Lighting private artwork to gallery standards in one of London’s premier homes
When London’s premium boutique architecture practice, LA London, was approached to oversee the re-design of the interior of a penthouse in London’s Belgravia, it was clear that the client’s high-value modern art collection would need gallery-level lighting to enable it to be suitably showcased. This required collaborating with a specialist lighting designer to create something truly unique, as architect Miruna Stroe, Associate at LA London, explains.
Initial Concept
“When we were approached to oversee this highly individual, ultra-prestigious project, it was clear that the whole concept of the design of the penthouse’s interior revolved around the client’s art collection. Therefore, some of the early questions we asked ourselves were: ‘how do we light this art and how do we enhance its position in the space?’ We needed to ensure that we exceeded our client’s expectations – they wanted the artwork to be a focal point. To achieve this, we knew we needed to look at art gallery-level lighting, designed to work in a luxury residential environment.
We approached premium design consultancy, Xavio Design – experts in super-prime lighting - to collaborate with us on this project. They in turn worked with specialist lighting manufacturers including Anthony Juer Lighting, who are specialist producers of concealed optical framing projectors, which formed the backbone of Xavio’s proposed solution for the majority of the artwork.
Cross-section
Xavio provided the overall design concept and the detailed design, and then co-ordinated the manufacturing and installation of the highly-engineered hardware solution.
Framing projectors direct targeted and carefully-controlled light evenly across the full and exact extent of a piece of art, stopping perfectly at its edge. To the casual observer, the precision involved means they are often unaware the artwork is being specially lit at all. But the effect is remarkable.
Anthony Juer are pioneers in framing projectors. They have been creating them since 1948 and their innovative designs have been continually developed and enhanced as new technologies became available. The projector’s evolved characteristics are a closely-guarded secret in their globally-renowned family-run business.
Testing the framed artwork projectors
Testing a projector on site
The projector provides a hidden lighting source and is recessed in the ceiling. The light is projected through a small aperture made in the ceiling that is of a specific size and orientation, dependent on the shape and distance of artwork being illuminated. The aperture is concealed by a small shield, which is traditionally bronze or metallic. On this project, Xavio came up with a new idea for the aperture which constituted a plastered-in plate with an oval hole, so no shield was required and the minimalist ceiling can remain perfectly flat.
The projectors do need to be accessed for maintenance purposes and if the artwork were to be changed in the future, the projector may need to be adjusted through the access panel.
We wanted the finished product to be seamless and beautiful, so we worked with Xavio Design to develop a discreet access panel system that would be as close to invisible in the ceiling as possible. They located a manufacturer in Italy that could create a high precision design using a specialist form of plaster that allowed for hairline joints to the surrounding ceiling. Up to four separate projectors can be accessed through one access panel in the ceiling so we were able to keep access panel numbers to a minimum.
Bespoke discrete access panel
But it was not only the client’s paintings hanging on their walls that needed lighting, they also had a number of pieces of sculpture that their interior designer had specifically commissioned for the spaces. In these cases, the shields covering the apertures to the projectors were precision-cut to match the exact shape of the sculpture, so the light hits the outline of the sculpture but not the wall behind it. The effect is incredible: it is difficult to comprehend why what one is seeing is so exceptionally beautiful, but there is no doubt that it is. The projectors are designed to provide an even balance of lighting and they minimise glare and reflection, ensuring viewers are seeing the art in truly its best light. The projector also provides UV-neutral lighting, which is vital to maximise colour rendering in the artwork.
12 projectors combined for full coverage of large artwork - plan
Beyond the coordination of the projectors in the ceilings, LA London ensured the substrates for the various pieces of artwork were correctly specified, so we had to know the weight of each piece. We also had to strengthen the flooring in some areas and the roof in others where we were hanging artwork from above. The architectural detailing of the project was precisely designed to suit the final placement of the artwork. There were a number of rooms that were specifically designed around the dimensions of a selected piece of art that the client wanted in those spaces.
In instances where artwork or sculpture was being custom-created for a certain room, we worked with the artists to ensure that we had the correct substrates in place with millimetre accuracy. One particular sculptural piece was very dynamic: we had to create a structurally-hanging wall, clad in a ply box to which it could fixed. Its design had a deep relief with lots of volumetric projections and recesses. This meant using a linear art light consisting of tens of individual LED lights along its length, each light fitted with a special ‘wall grazing’ oval optical lens and separated by vertical fins to avoid the risk of glare from the light when viewing the piece. The light washed over the wall, creating a dramatic and beautiful effect.
Projector mock-up testing - oval aperture, square projection
At one point during the project, when the penthouse interior had been stripped right back to its core, the client visited the site. We accompanied them as they walked from room to room, showing them the end result on an iPad containing our 3D BIM model. This helped them to really visualise the finished rooms and their actual dimensions. So much so in fact, that in one room they were inspired there and then to purchase a specific art piece that was up for auction that very evening to complement the space!
Finished ceiling aperture - neat and discrete
Every piece of art in this home is professionally illuminated to gallery standards, revealing its full beauty and enhancing its position in the space that it occupies. Through collaborations that pushed the boundaries of what has been achieved before, we were able to make the spaces flow seamlessly and elegantly while ensuring that the art always remains the star of the show. Engineering perfection allowed the beauty of the art to truly shine.