Location
Bangkok Thailand
Date: 2023
Client: Bangkok Design Week
Architect: Arcane
Curator: Urban Ally
Lighting Sponsor: Illuspace
Designed by ARCANE and illuminated by SEAM Design, ‘A Garden Too Secret’ opens on the 4th of February and is on until the 12th of February 2023 as part of the annual Bangkok Design Week 2023. The project is supported by Urban Ally - curators of the [Man Sri Intersection] and Illuspace who have provided luminaires and electrics for the installation.
The structure develops in height for approx. 4.5m through a triangulated geometry and employs 30 circular hollow section galvanised steel pipes for a total length of 55 linear metres. Arcane designed a geometry to complement the hexagonal corner room at Mansi Waterworks whereby sections of triangular pyramids are stacked vertically with alternating orientation virtually decomposing the hexagonal perimeter of the room.
There are approx. 90 individual plants of approx. 10 different species developing in height along three spiral sections. Plants are attached to the steel pipes with their own roots and soil, an atomising misting system ensures the humidity levels remain optimal throughout the extent of Bangkok Design Week.
Natural daylight and artificial light negotiate through the space between day and night. When the sun lowers and dims as the day nears sunset, the primary light source shifts from outside to the heart of the room where SEAM’s lighting starts to reveal a different shade of green. Lighting will bring beauty to the decaying architectural elements of Mansri Waterworks and lead the way to where the secret green gem can be discovered. The tower is lit brightly to show the value of green space while the shadows of foliage projections on the floor and ceiling exaggerate the shape of nature. aesthetically. Linear lights start from the structure's base rising upwards to bring people’s attention to the top. A looped soundscape will complement the installation culminating in a live performance that will take place on February 11th marking the closure of the event.
A Garden Too Secret is designed to be a zero waste installation, plants will be partly returned or re-housed after the event, light fittings will be returned and the metal structure will be repurposed thanks to the modular design and standardised construction.
Location
London, UK
Date
2017
Status
Development
Architect
Tonkin Liu
At the historic, Robert Adam-designed Lansdowne members’ club in central London, a new sculptural canopy encloses the Oval Court event space, broadening the venue’s functionality. The canopy capitalises on Tonkin Liu’s Shell Lace structural technology – developed with Arup’s engineers and the Natural History Museum’s scientists – to provide a light-weight surface of minimal mass and ornate visual intricacy.
The perforated surface floats beneath an operable, weatherproof roof, while a central oculus connects visually to the sky. Canopy-mounted lighting is discreetly positioned to preserve the dramatic architectural appearance while smoothly illuminating the central floor area. Spotlights from the end walls emphasise the canopy’s pleated underside. The phenomenal atmosphere of dappled forest light is created by a powerful framing projector shining vertically from high level and casting the shadow of the canopy’s elaborate perforative pattern downward onto the courtyard floor. Up-lit plants and spot-lit tables together complete this sophisticated lighting aesthetic.
The entire system is programmed with diverse atmospheres to augment the Lansdowne Club’s formal, social and entertainment functions, allowing a variety of bookings to enjoy the unique courtyard.
Images
Tonkin Liu
Location
San Diego, California
Date
2015
Status
Design
Architect
Zaha Hadid Architects
Perched high in the hills on the outskirts of San Diego, this luxury private residence commands wide vistas over the Pacific Ocean. Passing through the discrete and mute exterior shell, the space opens up into an intimate merger of interior and exterior rooms centred around a private courtyard that brings light into all areas of the house. Throughout all interior and exterior areas, light is detailed as a material woven into the building’s fabric and integrated into the geometry through seamless details. Fluid and discrete, the lighting expresses the subtle sophistication of the architectural design.
Images
Zaha Hadid Architects
Location
Riyadh, KSA
Status
Phased completion
Client
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
Architect
LAVA
Landscape
Battle McCarthy
Wayfinding
SpaceAgency
The new King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) campus brings world-class STEM research to Riyadh, as the latest in a growing network of industry-leading science campuses throughout the Middle East. SEAM has led the masterplan lighting concept, applying a research-driven approach to activate the architecture and landscape at night.
