071“I think the market will grow very tired of
that slapped together look – you’ve got to
treat it like it’s another luminaire, it’s just
you’re making it out of a slightly different
material. There needs to be the same time
and consideration taken for the design,
colour and technical outcomes as you would
with any other design,” explained Bird. “For
me, as a designer, we will always try and
work on a design element, we’re interested
in doing something a little more unique and
our whole ethos is to have fun with it – so
we try to have fun with the whole process
and not get too technical!”
In terms of the ZigZag collaboration with
Panzeri, Bird wanted to pay particular
attention to the surface area of the
pendant. “The more surface area, the
better with acoustics. The way we achieved
this is we created a zigzag-effect rather
than flat panels, which helps in two ways
- there is more surface area to absorb the
sound, but also that angular form creates
an angular reflection, you don’t get that
direct reflection, you get the sound just like
light bounces off a surface. So, if it’s at a
different angle, it will bounce in a different
way, and thus increases what they call
the decibel decay - you want the sound to
dissipate as quickly as possible,” elaborated
Bird.
Much like many design journeys, there
is always an element of trial and error.
However, when it came to designing the
ZigZag, Panzeri and Bird brought their
industry experiences together.
“A design and implementation of acoustic
elements in an office space is a difficult
thing to model, more difficult than
modelling lighting, because so many factors
impact on what’s going on,” continued Bird.
“I think you get an understanding over time
of what works and what doesn’t, what is
better and what isn’t. We design fittings
that we wouldn’t say are the best possible
acoustic fittings, they offer something –anything is better than nothing – and then
we have really high performing acoustic
products. We have big forms and lots of
surface area inside and out, angularity etc.
and I think you get an idea and get to know
what works. We also get lots of feedback in
spaces, especially in retrofits and remodels,
where it was really reverberating and noisy.
“We get a lot of people asking how many
they should use and I always remind them
they are light fittings, how many do they
need to light the space, then the acoustics
will just fall in line as part of it.”
On Panzeri’s stand at Euroluce, the ZigZag
was presented in a felt-textured dark grey
material, but is available in multiple colours
and textures to tailor to varying interior
schemes.
http://www.panzeri.it
http://www.luxxbox.com