitively selected artwork, furniture and materials. Along with the dining rooms the restaurant features an elegant patisserie, dramatic rotisserie and striking bar design, all of which are enhanced with carefully coordinated lighting.
dpa lighting consultants proposed a mixed palette of concealed, integrated lighting, decorative luminaires and discreet downlighting to sympathetically provide the elements to create a vibrant and welcoming restaurant. The hotel and EDG were extremely receptive to the ideas and together worked on developing the proposals with dpa lighting consultants, integrating details within furniture and pulling the scheme together throughout the detailed development of the interiors.
dpa lighting consultants worked closely with EDG to develop the decorative lighting with a strong local aesthetic and historical reference. The Gresham Palace is an outstanding example of Art Nouveau architecture and has retained the original decorative interior. It was this beautiful interior which set the direction for the restaurant’s redevelopment; EDG produced a skillful blend of historical and contemporary design making a sumptuous interior and fantastic guest experience.
To ensure the lighting enhanced the experience in the appropriate way the design team worked with Preciosa Lighting to develop decorative chandeliers that feature multiple light sources to provide a great visual impact but soft and warm lit effect. As well as this, various decorative lighting fixtures from Patinas feature throughout the space, including a number of wall lamps from the Prague and Snooker ranges; table lamps from the Prague, Zurich and New York ranges; Genoa pendants and a floor lamp from the New York range. These were placed carefully throughout the space bringing the light sources to varying levels across the interior.
The materials palette sensitively links the lighting elements together using solid brass and handblown glass, retaining the quality of craftsmanship associated with the heritage at the Palace. Stained glass panels brought colour into the scheme and offered opportunity to highlight signage using a backlit technique. This variation of lighting throughout the space also forms part of the success of the end result and gives a good level of flexibility to alter the emphasis that the lighting can play.
A backbone of discreet architectural down lighting provides the functional framework of lighting for the decorative elements to build upon and create the drama and experience within the restaurant and bar. The decorative lighting on this project is especially important in the later dining scenes where it provides the key visual interest, spilling warm light onto the interior furnishings and picking up textures and tones of the materials used. A large feature chandelier was developed with integrated linear LED lighting as well as 20W eco low voltage tungsten halogen lamps. This offered the benefits of tiny dimensioned linear equipment and ease of integration with the warmth of the dimmed point sources. Excellent dimming was critical in achieving the scenes via the lighting control, setting moods and shifting focus within the restaurant as the evening progresses.
The restaurant is in operation all day from early breakfast to late night cocktails. In response to this flexible use the lighting changes through the day to best suit the service at any particular time with the bright and fresh daytime scenes to a more intimate dining experience in the evening. The bar becomes the main attraction after dinner when the lighting provides focus to the bespoke furniture and sparkling glassware creating a cosy and relaxed place to enjoy a late drink.