To create a campus-wide lighting design strategy, an initial analysis was conducted across the entire masterplan to catalogue its various facilities and functions, where they are housed and how they are accessed. From here, a pedestrian flow analysis unlocks an understanding of the multiple elements of a research and technology development, the complexities of circulation and the challenges of navigation, and the desire to balance comfort and safety at night.
Lighting strategies are applied to the facades for clear identification, with other lighting systems woven through the landscapes and pathways that encompass the entirety of the site. The lighting strategy is central to wayfinding throughout the campus and is tailored to promote intuitive visitor orientation and navigation. Illuminated signage within bespoke architectural wayfinding totems reinforces the development’s branding identity and pedestrian experience.
SEAM has also designed a custom planter lamp inspired by the buildings’ unique geometry, which subtly extends the architectural language into the landscape detailing for a holistic visual expression.
London, UK
Client: Westfield
Situated between two retail blocks with a double height glazed entrance, Debenham’s Node is located at the southwest entrance to Westfield Shepherds Bush, London.
The established palette of materials make a gradual transition between the reflective bulkhead design and the existing white retail ceiling. By way of reflection, Debenham’s Node visually engages with the immediate environment, it creates an entirely different reading of the architectural form whether by reflecting the sky and clouds or by enhancing the perspective vanishing points.
Location
Brackenell, UK
Date
2011
Client
Stanhope
Architect
Nick Hancock Studio
Ocean House Reception is located in a mixed use retail-commercial development located in Bracknell. The project consists of a refurbishment of all reception areas from the previous design completed in the 1980's. SEAM provided lighting design services for the updated interior fit out with clean materials and fresh lighting design.
Photography
Harry Triggs
Location
London, UK
Date
2022
Client
London Design Festival
Architect
Stanton Williams
Team
Arup
Stage One
The demountable pavilion MultiPly first debuted for London Design Festival 2018, and has so far travelled to Milan Design Week 2019 and Madrid Design Festival 2020. Designed by Waugh Thistleton Architects for the American Hardwood Export Council, the public artwork applies prefabrication and modular construction to showcase engineered-timber’s material integrity and beauty. Each urban situation informs a bespoke modular configuration and, in response, a unique lighting programme, with SEAM’s illumination bringing each MultiPly installation to life after dark.
SEAM expanded the lighting brief to include the project’s modularity, with an affordable, transportable and dynamically programmable system. A singular lighting detail is integrated into each module during pre-fabrication, with all modules then connected on site and controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth. Once assembled, each system is programmed on location in real-time across a single evening, using mobile devices to operate MultiPly, to align the pavilion’s brightness and animations with the local sunset hours and spatial context from key local vantage points.
The resulting, dynamic compositions of glowing doorways, layering light and dark surfaces, make MultiPly’s architecture legible and enjoyable at night. At the human scale, the lighting welcomes visitors and highlights pathways through the maze-like interior, while at the urban scale it creates an enigmatic sculpture, which then evolves in a shifting parallax of solids and voids as one encircles, enters and ascends through the structure. The precise route through MultiPly remains each visitor’s own exploration.
While London revolved around an interior exploration, Milan was viewed predominantly as a stacked facade in elevation, and Madrid introduced an inhabitable sculpture into the city’s Esplanade de Puente del Rey civic realm – representing an unprecedented public artwork for Spain. In every iteration, MultiPly shows how lighting can enhance architecture’s modularity, sustainability and identity, while demonstrating all of these qualities as urban experiences for people to enjoy.
Awards
2019 Wood Awards – Small Project
2019 Structural Timber Awards – Pioneer Award
Photography
London – Ed Reeve
Milan – Giovanni Nardi
Madrid – Eugenio de Vila Martinez
Diagrams & Illustrations by SEAM
