Architectural Record – August 2019

ARCHITECTURAL RECORD AUGUST 2019 99

Mandarin Oriental

Jumeira Lobby

DESIGNWILKES

dpa lighting consultants

By Sheila Kim

ARCHITECT: Design and Architecture Bureau

INTERIOR DESIGNER: DESIGNWILKES

LIGHTING DESIGNER: dpa lighting consultants

ENGINEER: SEED (electrical)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: BILT (electrical)

OWNER: WASL Group

SIZE: 6,000 square feet (main lobby)

COST: withheld

COMPLETION DATE: March 2019

SOURCES

LIGHTING: Preciosa; LED Linear; Linea Light Group;

KKDC; General LED; iGuzzini; Light Graphix; Dynalite

credits

It can be daunting to try making a mark in

Dubai, a city with a striking natural environ­

ment but crammed with an eclectic jumble of

contemporary buildings at every scale. Yet the

project team behind the Mandarin Oriental

Jumeira lobby—interior design firm DESIGN­

WILKES, dpa lighting consultants (dpa), and

luminaire producer Preciosa—met such a chal­

lenge with a visual feast for a dramatic first

impression.

Meant to bring the outdoors in, the installa­

tion is a colonnade of 14 “trees” that double as

sculptural artworks and functional light fix­

tures. DESIGNWILKES was inspired by the

region’s orange blossoms but believed that

incorporating living trees into the space would

eventually be value­engineered into the installa­

tion of artificial ones, which would transform

an elegant hotel lobby into a shopping mall–

like setting. Instead, the firm devised figura tive

replicas of the real thing, fabricated by Preciosa

in matte­champagne stainless steel and glass.

Three sizes—from 16½ feet in diameter (at the

widest point) by 13 feet tall to 25½ feet in diam­

eter by 30½ feet tall—replicate layers of a forest

canopy while internally lit ribbed glass, held

within stainless­steel latticework, emphasizes

the artificiality of the tree trunks.

Already enlisted to illuminate the hotel’s

public spaces, dpa lent its technical expertise.

As the client (WASL Group) and DESIGN WILKES

desired a dynamic rippling­light display, dpa

proposed controlling the nearly 900 light points

of the “leaves” individually. “We worked with

Preciosa to adjust the intensity, sequence, and

speed of the light movement to create an evolv­

ing illuminated experience,” says Tim Leeding,

dpa senior designer. A central control interface

directs modules in the base of each tree, which

in turn distribute DMX signals to their respec­

tive lamps. Handblown­glass leaves diffuse the

light of these 2.1­watt warm­white LEDs, mount­

ed at the tip of each metal branch.

Linear luminaires within suspended acoustic

panels present a crisp ceiling and enhance the

The lobby of Dubai’s Mandarin Oriental Jumeira greets

guests and visitors with a naturalistic display of gently

illuminated “trees” fabricated in glass and steel.

PHOTOGRAPHY: © ALES VYSLOUZIL (COURTESY PRECIOSA LIGHTING)

DECORATIVE LIGHTING

ambience: as in nature, light from above filters

through the man­made tree canopies with a

dappled effect on the floor. The team aimed to

craft “something unique with a wow factor,”

says DESIGNWILKES principal Jeffrey Wilkes.

With the resulting enchanted forest, it appears

they did. n