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Left The Princesshay project in Exeter focused around an arms house ruin that had become undesirable. Housing and a restaurant were developed for the site and the arms house was covered in art. It is a good example of the social element BDP considers when producing lighting designs. Right BDP played a major role in the redevelopment of Cardiff city centre, an example of the practice’s commitment to social lighting.
curtain-up and change is considered to be desirable, where as in architecture change is bad, plans are set in concrete sometimes literally. In theatre you explore your ideas in real time, in architecture you have to communicate your vision sometimes years in advance, there is a whole process of visual communication which doesn’t happen in the theatre and of course in architecture there is a lot more money involved. In the theatre you have a right to fail, with architecture you do not.” But despite the creative freedom offered by the theatre, one thing it does not offer is longevity, artistic expression on the stage is fleeting, it cannot be preserved, where as architecture can, in theory, outlast its creators. “It’s still fairly ephemeral,” Ridler says. “An architectural lighting scheme will last ten to twenty years, not fifty or a hundred, but still that’s longer than the three week run of a play.” Another benefit to architecture key to the development of Ridler’s career is its democratic nature. Nobody has to pay to see a lighting scheme in the public realm as they would in the theatre. “While the emotional connection to work experienced in the theatre is arguably more intense,” Ridler says, “the ability of architectural lighting to make people healthier and
happier, to work better, to learn, to enjoy their leisure time is very profound.” Despite the similarities between the two, the learning curve he experienced after making the jump from theatrical lighting to architectural was steep. The first project he worked on never got built, a hotel in Serbia, a project that was disrupted by the conflict that scarred the area during the 1990s, but, he admits, looking back, that his unrealised design was marred by inexperience. The first project that he got built was Finsbury Avenue Square at Broadgate in London, a five year commitment that spanned Ridler’s entire time working for Maurice Brill Lighting Design. “What was interesting about that project was that it started with temporary mock-ups created in order to win the support of the owner and other stakeholders,” a task, because of his theatrical experience, that he was very comfortable with. “Looking back my graphics and my conceptual communication skills were awful, they make me cringe, but we learn every day, that’s what makes things fun.” While at Maurice Brill, Ridler also worked on Sketch on Conduit Street in London, a club, Michelin starred restaurant and art gallery. He also created a temporary
installation on the Wellington Arch for the millennium, which was later converted into a permanent installation. As Ridler’s work in lighting design went from strength to strength, he suffered a life changing spinal injury in a terrible car accident that left him paralysed from the waist down. “Straight after it happened my top priority was to get back to work,” Ridler says, “I was not sure if I was going to be able to and in what capacity, but as a lighting designer you just need your brain, your hands and your mouth and that will do.” Having left Maurice Brill and after leaving hospital his thoughts immediately turned to finding a job. “I said I would give myself until Christmas of that year (2003) to get the position I really wanted and then if that didn’t happen I’d start casting my net further afield. There were three companies I really wanted to work for, one was BDP, the other was ARUP and the third one was Mind’s Eye. It just so happened that that summer Finsbury Park Square was being commissioned, so I asked Martin Lupton who was in charge at BDP to come to the opening and that led to some temporary work and later to a permanent position.” The project that Ridler names as one of his highlights from his early days at