Matt Waring

MYS Hotel, Thailand

Nestled in the mountains of Khao Yai, the MYS Hotel is a luxury, boutique destination that fuses Scandinavian and Thai design. SEAM Design developed a lighting scheme that seamlessly blurs the interiors and exteriors of the space.

Fusing contemporary Scandinavian and Thai-inspired design, the MYS Hotel is the newest boutique destination in Khao Yai, Thailand.

Blurring interior and exterior spaces, the luxury resort provides a calming retreat amidst verdant greenery, giving guests a beautiful spot in which to relax and unwind.

Lighting for the stunning new hotel was designed by SEAM Design, and one of the main parameters of the scheme was to delicately merge the modern and natural elements together into one cohesive ambience.

Aticha Padungruengkit, Associate at SEAM Design, explains: “The project serves as the ideal retreat for those seeking proximity to nature while preserving their privacy and enjoying high-end services. Achieving this balance involves a thoughtful lighting design that facilitates wayfinding without being overly conspicuous, ensuring a harmonious blend of natural surroundings and modern amenities.

“The overall concept for the lighting was to establish a sense of comfort that harmonises with nature, while infusing a subtle element of surprise. The lighting scheme is crafted to complement the distinctive architectural design – we hope that guests will always remember the unique character of the MYS Hotel and want to come back.”

To realise this harmonious concept, the lighting design team conducted “extensive studies and research” to ensure that the lighting struck the required, delicate balance that would be “sufficient to create an inviting mood and atmosphere for guests without disturbing the wildlife and natural surroundings,” Padungruengkit adds.

Lighting control is used to ensure the appropriate amount of light is provided at the right times. During late-night hours, only wayfinding lights are activated, with lobby lighting dimmed while not in use, allowing for only a special light setting to remain on.

One of the defining features of the hotel is its remarkable “levitating” outdoor pool; reaching out over the hotel lobby, the pool is connected to a lounge café that opens to expansive, highly curated gardens across the hotel grounds.

Padungruengkit explains how the lighting helped to further showcase this standout feature: “The distinctive feature of the project is the levitating pool, easily visible from the main road in its elevated structure. We wanted to emphasise this ideal by incorporating vibrant colours into the pool, making it particularly prominent during nighttime from a distance. As guests pass through the gate to the drop-off area, they are welcomed by the watery floor that mimics the visual effect of the pool above, creating an immersive underwater experience.”

The use of dynamic colours and movable lighting helps to further distinguish the reception area and set it apart from the rest of the hotel, but Padungruengkit explains how the lighting design shifts throughout the space to create pockets of distinction and enhance the overall guest experience. She says: “As guests move to the wine bar and restaurant, the ambient lighting and textures gradually lower to create a formal and refined ambience suitable for fine dining.

“In the guest rooms, lighting is customisable, allowing guests to tailor the brightness to their preferences. A brighter setting is available for work or other business activities, an evening scene promotes relaxation, and a night scene is designed to facilitate a peaceful night’s sleep.”

Padungruengkit adds that the illumination levels across the various areas of the hotel were designed to blend from space to space with minimal variation, while low-level lights, while providing different effects and functions, are similarly placed in terms of height and rhythm. These strategies, she explains, were used to seamlessly connect one area to another.

That being said, the nature of the resort, and its merging of interior and exterior spaces, did provide a degree of difficulty for the lighting designers, as Marci Song, Director at SEAM Design, explains: “Blending across a fully glazed threshold between interior and exterior is definitely one of the biggest design challenges, particularly on a project in a mountain-side setting where there are hardly any buildings in sight.

“When it comes to fully glazed partitions, the challenges are twofold: firstly, ensuring that the light spill from interior to exterior does not negatively impact the magical expression of the surrounding landscape and landscape lighting; and secondly that fully glazed openings allow views outward towards the beautiful vistas of the mountains, but they also allow for views within the rooms and villas. Careful positioning of lighting, optical accessories, and controlled scene settings all help to tune the light on both sides of the glass to increase privacy for the guest when and where needed.”

Given the hotel’s beautiful surrounds, Padungruengkit adds that the lighting was designed with the idea of “facilitating a close connection with nature”, something that was posed to SEAM Design by the project architects, Urban Praxis. “We seized this opportunity to enhance the lighting scheme by developing creative concepts, delineating areas to be subtly and elegantly highlighted, while other areas were intentionally subdued to preserve the natural environment and privacy,” she says.

This is but one example of how the design team worked in harmony across the board to achieve the desired, high-end finish, as Padungruengkit continues: “We worked closely together with the design and consultant teams from the project’s primary concept to ensure a unified vision among all team members.

