Client More London Developments | Architect Foster + Partners |
Photographer James Newton | Project Team Mark Major, Clementine Fletcher-Smith |
Invited to light the lobby and atrium of this award-winning office development on the banks of the River Thames, our brief was to produce a simple, elegant solution. We were tasked with eliminating “stadium-like” high-level fixtures and avoiding clutter on the ground plane. Energy was to be minimised and all fittings easy to access and maintain.
Foster + Partners saw the space as a part of the public realm, forming a seamless transition between the world outside and the internal office spaces within. To aid this transition - and meet the other conditions of the brief - we took the unusual decision to centre the lighting design on specially designed pendants.
Along with a unique identity, and a sense of human scale, the pendants provide a soft glow to the roof when darkness falls, and cast light down allowing the eye to adapt as you move deeper into the building.
The rest of the design we deliberately kept simple. The back wall of the atrium with its integral artwork is cleanly lit to provide a visual stop and draw you through the space to the lift lobbies beyond. The soffits of the bridge decks are clearly articulated, putting people into silhouette against the back wall and creating a constant display of dynamic movement. We considered light spill from the offices to be an integral part of the life of the scheme, providing additional ‘free light’ to the space.