Case Study: Lighting a Grade II Listed Luxury Historic Property, St James’s Street, Mayfair.
Xavio specialises in super-prime luxury projects, this is our core focus with many located in super-prime London, often with historic listed character.
One of our current projects in St James’s Street, Mayfair is a perfect example to consider when looking at lighting a Grade II Listed historic property.
The Scope of Works for the project are as follows:
50,000 sq.ft Grade II Listed historic property
6,000 sq.ft private members club
11 floors
Full lighting design & specification
It is a project that truly resonates with Nick Reynolds, Managing Director at Xavio.
“This project is one of my personal favourites. A 50,000 sq. ft. Grade II Listed historic property which has 4 enormous ballrooms, 3 basements including a private spa, and the largest ‘presidential suite’ in London occupying an entire floor.
There is also a private subterranean entertainment space which is partly under the famous thoroughfare of Piccadilly.
I love the classic grandeur of this amazing Grade II Listed building, with the terrific size of the rooms, a grand sweeping central staircase with huge columns, and the intricacy of the whole design.
There is also a rooftop terrace with splendid views across my favourite city in all of the world….London.”
The Challenges of Designing a Modern Technical Lighting System in a Period Property
One of the overriding challenges of the project is designing a modern technical lighting system set within such a property.
As the project is a large and complex one, the many technical challenges of working with Grade II listing and its restrictions, require bespoke solutions. In addition, the design challenges of lighting the amazing architectural features whilst respecting the constraints of listed building works require further bespoke solutions.
Simon Balthazor, Project Director at Xavio goes into more detail about how our approach helps with complexities such as these;
“Xavio is known for always ‘going the extra mile’ on technical data and support, and our intricately detailed documentation includes information such as driver locations, LV cable specifications, voltage drop calculations, and a host of other information that is often a ‘grey area’ which can fall between scopes. These documents are incredibly important and ensure a clarity of detail that helps guide all teams throughout the process.”
There is also a huge amount of bespoke joinery in the project, and the Xavio team are working with Gnoato Fratelli and other specialists exploring the best ways of incorporating discreet lighting into every customised piece of furniture and joinery.
Working closely with the specialist joinery firms has been an integral part of the project, allowing us to integrate creative yet subtle lighting features. Working equally closely with specialist bespoke lighting workshops ensures that the many ornate decorative lighting elements are installed with modern LED technology that is compatible with the lighting control system.
For this project, a Lutron Homeworks System is being specified, supplied and fitted. Our role is to provide the relevant consultants with the technical specifications of the lighting and how we would like this to be controlled - this is conveyed through our lighting design plans, loading schedule, data sheets and more. The specialists then design and supply the control system to operate the lighting design scheme.
Bespoke Solutions
The design challenges of lighting the amazing architectural features whilst respecting the constraints of listed building works has also seen many bespoke solutions.
The ornate architectural features in the large ballroom and reception areas are intricate in detail, and spectacular in design. A key challenge was to pick out the gold leaf ceiling features in a subtle and inobtrusive way, whilst respecting the listed restrictions. The technique used to achieve this is hidden perimeter LED. Discreet, modern and effective, successfully bringing the architectural details to life. This technique was also used to light the amazing feature dome above the main stairs.
Hidden linear LED has also been used in other areas of the project. It is an extremely effective and versatile solution for this type of project. The basement level spa area comprises of full height timber slats running the entire length of the spa complex. The hidden linear LED is used to light these vertical timber slats which will result in a very dramatic feature when complete.
Other areas that feature hidden linear LED are the historic curved brick-arched ceiling elements in the lower ground floor. The effect here will result in a stunning architectural lighting scene.
The lighting design as a whole features decorative lighting throughout, exquisite free standing table lamps, floor lamps, wall lights, pendants and chandeliers, softly augmented by architectural lighting and joinery lighting which helps to create a seamless integration.
These luminaires are all fitted with dimmable LED lamps. All were specified to ensure full compatibility with the lighting control system so a smooth dimming curve is obtained throughout, with no flickering despite the large number of FF&E pieces. There will be lighting control keypads fitted throughout the property and Xavio will coordinate the scene settings with the client team and AV consultant.
There have been a good number of challenges along the way in this project, which is to be expected in such an historic property. One that required particular focus was how to light the main grand staircase. There is only one existing main chandelier which is not enough for this huge space. We overcame this by installing high powered linear LED lighting into the decorative domed ceiling. The result is incredibly respectful to the architecture, lighting the amazing fresco and throwing light downwards.
There are also discrete surface mounted spotlights on stone ledges to wash light onto the decorative panelling of the walls. We worked closely with the contractors and architects on site to agree discreet surface cable routes without drilling into the Grade II listed stone features, walls or floors. After many hours of discussion and consultation on site, we were able to agree a route with the architect that did not compromise the aesthetics or listed building consent.
Design Like An Artist
One of our tenets at Xavio is ‘Design like an artist’. We see light as art, light being our brush with which we paint the canvas, so to speak.
One of our designers, Piotr Chilik illustrated by hand four areas of this project from the original CGIs. With lighting effects included, they show the atmosphere light can bring to each individual space.
The video sequence really shows these rooms coming to life, as shown on the video below:
Our lighting design schemes surround light with artistic talent, technical expertise and excellence. It is incredibly important to check the science behind the art to ensure what is being proposed is technically possible to achieve. Extensive expert knowledge and a deep understanding of electrical requirements, dimming systems and the latest technology and software that relates to lighting installations is hugely important.
It’s a real pleasure to work with such professional teams on a prestigious project of this scope and nature. We look forward to sharing more insights as the project moves forward.
If you would like to get in touch and discuss any upcoming projects or lighting design requirements you have, please contact April Comerford, our International Client Manager on +44 (0)7393 115376 or via email april@xavio-design.com