Country Road, Australia
In August this year, Country Road, an Australian-based lifestyle fashion retailer, launched Australia’s first fashion store to be awarded the 5-Star, Green Star Design Review Rating.
The lifestyle brand’s flagship store in the Chadstone Shopping Centre represents the most sustainable, ethical and innovative material. Symbolising a new era of luxury, the store was designed to enhance the customer experience at every touch point, while revitalising old materials into beautiful new store features. The result is fixtures made from recycled yoghurt containers, carpet crafted from fishing nets and recycled paper wall cladding.
Along with interior architects, HMKM London, Ambience became involved with the project through its already existing, close relationship with the Country Road Group. Dave Buchanan, Senior Design Coordinator at Ambience, told arc: “The initial brief focused on sustainability and flagship innovation. The project took approximately eighteen months from initial briefing to completion.
“The key challenge was achieving a certified 5 Star Green Star rating while meeting budget, project timelines and implementing a creative yet functional solution for the brand. Our team of talented lighting designers overcame all challenges through collaboration with the Green Star consultant, innovation and a dedication to excellence.”
The Green Star certification is a rating system of stars and points issued by the Green Building Council of Australia, which encourages and assesses sustainable and environmentally conscious design, construction and operation of buildings.
Approaching the rating from a lighting point of view, it was important for the Ambience team to pay close attention to the lighting comfort levels and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Country Road store.
“There are standard measures like using flicker free fittings and specific settings on the Colour Rendering Index,” explained Stephen Justice, Communications Director at Ambience.
“The back of house and store room were placed on sensors and shopfront lighting was placed on a timer. For the general illuminance and glare reduction, we specified diffusers, softening lenses and honeycomb louvres to all fittings in the nominated area, to reduce glare.
Applying localised lighting control to all the task areas allowed the ability to adjust the light levels in the immediate environment (counter and back of house areas) for staff members,” he continued.
To combat the greenhouse gas emissions, the team at Ambience achieved an incredible 40% reduction to the Part J6, 2016-2019 BCA.
“The approach to this was a lot harder than it sounds,” explained Justice. “We had to reduce the percentage of the illumination power density by specifying more efficient fittings that achieve the right light levels with less light and less power consumption.”
Buchanan added: “The architectural documentation went through multiple iterations to perfect the brand’s vision and create a benchmark of inspiration for the retail industry. As a result, the lighting design, specification and layout was continually refined to suit the documentation. The modifications introduced regular assessments of the Green Star requirements to ensure compliance.”
Using Ambience’s own fixtures, the team had to create a scheme that would work around the architectural features of the store. Internal artistic ceiling features include formed ceiling channels and oak curved wood timber curtains. Integrated light sources are concealed within the curtain wraps to provide subtle, dappled lighting to the oak finish.
“The lighting design captured the essence of the brand’s commitment to sustainability and the celebrated Australian lifestyle through pioneering best industry practice, the latest luminaire technology and a considered architectural lighting approach. The garments exuded luxury through excellent colour rendition and precise aiming,” explained Buchanan.
“The architecture, lighting and brand ethos elegantly dovetail to produce a fashion forward, iconic installation.
“Country Road Chadstone was one of the most challenging yet rewarding and educational projects. A career defining milestone for all involved.”
Country Road Managing Director, Elle Roseby, said the relaunch of the Chadstone flagship store was a milestone for both the brand and the industry: “Our Chadstone flagship revolutionises the retail experience, maintaining our commitment to quality, while demonstrating our connection to the environment. It shows that sustainability in fashion extends into retail store fit-outs, as well as garment production.”
Paul Digby, Creative Director from HMKM in London, commented: “Country Road is a truly Australian lifestyle brand, brought to life through a ‘Curated landscape’, where the outdoors effortlessly flows in. Natural, local materials and craft tradition are celebrated through the store design, where the environment is cherished and respected. A unique retail landscape referencing the country’s riches, putting community and sustainability at its heart. All with the aim to be Australia’s first 5-Green Star lifestyle store.”
