The reception architecture was focused on sharp geometry, combined with elegant simplicity and raw finishes. The undulating blade concept provides a stunning canvas of metallic finishes and geometric forms, cleverly stitched together to create an organic surround with depth and texture. The lighting concept would need to provide a seamless effect, delicately but deliberately woven into the space, enhancing the complex blade elements as well as defining the volume and providing a comfortable luminosity for the space. Flanked by full height glazing to one side, daylight introduced additional challenges for brightness management.
The lighting design solution involved a combination of concealed and exposed custom linear elements with miniature focused point sources, balanced to draw just the right amount of illumination to the main desk and varying finishes of the blades, whilst mindful of consistency to enhance the repetitive blade forms and avoiding shadows.
The light strands were custom designed using high-efficiency side-emitting LED sandwiched between two aluminium panels and a thin acrylic sheet acting as a diffuser. This would create a 4mm wide line of light with just the right amount of luminance to be useful without harsh contrast or glare. A magnetic fixing system was designed to allow the light strands to be installed without visible fixings between the blade joinery ceiling panels. A DALI control system allows balancing of the many components both day and night.
Corrs Perth is an example of restraint and precision, with a deep-seated integration that allows the lighting to exist as a dignified expression of the architecture.
