Design Stories 2.01

The Soraya Lobby Ceiling

A Modern Chandelier? The Soraya’s design phase coincided with a volatile economic period of run-away escalation. Thus as we designed, we repeatedly met with the general contractor to verify costs and find ways of reducing the expense of all systems. Our original lobby ceiling design utilized a plaster finish with expensive signature lighting elements as is common in theater entries. The contractor balked at this design due to the plaster’s weight, labor hours and scaffolding in addition to the expensive lighting, and incorporation of safety/environmental systems.

It is wonderful when constraints actually lead to a more interesting, unique design. By setting up a simple, easily lifted system of three different sized panels, laid in a random pattern, the ceiling becomes a shifting, staccato plane. These panels easily mask the engineering systems of air ducts, sprinklers, fan access and fireproofed structural elements. Lighting is achieved through inexpensive fixtures that dramatically uplight the staggered panels.

The classic theater lobby chandelier becomes a dancing plane of sculptured light—that is also energy and material efficient—leading to more sustainable design.