Pro Shop powered by '47, USA
The Hub on Causeway in Boston, USA, is a joint-venture development of Delaware North and Boston Properties, consisting of more than 1.5 million sqft of mixed-use retail, office, hotel and residential space, as well as an expansion of TD Garden - home of the Boston Bruins NHL team and NBA’s Boston Celtics.
This transit-oriented development is a significant investment that will bring substantial improvements to North Station, create major economic impact for the area, and enhance the vitality of this important district in the city of Boston.
As part of the project, the Pro Shop powered by ‘47, the official team store of the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics, has been expanded and relocated to a prominent location at the Hub on Causeway entrance to TD Garden.
Bergmeyer, a Boston-based design collaborative channelled the core values of Boston’s sports teams - grit, heart, heritage and authenticity - when developing the designs for the new store, creating an immersive retail environment that celebrates Boston’s historic local sports franchises. The store design seamlessly blends exposed ceilings, honed concrete floors, large retail store fixtures constructed of rough-cut wood and welded steel, and an actual section of parquet flooring from the original TD Garden basketball court, complete with state-of-the-art audio-visual displays and digital signage.
The store experience is supported by a multi-layered retail and entertainment lighting scheme, designed by Hartranft Lighting Design. Merchandise lighting is largely accomplished with Bruck’s SMARTrack LED track lights, while the architecture is complemented with supplemental ambient and accent lighting, which includes linear lighting with acoustic baffles for sound dampening, provided by the likes of ETC, Philips Color Kinetics, QTRAN and Focal Point.
Alongside this, hat displays have integrated LED shelf lighting, courtesy of QTRAN, mannequins stand atop LED backlit pedestal bases, and a 16ft diameter ring of light – Zaneen’s Glorious 5400 Suspension - encircles an enormous, centrally located t-shirt display. One of the most striking features of the Pro Shop is a floor-to-ceiling rotating jersey wall that displays Bruins or Celtics merchandise, backlit with Philips Color Kinetics’ PureStyle Intelligent Color Powercore RGBA linear LED grazers, programmed for each team’s home colours of gold and green respectively on appropriate game days.
The use of dynamic, DMX-led lighting to support the teams and events at TD Garden extends much further beyond the backlit wall display, as more than 40 ETC theatrical wash lights and 20 ETC moving heads, programmed with shows created by the lighting designers, indicate 30 minutes to game time, half time, game wins and, in real time, when a goal is scored during Bruins hockey games. To add drama and impact to these moments, the store’s retail lighting dims down, returning to operational levels when the shows conclude.
When Hartranft Lighting Design initially presented concepts to the owners and store management staff, there were concerns about ease of use, due to inadequate lighting controls at the store’s former location, which resulted in store staff using circuit breakers to control the lights. As such, it was important to have a simple, reliable user experience for the Pro Shop management and staff. Management therefore requested that the lighting have a time lock control to turn the lights on before opening and also after hours for restocking, and to automatically set the colour of the theatrical lighting based on team schedules.
To meet these needs, the lighting designers knew that they would need one lighting control system that would integrate the retail store lighting and the lighting shows, and integrate with the lighting control system in the TD Garden arena and building exterior.
The merchandise types and store layout warranted an ability to group the track lighting by zones. The lighting designers felt that a wireless control solution would simplify installation, and allow for future ‘grouping’ of fixtures, if necessary. Further to this, they were intrigued by a new technology that would allow them to adjust the beam spreads of the track lighting without lenses or filters. This could then provide them with a tool to fine-tune the light distribution on the variety of merchandise displays from the shop floor.
They selected LEDRA Brands’ Bruck track lighting fixtures, which incorporate Xicato complete solution light engines with Bluetooth wireless control and LensVector beam shaping. This combination met the lighting control and beam shaping needs of the project.
When it came to integrating the store’s retail lighting and DMX-controlled theatrical lighting within the larger lighting control system of the TD Garden, Hartranft Lighting Design worked with local ETC representative Boston Illumination Group to specify components that would facilitate the eventual integration with the arena’s large-scale Pharos control system.
