Splash Of Light – Case Study

Victorian House, Kingston

A happy family home

Lighting adds a whole new dimension to this restored Victorian family home allowing the clients’ style and personalities to shine through. It adds a variety of atmospheres through the spaces that feels defined and zoned while flowing as a whole.

The Brief and the Concept

“From the outset, Virginie immersed herself completely in the project and understood exactly what we were trying to achieve.”

There was an opportunity to rethink the existing layout of the house, which was dark and with many small rooms. Internal walls and staircase were removed, loft rooms redesigned and all bedrooms and bathrooms remodeled to make it work for the family with 4 young children. The emphasis was placed on a rear extension with a large open plan and a fluid transition between the indoors and outdoors. Splash of Light worked in close collaboration with the clients, contractor and the electricians; this was vital for the design of the new lighting scheme to be successful.

The Challenges & The Solutions

“Virginie liaised extremely closely with our main contractors and produced a wonderful result. The layers, colour variance and different light fittings work perfectly.”

The clients’ important request was to experience the artificial lighting in their house with visual comfort: without glare and flicker, with a warm colour temperature, which would enhance the neutral palette, used throughout the house. The decorative lighting needed to have a Scandinavian feel, with a contemporary edge and create intrigue and surprise. Finally the lighting scheme needed to be energy efficient in the form of LEDs.

When you enter the home, clean and contemporary fixtures sits very happily in the period setting in the front of the house. The living room with its wide Scandinavian pendant shade creates a wonderful diffuse and atmospheric light and invites one to relax in the lounge.
The lighting in bespoke shelves is cleverly concealed and skims down the back of the shelves. This provides another layer of warm light and creates a beautiful focal point and an element of modern living at its best.

Layers of light gives definition and interest to the open plan space and accentuate the architectural detail beautifully like in the skylight above.

The back extension, where the contemporary looks really kicks in, invites you to use the various zones of the open plan in specific ways. Here the family can spread out and use the kitchen throughout the day and night.

The challenges of the lighting design were to create a space where functionality, simplicity and elegance had to work together. The lighting scheme had to amplify the feeling of space while creating very specific zones with individual functions and to create moods and atmospheres that flows seamlessly as one moves from one zone to the next. The different circuits used in the open plan were then knitted together using a Lutron system, which allowed various scenes to be created to suit all the family needs.

It was important to maximize the amount of natural daylight in the loft and rear extension as the joy and energy that sunlight brings to a space is hard to replicate and the furniture layout took this in consideration.

Artificial lighting was then considered and the lighting design is deceptively simple. The kitchen is modern and pared back but uses finishes in a blend of textured timber and quartz which creates a luxurious feel while the artificial lighting creates practical and reflected lights in this functional space.

Choosing specific fixtures to craft the lighting design

Adjustable and recessed downlights placed in specific areas highlight the finish of the vertical surfaces throughout while art is accentuated and brought into focus with the correct beam width and CRI technology.

The large pendants bring definition to the dining table and the wooden finish of the fixtures picks up the wooden surfaces in the kitchen and study area of the space beautifully.

Throughout the house, each light fitting was carefully decided on and took into account its interaction with its surroundings and how it would complement the other elements of interior design within the space.

Using wall lights and low-level lighting in the corridor leading to the kid’s rooms in the loft enhanced the feeling that their home was welcoming, safe and fun. This circuit of small LED lights at low level can be left on at night for the kids so that the corridor and stairs are gently lit during the night allowing the kids to come down to the first floor if they need to.

Layering with light and adding accents

“We couldn’t recommend Virginie highly enough! It goes without saying, any future projects we do will definitely involve Slash of Light. Thank you!”

Designing with light also means playing with shadows. This was done by placing LED lights in the corners of the skylight to create a warm glow in the living area where the ceiling is much lower, adding an element of interest and depth to the beautiful open plan.

Minimalist and unseen, LED strip lights was then recessed into the bespoke joinery creating a warm glow of light to gently accentuate the beautiful oak wood used and bring it’s texture to life.

Introducing layers of light at a lower level also helps to give a sense of airiness and a harmonious flow throughout the open plan and into the outside garden.

Uplighting the birch trees while grazing the cedar wall paneling of the games room with light add an element of focus and fluidity to the garden outside specially when on is in the open plan area.

It is vital to be able to visualize how each layer of light come together to work as a whole within the room and to control each layer successfully so as to create a variety of mood and atmosphere within the space.

Master bedroom and its en-suite bathroom, introducing uplights and pendants to the bathroom giving it a more luxurious feel.

Conclusion

A variety of different lighting techniques were used to enhance the various rooms of the house and engage the family to enjoy each space individually.
A strong coordination between the lighting designer, the joiner, contractor and the electrician from the initial concept right through to the final implementation of the project was vital to achieve this.

The end result is a delightful mix of classic and contemporary design, which gives Niels and Karen’s home heaps of personality.

“We carried out a full refurbishment on our family home and were introduced to Virginie. From the outset, she immersed herself completely in the project and understood exactly what we were trying to achieve. We had no concept of how complex it was to get lighting right when we embarked on the project. Virginie guided us through the whole process. She liaised extremely closely with our main contractors and produced a wonderful result. The layers, colour variance and different light fittings work perfectly. We couldn’t recommend Virginie highly enough! It goes without saying, any future projects we do will definitely involve Slash of Light. Thank you!”

~ Niels and Karen, the clients

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