While significant architectural changes were undertaken, particularly at the entries and East Garden, a lot of the ‘heavy lifting’ in the rejuvenation had to come from the lighting. By distilling 101 Collins’ established brand and target tenants, the lighting concept was driven by a desire to increase drama and express the unique architectural characteristics of the lobby while making the spaces more welcoming and intimate. Opportunities were sought to more deeply integrate lighting into the architecture to increase the layering in the space, as well as add additional highlights to impressive artworks, columns and surfaces, to further establish a clear visual hierarchy.
The Collins and Flinders Street entries received the most significant architectural upgrade. The intent was to create a jewelled box with a more impressive and welcoming experience. Lighting heavily focused on the materiality of new surfaces such the bronze mullions and stone walls, while also uplighting ceilings to lift the spaces and make them feel grander.
New artworks were commissioned for the refurbishment which created new opportunities for lighting, particularly the reflection pools which were to retain the gold leaf walls. Careful consideration of downlights and spotlights was undertaken with extensive aiming sessions to illuminate each artwork successfully. In the reflection pools an invisible grazing light was introduced to better express the gold leaf while also giving plenty of room for the artwork in the water to stand out.
The lighting sought to facilitate a clear path of travel, provide highlights to the lounge areas and to direct more attention to the columns and impressive core wall. It was identified early that we wanted to move away from general wall washing and introduce a skylight effect at the top of the wall. The reason for this change was to better express the signature artwork at the concierge, while still providing some soft illumination to the stone, and giving the lobby a fresher and more dynamic feel, as it could change in colour temperature from day to evening.