“During the detailed development stage, effective communication and coordination with the team became even more crucial, as the intricacies of lighting had to integrate with both architectural and interior details perfectly.”

Being in close contact with the wider design team from an early stage also served to avoid any would-be structural issues later down the line, once the project got underway, as Song elaborates: “Structural constraints for lighting would need to be mitigated in the early stages of the design. We were lucky to be brought on board during stages two and three, where we had a chance to coordinate key details with structural engineers.

“Sometimes, when we are brought in too late, the structures are fully coordinated, and we are only left with attaching rather than integrating the light. Other design opportunities could have been missed if we were not brought in for the early adoption of lighting.

“The design is quite modernist, meaning that the buildings and structures are clean, and in a way monolithic, with very few embellishments. So, rather than attaching fittings for an expressed lighting approach, which is common in luxury and hospitality projects, we had to come up with clever and creative detailing. The luxury refinement is in the shaping of light with finessed details, rather than deploying luminaires with refined finishes.”

With the majority of the common spaces of the hotel open to the elements, the SEAM Design team had to work to find luminaires that would be durable and robust enough to withstand external use, yet available in the quality finishes and small sizes needed for a luxury environment. A tough balancing act to achieve, but Song explains that the team was able to find the necessary products needed to create the required ambience from local suppliers, where possible. “We do our best to find locally sourced products,” she says. “We worked closely with local suppliers and manufacturers to find high-quality luminaires that rival the European market. Where we can, we try to cut down on carbon footprint related to transportation, replacement materials and lighting equipment is supplied by the local and regional market with shorter lead-times for better support and customer service to the operator.”

Completed in 2023, the MYS Hotel provides guests with a magical mountain retreat, with the fusion of Scandinavian and Thai design providing a contemporary, yet calm destination where they can immerse themselves in the beautiful Khao Yai surroundings.

The lighting from SEAM Design only adds to the experiential nature of the resort, with Padungruengkit satisfied with how it fits within the overall visitor experience. She says: “Lighting can prioritise different areas of the resort, ranging from the entrance spaces where anyone can appreciate the captivating design of the lobby or indulge in a fine dining experience, to more private areas within the hotel building reserved for guests. The subdued illumination within the hotel rooms and pool villa, coupled with strategically positioned light sources, contributes to a sense of privacy.”

Looking back on the project, Song is also satisfied that the collaboration on show has bore fruit, leading to a “magical” destination for guests. She concludes: “The project team, including the design team and the client team, were highly collaborative from beginning to end. While there are numerous resorts and vacation spots in the area, it felt like we were all working together for a common goal of creating a truly special place for Khao Yai. We think that we have achieved that.”

www.seam-design.com

by Matt Waring

Oman Across Ages Museum, Oman

One of the strongest statement pieces of architecture in the Middle East, the Oman Across Ages Museum launched earlier this year - designed by Cox Architecture, with lighting design by Lighting Design Partnership International.

Situated in Manah, near Nizwa, the crossroads of Oman, the Oman Across Ages Museum is a cultural and educational hallmark both for Omanis and visitors to the country.

Commissioned by the Royal Court Affairs, Sultanate of Oman and designed by Australian firm Cox Architecture, the legacy project of the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said has delivered one of the strongest statement pieces of architecture in the Middle East.

Inspired by the extraordinary landscape and geometric profiles of the Al Hajar Mountains and its canyons, the museum was designed to showcase the unique characteristics and historical significance of the Sultanate of Oman, and comprises a knowledge centre, an auditorium, permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, a vast garden, and several dining venues.

The museum’s design uses the full array of architecture’s potential for expression and communication, including scale, geometry, form, light, and vistas both as purely expressive devices, and to offer a wide range of possibilities for installations, displays, and performances across its varied spaces.

As a cultural landmark, the museum transports visitors across the nation’s 800-million-year history through a series of immersive, high-tech experiences. The building emerges from the landscape as a series of angular, geometric forms that sit in dialogue with the backdrop of the peaks and ridges of the Al Hajar Mountain range. In harmony with the architecture, the exhibition design celebrates Oman’s rich heritage, dating from prehistory to modern day through the latest immersive technologies.

Lighting Design Partnership International (LDPi) was appointed at the outset by Cox Architecture, curating and crafting a lighting story and journey that is embedded in the grain of the architectural philosophy. The teams from Cox and LDPi worked alongside each other in a united narrative to deliver a holistic solution to an outstanding piece of architecture and form.