Through speaking with the technical and engineering staff members at Xicato, Hartranft learned that ETC and Xicato had previously collaborated on another project that would enable ETC’s Mosaic Show controllers to communicate with Xicato wireless gateways. The Mosaic Show controllers would also be able to send commands to other loads that include 0-10V and DMX control protocols. Again, this combination of lighting control capabilities met the needs of the project, and was incorporated into its drawings and specifications.
To facilitate commissioning, the lighting designers needed to identify and number each of the 250-plus wirelessly controlled track heads. Using reflected ceiling plan drawings, Hartranft developed a colour-coded numbering system by store department, which helped with putting the light fixtures into groups and scenes.
Xicato commissioning service representatives spent three days on site with the lighting designers, commissioning the wireless lighting system. During this time, they worked with the TD Garden’s IT department to create a closed WiFi network communication with the ETC lighting control system. The general lighting was commissioned to recall four scenes - pre open, store open, dynamic show and after hours.
Using the same lighting control panel, lighting designers worked to aim each track light and set beam angles. The ability to adjust each beam of light remotely from the shop floor made it very easy for the designers to make precise choices on various merchandise displays.
Alongside this, Hartranft worked with Barbizon Lighting to programme the theatrical wash and moving lights to create the desired lighting shows, which would be triggered from the arena’s lighting control system.
Speaking on completion of the project Hartranft’s Paula Ziegenbein said: “This was a very exciting design. Not only did the lighting need to reinforce the floor plan and make the merchandise look spectacular, we also needed to creatively integrate colour and movement to make the store come alive, and all of this needed to be flawlessly integrated, which was extremely technical and challenging to execute.
“This project demanded equal parts right and left-brain engagement, for sure. But how exciting to have these once unimaginable lighting tools available to make it all come together.”
With its highly complex controls design, this project is the first of its kind to combine Bluetooth wirelessly controlled lighting with beam shaping technology, that interfaces these light fixtures and others with 0-10V and DMX loads onto a single point of lighting show control that receives commands from the arena lighting control system.
Tracey Zaslow of AEC Solutions added: “The Pro Shop staff are thrilled with the lighting automation, and the enhanced ability to make programming changes quickly and easily from their smartphones.”
The end result is a seamless system that takes the burden of lighting control off the store staff, and facilitates a dynamic, immersive retail environment for Boston’s sports fans, concert goers, attendees of other TD Garden events, and rail travellers using Boston’s North Station as a destination.
LewesLight returns for 2020
(UK) – LewesLight will take place from 28 February – 1 March.
After four years of creating new and exciting installations
in light, sound and space in and around the East Sussex town of Lewes,
organisers have announced that LewesLight will return in 2020.
Created in response to the UNESCO International Year of
Light in 2015, LewesLight has been held annually ever since, and the next
instalment will take place over the weekend of 28 February – 1 March.
For its next edition, LewesLight will be exploring environmental
stories, starting with the beauty of moonlight and shadow through to the play
of light on water. The festival’s artists and designers will also investigate
some of the more troubling issues of our time, looking at the impact that human
civilisation is having on our planet: climate emergency, rising sea levels,
plastic, the impact we have on wildlife and biodiversity, and what this means
for the future.
The festival is a community event, and takes place due to
the hard work of both professional and community volunteers, and the support of
event partners. For the 2020 event, LewesLight is working with the Lewes
Railway Land Wildlife Trust R.A.T.S Group, and the Environment Agency to
involve secondary school children in the event, raising awareness of sea level
rises due to global warming.
Organisers are also working with Making Lewes to develop a
community workshop, and with The Manor Green College in Crawley to involve
children with learning difficulties in the production of one of the
installations.
Education is at the heart of the festival, as through work
with local school children, organisers hope to promote STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Maths), showing how these subjects are inseparable
from creativity, art and design.
The event’s professional team will also be working with
undergraduate and postgraduate students from Brighton University School of Art,
University College London (UCL), Rose Bruford College and Northbrook MET, providing
opportunities for mentoring and experience right through the creative process,
through to delivering the final event.
