128 New Street,
Birmingham, UK

The historic architecture is subtly enhanced, giving it new relevance as the backdrop to the brand experience. The lit composition aids a natural understanding of the space, giving prominence to products, people and service elements and creating a crisp ambience.
Photographer
James Newton
Project Team
Keith Bradshaw, Benz Roos, Neville de Sa

When entering the space, the brightest elements in the field of view are the back wall, which is washed with light, and the rooflight - flooded with natural light during the day, and lit externally by night. This approach ensures that the eye is drawn both through and up, creating a strong sense of the space and emphasising the multiple levels.

Our approach was clean and restrained – we softly revealed key features so that they would contribute to an elegant background ambience for a modern retail environment.”

Considering the displays of product, the lighting designers were very conscious of creating the optimum balance in luminance. The scheme is purposefully designed to ensure that the brightness ratios between the screen luminance of the products, their immediate surroundings, and the background create emphasis on the products, without causing glare.

The elegant glowing feature pendants are a key focal point. In a collaborative effort between the client and design team, the form of the pendants visually merges with the historic interior. Though decorative in appearance, their design is highly practical. Customised LED modules and dedicated optics enable the pendants to provide the bulk of the functional light for the space - both up and down.

The success of the lighting for 128 New Street is that through careful design and detailing we managed to achieve a truly personable and relatable atmosphere, as well as a highly functional retail space.”