The award-winning lighting design practice illuminates Selfridges’ prestigious Buying and Merchandising office on Duke Street
Lighting pioneer Nulty has paired Brutalist architecture and bold colours at Selfridges’ head office on London’s bustling Duke Street.
London-based architect Alex Cochrane was tasked with designing the space, which includes enclosed meeting rooms, phone booths, break-out spaces, flexible working desks, as well as an outdoor terrace.
Nulty worked alongside Alex Cochrane Architects to deliver a lighting scheme that highlights the original design of the architecture. Illuminating each design element, creates a hierarchy in the space, whilst the clever use of colour, such as pops of red brighten the rooms and add a contemporary touch.
Every vibrant surface is lit to emphasise its colour, whilst vertical illumination ensures that light falls on specific finishes to bring depth and warmth to the office. This sense of utility and purpose is reflected in the design, with intentional but discreet light fixtures in place to ensure that the lighting is as unobtrusive as possible.
Upon entering the office, employees are welcomed by bright and contrasting elements in the reception area, with cove lighting details wrapped around grey fabric panels, creating a sleek and streamlined look. In the main workspace, hotspot hubs and flexible working spaces are equipped with bespoke built-in low-level task lights, while windows surrounding the office, provide an abundance of natural lighting during work hours. The inclusion of a cove and uplights, meanwhile, balances the absence of natural light in the evening.
Inside the ‘Playroom’, an informal break-out area, employees can meet for team building activities and other meetings, and the building’s roof terrace, invites employees to surround themselves with nature for added employee wellbeing. Linear LED strips are concealed in planters to highlight shrubs and bushes, whilst spike lights angled upwards bring attention to larger olive trees.
Elsewhere, a bold contrast in colour and finishes is apparent in the bathroom, where gold metal sheets envelop the walls. An eye-catching mirror, etched below to create an opal see-through finish, steals the show, and a linear lighting detail in the ceiling, illuminates the basins and taps to create a soft, vertical glow.
Selfridges’ new head office is a space with a softer character; linear suspended pendants hover above desk islands, providing both sufficient task lighting and pouring subtle light on to the furniture. Both Nulty and Alex Cochrane Architects have worked closely together to avoid over saturating the space with different ideas and lighting schemes, and instead, implemented the same lighting family throughout, creating a recognisable journey for every employee.
All images courtesy of Nulty