Confirmed contributors for LewesLight 2020 include: BDP,
Nulty, Studio Fractal and Studio 29, alongside designers and artists Michelle
Dufaur, Maggie Lambert, Carl Robertshaw, Shadow Cabinet, Galit Shaltiel, Eleni
Shiarlis and Tim Minter.
The festival’s other partners for this year’s event are:
Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council, The Depot Cinema, Trinity South
Malling and Sussex Events. Supporters for the event include: Commercial Lighting,
iGuzzini, Architainment, Light Projects, Rosco, Mode Lighting, The ILP and the
SLL.
Glamox purchase ES-System
(Poland) – Acquisition of ES-System strengthens Glamox’s position in Polish market.
Glamox has secured more than 98% of shares in ES-System, the
largest lighting company in Poland by turnover.
The purchase was confirmed on 4 December, with Glamox
acquiring 98.21% of shares in the Polish lighting company.
Founded in 1990 with headquarters in Kraków, Poland, ES-System
today employs nearly 900 people full time, with two factories in Wilkasy and
Dobczyce.
The acquisition gives Glamox access to an attractive lighting
market with high growth driven by a healthy macro-economy and a high level of
activity in the construction and installation industry.
“The acquisition of ES-System is in line with Glamox’s
strategy of buying up leading companies in Western and Central Europe with
matching customer segments, channels and market positions,” said Rune
Marthinussen, CEO of Glamox.
“ES-System’s products will further strengthen the range of
products we are able to offer our customers. In addition to giving us a leading
position on the Polish market, it will also strengthen us in our core markets.”
The transaction was completed on 10 December, and the
purchase has been approved by the relevant competition authorities. Glamox
intends to acquire all shares in ES-System, and will put in motion an
obligatory buy-out procedure for the remaining shares under the conditions
stipulated by Polish law.
Winners of [d]arc awards announced at [d]arc night
(UK) – WhiteNight Lighting picked up the Best of the Best [d]arc award at [d]arc night, the [d]arc awards ceremony, which took place at MC Motors in London on December 5th.
Christmas celebrations kicked off early this year, as the winners of the 2019 [d]arc awards were unveiled at [d]arc night, a special Christmas party held at MC Motors in London on December 5th, complete with street food, a free bar, and fifteen Christmas present-themed light installations by top lighting designers and manufacturers.
The winners were:
STRUCTURES: Best Exterior
Lighting Scheme – Low Budget: Bamboo Pavilion, Taiwan by OuDeLight
STRUCTURES: Best Exterior
Lighting Scheme – High Budget: Chineh, Iran by RGE
Lighting Design
PLACES: Best Interior
Lighting Scheme – Low Budget: International Presbyterian
Church, UK by 18 Degrees
PLACES: Best Interior Lighting Scheme – High Budget: Under, Norway by Light Bureau (formerly ÅF Lighting)
SPACES: Best Landscape Lighting Scheme – Low Budget: The Musicon Path, Denmark by Simon Panduro and Light Bureau (formerly ÅF Lighting)
SPACES: Best Landscape
Lighting Scheme – High Budget: Aurora Experience, Finland
by WhiteNight Lighting
ART: Best Light Art Scheme –
Low Budget: Kaamos Aurinko, Sweden by ALLES oder Licht
ART: Best Light Art Scheme –
High Budget: Where The Rainbow Ends, France by Urban
Electric
ART: Best Light Art Scheme – Bespoke:
Biophilic Light, Netherlands by Beersnielsen Lighting Designers
EVENT: Best Creative Lighting
Event: Winter Lights, UK by Canary Wharf Group
KIT: Best Architectural
Lighting Products – Exterior Luminaires: Pipien
by Stoane Lighting
KIT: Best Architectural Lighting Products – Interior Luminaires: Eyeconic Range by Phos
KIT: Best Decorative: Noctambule by Flos
[d]arc award – Best of the
Best: Aurora Experience, Finland by WhiteNight Lighting
[d]arc night marked
the conclusion of a six month process, which saw more than 400 entries
submitted, with over 100 entries in the product categories.
