Souldern Road - private residence

London, Great Britain

Photo © .PSLAB

Lighting Designers: PSLab

Location: London, Great Britain
Year: 2009

.PSLAB collaborated with DOSarchitects on the refurbishment of an old Victorian residence in London. We developed a range of custom light fixtures adapted to the architectural constraints and the desired spatial conditions.

The central element of the residence consisted of the dining room, housed in a double-volume space, establishing a vertical connection to the living room above.

Through its high glass panels, the dining room also featured a strong horizontal connection to the backyard.

However, the highly transparent façade was interrupted by an opaque concrete frame which, seen from the outside, blurred the vertical spatial connection.

Consequently, we developed an installation of three large U-shaped arms fixed with a hinge system to the concrete frame, each carrying a stainless steel cylindrical lighting head at their end. The shape of the fittings responded directly to the volume of the space, and re-established the connection between the levels in the façade.

Also due to their flexibility and size, the arms would, from one point of fixation, float over the whole area of the dining room. A fourth independent shorter arm would cover the stairs running along the side of the room.

A similar language was developed for the lighting of the backyard with a system of cylindrical lights attached to the railing, unifying the interior and exterior spaces.