Role: Senior Architectural Lighting Designer at Ambience Lighting

Brief: Design a lighting solution for Aesop's new Karrinyup store that maintains the geometric concept inspired by Pezo Von Ellrichshausen's intersecting circles (Venice Biennale, 2016) and William Blackwell's Geometry in Architecture (1984). Achieve functional retail illumination levels for product displays without visible downlights or track lighting that would compromise the minimalist ceiling aesthetic and curved wall motifs creating three cocoons within the space.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborated with Aesop interior architects to develop lighting strategy reflecting the brand's rejection of conventional retail grid layouts.
• Designed custom circular skylight system using stretch ceiling fabric panels to mimic natural pools of daylight, echoing the store's repeated curved wall geometry.
• Calculated precise light levels ensuring retail shelves achieved adequate illumination using ceiling panels alone, eliminating need for supplementary fixtures.
• Integrated lighting seamlessly with curved walls and product displays to create fluid environment exploring inhabitation of pure geometrical forms.
• Produced comprehensive lighting plans and technical calculations balancing aesthetic purity with retail functionality.

Outcome: Achieved a clean, minimalist ceiling design with no visible downlights or track lights, perfectly aligning with Aesop's signature understated elegance. The circular ceiling panels successfully provided functional illumination for product displays whilst maintaining soft, natural lighting appropriate for skincare retail. The design demonstrated that aesthetic purity and retail functional requirements can coexist without compromise, reinforcing Aesop's distinctive approach to spatial design.