Altogether, projects from 45 countries were entered and there were more than 12,000 votes cast, making this year’s awards one of the best to date.
The unique presentation format, free bars (sponsored by Kingfisher, Orluna and Nowatt Lighting and Technilum), street food and impressive lighting installations all contributed to a hugely enjoyable and creative evening for the more than 600 lighting designers, interior designers and architects in attendance. This year also provided an eco-friendly Glitter Bar sponsored by formalighting.
The installations on show at [d]arc night were
created by: Michael Grubb Studios (in association with Lite), Light Bureau (L&L
Luce&Light), DPA Lighting Consultants (Targetti), Light 4 Cundall (Osram), Arup
(Seoul Semiconductor), Firefly Point of View (Ligman), Seam (Delta Light), Lighting
Design International (Linea Light Group), Ideaworks (TLS International), Hoare
Lea (SLV), 18 Degrees, Inverse Lighting Design (Precision Lighting/RCL) MBLD
(Speciality Lighting Industries, Nulty (Signify) and Into Lighting (Ecosense).
After a vote on the night by visitors, an award for the best
installation was presented to Lighting Design International and Linea Light
Group for their installation, Ministry.
The [d]arc
awards, organised by [d]arc media together with creative consultants
Light Collective, is a celebration of the best lighting design around the
world, and is the world’s only peer-to-peer lighting design awards.
ÅF Lighting changes name to Light Bureau
(Europe) – Light Bureau joined ÅF Lighting in 2017.
Since 2017, Light Bureau and ÅF Lighting have been acting as
one company, counting more than 110 dedicated specialists operating across five
countries. Now, it has announced a new, common brand, finally marking the
merger with one name: Light Bureau.
Jim Collin, Head of Light Bureau, said “Light Bureau is
already a well-renowned name internationally. I strongly believe that our new
joint name will strengthen our identity and will provide us with a solid
platform to off the global market high-end lighting design solutions.”
“I’m very happy with this development, completing as it does
the union between ÅF Lighting and Light Bureau,” added Paul Traynor, Principal
Director at Light Bureau. “It will be exciting to see how we can develop the
joint brand together and build on what’s been achieved in the last two decades.”
Light Bureau is part of the engineering consultancy AFRY,
formerly ÅF Pöyry, operating globally under the Business Area, Architecture and
Design.
Ansorg appoints new CEO and COO
(Germany) - Matthias Hummel is appointed as the new CEO of Ansorg this summer, along with Tim Schnieder as COO one month previous.
Hummel took over the as CEO at Ansorg on 1 August 2019. One month previously Tim Schnieder joined the Mülheim-based lighting expert as COO.
“By contributing our experience we can facilitate Ansorg’s development into a leading international retail lighting expert,” explained Hummel. “We want to provide bespoke services in the very highest quality to customers all over the world – now and in the future.”
In times of continuous dynamic change in the lighting market, the company will benefit from Hummel’s uncompromising service orientation and more than 25 years of international retail expertise. He played an instrumental role in Vizona’s development into a leading international shopfitting service provider.
Schneider contributes extensive supply chain experience gained on different continents to the future development of Ansorg. He has various areas of expertise, including excellent project management know-how, experience in the implementation of international expansion strategies and an in-depth knowledge of process optimisation.
Visitors to the international EuroShop retail trade fair in Düsseldorf in early 2020 can gain hands-on insights into the future of retail lighting.
“Light plays a very important role in the retail industry because it adds emotional appeal to the shopping experience. Today’s retailers have to deliver an authentic brand experience to consumers – because that experience affects them at a far deeper emotional level than the product they are buying. And light is the key,” said Schnieder.
Before embarking on his career, Schnieder gained a degree in mechanical engineering from Osnabrück University and a degree in business management from Coventry University in the United Kingdom. After graduating in 2007 he joined Philips, where he held various functions in international supply chain management. In 2017 he was appointed as Head of Procurement in the Innovation and Strategy business unit. Since July 2019 he has been contributing his wide-ranging experience to the international expansion of the supply chain and continuous process optimisation at Ansorg.
