Barings’ new HQ is situated in the middle of the London Square Mile central business district, and presents stunning views of some of London’s iconic landmarks.
Hoare Lea Lighting worked closely with both the client and interior design team to create and establish a “list of needs” that the lighting would need to fulfil:
– Brightness + Consistency – using a variety of lighting treatments and techniques to create spaces that are calm, airy and consistent in terms of visual connections.
– Flexibility – using adaptable lighting treatments to cater to and create different lighting environments within the same spaces.
– Control Platforms – providing the client with intuitive graphic user interface to be used by day-to-day staff throughout the building.
– Celebration of companies extensive art collection – the Barings company has been collecting art since the 1800’s and as such has an impressive and extensive collection to be displayed with suitably celebratory and sympathetic manner.
The Bearings lighting design centred on a clean and integrated approach with keen attention to detailing.
The design needed to reflect a clean, modern and sophisticated identity, the design of which was fostered closely in conjunction with the client and interior designer.
The general ambient lighting is provided by high quality finished aluminium adjustable spotlights, connected to a slender low voltage suspended track system. This helps to create flexible spaces for different events and tasks, ranging from small P2P meetings to group gallery viewings.
A layering approach allows lighting treatments to work both independently or in combination, to create different moods. In the lounge for example, treatments include concealed linear lighting above the central coffee bar and feature themed elements; adjustable pinspot downlighting to highlight seating areas and food platter positions; concealed uplighting to soffits to accentuate height and volume; and pendants for visual identity and mood.
Daylight interface was a key conversation – harnessing daylight where possible and visually balancing spaces for harmony between natural and artificial light helped deepen the design and visual comfort.
Lighting the impressive artwork on display with its rich and varied palettes and media was a focal point of the design. By using high quality track luminaires to directly light the artwork, carefully integrated perimeter lighting details and intelligent lighting control it was possible to introduce a dual gallery lighting approach which can be both balanced and uniform or rely on object brightness to reveal the stunning art pieces, depending on the lighting scene selected.
