Lighting Focus - Different flavours of light

25 October 2023

Lighting Focus - Different flavours of light

Michael Curry, senior associate of dpa lighting consultants, compares the contrasting lighting approaches to two very different types of restaurant.

Edited By Jill Entwistle

RESTAURANTS COME in very different guises and often evolve in very different directions. They are stagesets for the theatre of the brand, the Michelin-starred chef or the culinary theme. With restaurants springing up daily in a highly competitive market, it is lighting designers who play a key role in fulfilling the vision of those who create them, making each new one memorable and unique.

Each table at Woven was carefully curated with a sculptural conker shell and stem as a focal decorative element. Image Credit: Mark Bolton Photography

An enjoyable aspect of the process for a lighting designer is being part of that journey from inception, steering the project to arrive at a unique narrative to suit the space, the chef, the owner and, of course, the food and clientele. Whether the restaurant has a Michelin star and fine dining aesthetic or an edgy ‘street food’ vibe, the clear path of the lighting is creating a particular identity for that space and, where possible, introducing innovative ideas to help sustain the restaurant for many years to come.

Uniquely, the Duck & Waffle is open 24 hours a day, and therefore needs lighting to correctly match the time of day. Image credit: Mark Bolton Photography

As a lighting consultancy, we have been transforming restaurants and bars all over the world for decades, and have had the benefit of being immersed in the overall vernacular differences from country to country and city to city. Our work has entailed countless interesting and varied projects so we have avoided any ‘cookie cutter’ design direction. Perhaps ironically, two recent projects that stand out as being significantly different in terms of market, brand and approach are both in the UK.

The adjustable cantilevered table light is in a lowered position on arrival to accent the conker sculpture. When diners are seated, the luminaire is raised to light the whole table ready for dining. Image credit: Mark Bolton Photography

Woven by Adam Smith is a reimagined Michelinstarred culinary experience set in the luxurious spa hotel Coworth Park in Ascot. The lighting scheme was designed to complement the new calm and sophisticated interior design scheme by Martin Hubert Design (MHD). In addition, Studio Umut Yamac was engaged to bring new feature sculptural elements in the form of ceiling ‘loom’ features and screens which follow the design narrative or ‘thread’ of the Woven concept. Client expectations were nothing short of perfection for all aspects of the restaurant.

By contrast, The Duck & Waffle Restaurant in Edinburgh has an edgy and colourful interior with lighting that further exaggerates the fantastical theme of the spaces. Neon and dayglo are peppered throughout, though in a sophisticated way, reflecting the radically different ‘beat’ to its heart and ethos compared to Woven. The restaurant uniquely operates 24 hours a day so the lighting plays a large part not only in maintaining an appropriate mood but also complementing the time of day.

The original Woven restaurant featured a main restaurant space and conservatory. The replanning involved retaining the conservatory and creating a new main restaurant, but also introduced a dedicated and memorable entrance space with two climatised wine rooms and an exceptional cheese room, which transforms from lunch through to dinner with the offering.

The subtle, understated design required a seamless and sophisticated lighting approach. We therefore proposed integrating lighting into every aspect of the design, carrying out tests on each element to ensure that exactly the right lighting effect was achieved.

THE FOLLOWING pieces centre on the narrative powers of light, its ability to help tell the story or history of a space, or provide dramatic moments on the journey through it. Lighting both suggests and underlines – through highlighting, shadow, reflection, colour or level – the path that should be followed or the key features to notice and note.

It also conveys the story of a setting, its brand or aspirations, fusing with the interior design to express a message or address a particular demographic. It cancreate atmosphere and stir emotions, it can shout loudly or talk in muted tones. Lighting, in other words, is a powerful tool of communication.

‘We always say that for each lighting project a story can be told,’ says project leader Federica Cammarota of Studioillumina, responsible for the new lighting of the renovated Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, describing the scheme as a ‘sublime narration of emotions and light’.

Each table was carefully curated by MHD with a sculptural conker shell and stem as a focal decorative element. The lighting to the tables offers a little touch of theatre. The adjustable cantilevered table light, designed by Studio Umut Yamac, is in a lowered position on arrival to accent the sculpture. When diners are seated, the luminaire is raised to light the whole table ready for dining. Above the diners, the loom sculptures stretch across the ceiling with concealed integrated uplighting. The screens below echo the same design materiality as the ceiling looms, and again feature concealed linear lighting.

While Woven is minimal and muted, The Duck & Waffle is high energy, at once dark and bright, boldly colourful, a medley of matt and reflective surfaces, rich with texture and tone. The narrative is not subtle and in fact shouts at you on entry. The vibrant and buzzy atmosphere has a warmth of tone throughout, with areas that allow diners to stand out but also recede into comfortable private spaces and enjoy an unusual, but still refined, culinary experience.

While some lighting is integrated, many of the fittings are upfront and on show, the two approaches working together to create the final effect. Tables are accented to provide drama to the dining, with theatre lighting spots used along with the various bars and displays which radiate light within the dark and moody interior.

An ‘honest’ approach to the gantry lighting, painted black and set against a black ceiling, works well with the finely refined and detailed interiors below which glow with colour – the bright yellow feathered hoods of the cooking stations, red walls and the accents of colourful furniture and warmth of wood throughout each space.

Integrated linear LED is tucked within concealed detailing throughout and is particularly effective around the live kitchen/dining stations, which appear to float on their elevated platform. Flat LED panels are also seamlessly integrated into the bar and service station shelving to create sparkle and a glow through the bottles and glassware.

Sometimes the most effective approach is restraint. At the large open bar, a giant polished whisky still canopy remains intentionally unlit as it beautifully reflects the internally glowing central bar and animates it when diners pass by.

Modernity is mixed with tradition in the private dining spaces, where diners have an audience of refined and well-dressed Scottish ‘duck characters’ on the walls, all precisely illuminated with dedicated artwork lighting. The scheme is brought together with neon signage throughout.

The success of any project, as we all know, is not just about what we see, but the whole mix of experience – from the air quality and temperature, level of background music or sound, or lack of it, branding elements such as menus and tableware, all mixed in with the interiors and the ambience created. But, like theatre, the ultimate ingredient is the lighting which brings it all to life.

THE CASE STUDIES

The Duck & Waffle – its namesake dish – was started in London in 2012 as a ‘gastro diner experience’. The London restaurant is on the 40th floor of 110 Bishopsgate and offers 24/7 service, as does the newer Edinburgh version in the St James Quarter.

Woven at Coworth Park in Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire – part of the Dorchester Collection – won Adam Smith his first Michelin star within six months of it opening in 2016 when it was known as Restaurant Coworth Park.