The new CEO, Hummel, hails from the German city of Freiburg. He started his career in the wood-processing industry in 1992 after studying woodworking technology in Rosenheim. Two functions down the line the engineer’s career took off with his appointment as Shopfitting Project Manager and Regional Manager at Vitrashop in 1995. In 2004 he was appointed as Managing Director of Vizona, later assuming responsibility for the entire Vizona Group. Hummel has remained loyal to the group with his move to the Ansorg executive management.
Phos to illuminate Gingerbread City
(UK) – The exhibition
will run at Somerset House from 7 December – 5 January.
Phos has announced that
it will be illuminating the Museum of Architecture’s Gingerbread City for its
fourth annual Christmas exhibition.
The show, based in the
iconic Somerset House, runs from 7 December – 5 January, and sees more than 100
architects, engineers and landscape artists create an entire city out of
gingerbread. Its aim is to connect the public with architecture in an exciting
way and spark important conversations around cities and how we live in them.
This year’s exhibition
is based around the theme of ‘transport’ and models of Battersea Power Station
and the Tate Modern are just a few tipped to be on display during the show.
Phos will be working
with MoA to illuminate the Gingerbread City with its architectural lighting
products, ranging from LED strip and bespoke products, to the new Orba, that
was launched earlier this autumn. The range of LED lighting fixtures chosen by
the company will help to create a visually stimulating display that brings the
city to life through light, and enables it to be fully enjoyed by visitors.
James Cadisch, Development
Director at Phos, said: “We are thrilled to be taking part in such a wonderfully
festive show, that not only introduces architecture to a new audience, but
champions sustainable design ideas. The lighting design will help visitors fully
engage with the city, while putting the designs firmly in the ‘spotlight’.”
Signify launches tailor-made 3D printed professional luminaires
(Netherlands) – Introduction of 3D printing facilities part of wider effort to reduce carbon footprint.
Signify has unveiled facilities to 3D print light shades and
fittings in the Netherlands, and announced plans to establish 3D printing
factories in the US, India and Indonesia.
By using this highly flexible, more sustainable form of manufacturing,
which uses a 100% recyclable polycarbonate material, it allows luminaires to be
bespoke designed or tailored to customer’s exact need, and then recycled at the
end of their life, supporting a circular economy.
The investment in 3D printing underlines the company’s commitment
to reducing customers’, and its own, carbon footprint; a typical manufactured
luminaire (excluding electronics and optics) has a 47% lower carbon footprint
than a conventionally manufactured metal luminaire, and nearly every component
can be reused or recycled.
“We are the first lighting manufacturer to produce 3D
printed luminaires on an industrial scale, reinforcing our position at the
forefront of lighting and sustainable innovation,” said Olivia Qiu, Chief
Innovation Officer at Signify. “Printing luminaires provides a more flexible,
fast and more environmentally friendly way to manufacture. We can create new,
or customise existing designs, that fulfil customer needs quickly without huge
investments and long development cycles.”
Signify already has a 3D printing facility at Maarheeze in
the Netherlands. It aims to have up to 500 3D printers of different sizes, with
the ability to create luminaires up to 60cm in height and width. In January
2020, new Signify 3D printing facilities will be operational in Burlington, MA,
USA, serving both professional and consumer markets. Additional facilities in
Noida, India and Jakarta, Indonesia, will follow shortly after. LED lights will
be integrated into the luminaires at all of these sites.
The move has already received support from fashion and food
retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S), which has announced that it is in the
first phase of rolling out thousands of 3D printed luminaires across stores in
the UK as part of a wider move to improve store performance and generate
significant energy savings.
Oliver Knowles, Research & Development Manager within
the Property Group at M&S, said: “3D printing has been around for a while,
but these luminaires are the first real retail lighting application we’ve seen
that improves the sustainability of our stores and are extremely complementary
to our sustainability strategy. The potential for these fittings is enormous,
both from an energy and cost-efficiency perspective.”
Signify has also announced the rollout across Europe of the
world’s first online service to enable consumers to tailor decorative
luminaires.
