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PROFILE
folio Our regular feature highlighting the importance of decorative lighting in the work of one interior design practice. This issue, we present concrete. concrete is a design studio that prides itself on developing concepts within architecture, interior design, and urban and brand development. Aiming to unite people through creativity, concrete works with a team of 40 multidisciplinary creatives as architects and designers to provide innovative creative solutions to businesses and institutions. Based in the heart of Amsterdam’s red light district, the team works on projects with an interdisciplinary approach to building brands, producing architectural and interior designs and urban development plans. It creates a range of colourful projects across the world, stamping each of them with a prominent lighting design that embodies the flair of the practice. www.concreteamsterdam.nl
happyhappyjoyjoy AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS concrete designed the concept, name, and identity of happyhappyjoyjoy, a restaurant representing an eclectic mix of street and market stall food found among the hectic streets of Asia. Divided into five spaces, the entrance of the restaurant draws customers in with a bright red neon happyhappyjoyjoy sign, casting a glow over the café inside. The entrance alleyway features eighteen coloured light boxes displaying different artworks behind windows varying in size and height. The venue then opens into a restaurant with chaotically plastered artwork on walls and large alcove seating areas beneath a red coloured backlit paper umbrella ceiling, strengthening the warm Asian ambiance of the room. The kitchen is connected to what is referred to as the ‘backstreet alley’, where high tables and bar stools stand for groups to enjoy their evening while watching the events of a hectic kitchen. The alley is illuminated by five Proplights by Bertjan Pot for Moooi, reminiscent of garlands of random streetlights as seen in pop-up street food stalls.
W Hotel
LONDON, UK In a collaborative project with Maurice Brill Lighting Design, W Hotel on Leicester Square is about inclusive exclusiveness, featuring bespoke lighting including pieces from Frandsen Lighting. The welcome area holds three circular pods for guest services, with each comprised of equal modular parts stacked differently to create three different shapes. A soft purple light supports the different shapes and shines from underneath and above each pod. A broad passage stretches out from the welcome area to the W Lounge on the other side of the hotel, where the seats and lights appear as one at first sight. Yet each seating space has its own furnishing design and a light object that follows the shape of the seating. The hotel’s WYLD bar then features a circular booth surrounding bespoke cocktail tables that light up in red.