Silvair to provide wireless technology for Osram
(Poland) – Silvair to collaborate with Osram as
Technology Partner
Silvair has enterted into a technology partnership with
Osram, providing a robust wireless control technology for HubSense, a new
lighting control system for the global lighting company.
HubSense is designed to enable easy and time-efficient
retrofitting of existing lighting installations into flexible wireless control
systems based on the globally interoperable Bluetooth mesh standard. With a
simplified commissioning process and multiple predefined lighting scenarios, it
is an intuitive solution for implementing advanced control strategies without
lighting control engineering expertise. The system also allows quick modification
of settings and lighting arrangement without bearing the costs of
recommissioning.
As a major contributor to the Bluetooth SIG’s Mesh Working
Group, Silvair plays a key role in the development of the Bluetooth mesh standard,
and as Technology Partner, Osram will be looking to gain access to the company’s
wireless knowhow.
“This is a strong signal for the entire industry, which
confirms the enormous potential of Bluetooth mesh networking in professional
lighting applications. We’re delighted that our efforts aimed at delivering a
truly outstanding lighting control experience have been recognised by one of
the most established brands in the lighting business,” said Michał Hobot, VP of
Product at Silvair.
“Bluetooth mesh introduces multiple innovative concepts to
solve the typical challenges of wireless lighting control,” added Hannes
Wagner, Product Manager at Osram. “Already present in all personal computing
devices, it also seems perfectly positioned to deliver value-added services
directly to end users.
“With its commitment to quality and innovation, Silvair is a
perfect partner for exploring this exciting global ecosystem.”
Flos appoints new Design Curators
(Italy) – Milanese architectural duo Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla join Italian lighting brand.
This decision came as part of the company’s strategic reorganisation and development programme, drawn up and put in place by Roberta Silva, just a few months after she joined Flos as Chief Executive Officer.
The intention is to work comprehensively on product development, with the purpose of strengthening product range. This role will guarantee continuity with the past in terms of attention to the creative stage behind the idea, while at the same time ensuring a better structure.
Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla, together, have a total of 20 years of collaboration with Flos, from the design of countless special installations for corporate events and new product launches, the planning of highly prestigious stands and display architecture, including Soft Wall, to recent refurbishment of the historic Milanese Flos flagship store in Corso Monforte.
This experience has afforded them an awareness of the brand’s philosophy and collections, hands-on experience with its evolution and a chance to get inside the relationship Flos enjoys with the creative talents on the international design scene.
Fabio Calvi and Paolo Brambilla commented: “Flos is a brand that has always turned trailblazing and design innovation into an element of differentiation and uniqueness. We are honoured by the confidence Roberta has shown in us and we are ready to step up to the plate in this exciting challenge. We like to imagine Flos as an art gallery and us as its curators, where the works of art are represented by poetical creations of light and the artists by the great designers who conceived them.”
Nulty to open Bangkok studio
(Thailand) – New Bangkok studio follows expansion in Middle East, America and Beirut.
Nulty is expanding its presence in Southeast Asia with the
launch of a Bangkok lighting design studio.
Headed up by Director Spencer Baxter, a lighting specialised with more than 20 years’ experience, this new location will allow the practice to capitalise on opportunities within the ASEAN community, and fully service the lighting design needs of its hospitality, retail, commercial and residential sectors.
“We couldn’t be more motivated about the launch of Nulty
Bangkok,” said Paul Nulty, Founder of Nulty. “Southeast Asia has so much potential
for us as a studio, so it’s important for us to be on the ground to maximise
opportunities and ensure we deliver the best level of service for our clients.
“We’ve done our homework in the region and are confident
that we have the right team in place to widen our network of contacts across Bangkok
and beyond.”
Spencer Baxter, Director of Nulty Bangkok, added: “Thailand’s
flourishing community of design professionals is just one of the reasons why
Bangkok was the logical next step for Nulty. The new base will enable us to
establish a dedicated ASEAN team, which will work in close partnership with
local developers, architects and designers to bring their projects to life
through boundary-pushing lighting design.”