Lawrie Nisbet, Managing Director at LDPi, tells arc how the museum’s unique architecture guided the design: “The architecture design has such a strong narrative that as “architects with light”, our duty was to enhance that narrative and develop our own lighting story. The story that we developed was a journey based upon visitor experience, both from approach and through the building and its form.

“The journey commences at the outset as that of a typical visitor; departing from Muscat and travelling through the Al Hajar mountains to the plain of Manah, where the site is located. On appointment, the first thing that LDPi did was to physically travel that journey. The whole approach and the illuminated experience were developed from that original journey experience.”

Nisbet explains further how, once this concept was developed, the design team brought it to life: “By immersing ourselves with the architecture and form; integrating nearly every lighting solution within its physicality; by defining the lit condition through limited fully integrated solutions; by minimising visual disturbance, visibility of source and crafting the effect of light and form sinuously.

“Much work was done by hand drawing and sketch. Renders were simple Photoshops and have proved to be the exact embodiment of the reality. This project was all about the true understanding of form and material and the interaction of light in all its forms. The results are beyond calculative and prove the point that only the ‘design eye’ can create such synergy with built form and materiality.”

The idea of taking visitors on a journey continues inside the museum – from the outset, the experience is one of stepping into a place of holistic drama and sensory stimulus. Visitors journey through a series of unfolding spatial sequences that progress from the raw naturalistic beauty of the soil and rocks to spaces of increasing volume, refinement, and lightness.

Throughout this journey, LDPi worked in close harmony with the architects, designing a lighting scheme that sat in sync with the building’s form, highlighting its scale and architecture. Nisbet adds: “Our design alignment was there from day one with the total understanding of the building and its own design journey, and this was fully understood and appreciated by the architects.

“LDPi had a complete free hand and the architect and client agreed with every step made through the design process. Through workshops in Perth, Oman, and Edinburgh, the seniors of both practices closely worked through all elements, speaking the same language.

“By understanding the architecture, and the architectural story, the lighting follows the architectural order, wording, and punctuation in absolute harmony.”

This harmony meant that the lighting designers did not experience any structural constraints or issues on the project, although Nisbet adds that the biggest challenge came in illuminating the 150-metre-long timeline gallery with a single source solution. “A custom-made solution by iGuzzini, using stretch fabric, was ultimately used to ensure visual continuity and stability. The single linear narrative adds to the strong architectural geometry and enhances perspective, irrespective of an excellent downward illumination provision.”

LDPi worked with iGuzzini and Louis Poulsen on the lighting for the museum, and Nisbet adds that “performance and the ability to support the highly motivated design teams of LDPi and Cox” were the main decisions behind working with these brands.

“We invited both iGuzzini and Louis Poulsen to be part of the process and allowed full engagement with ourselves and the architects,” he adds. “The level of detail was extensive with, for example, the special engraved patternation designed by LDPi applied onto the glass of all in-ground luminaires. In daytime, the luminaires morph into beautiful architectural details themselves. Such attention to detail sets the scene of care and quality throughout.”

Following the opening of the museum earlier this year, Nisbet is effusive in his praise of the project, “This is a statement piece of legacy architecture, our view and that of the architects is that the space and form is timeless and intended to be meaningful over generations,” he says.

Despite a lengthy timeline of nearly 10 years to complete, with work beginning in 2014, he adds that the project was “an absolute pleasure from start to finish, as all parties believed in the strength of the design and the legacy aspect of such a work”.

He concludes: “It was a joy to work with some of the best architects in the world who care so much; a joy to work with people within lighting manufacturers that hold the same design integrity and who similarly care.

“This was an amazing design experience, design education, and design journey for all involved at LDPi. This was about much more than a commercial project. We are privileged to have worked on this project with amazing people in an amazing country. All involved have become firm friends throughout this journey; surely what great collaboration and great design is all about.”

www.ldpinternational.com

by Matt Waring

Fetzer Institute Administration Building, USA

A renovation of the Fetzer Institute’s Administration building saw lighting, designed by SmithGroup, play a key role in creating the feeling of “lightness within”.

The Fetzer Institute was founded by broadcast pioneer and former owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball team, John E. Fetzer, with the goal of “helping build the spiritual foundation of a loving world”.

Combining science and spirituality, the institute was established to support work designed to discover and enhance the integral relationships of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of experience that foster human growth, action, and responsible improvement of the human and cosmic condition.

Last year, the non-profit institute underwent a renovation of its existing, triangular-shaped administration building. In keeping with the group’s wider philosophy, the goal for the renovation was to create an environment that would encourage dialogue in support of its mission, create a memorable experience, and reconfigure for growth.

Using the building’s unique footprint and vision, designers at SmithGroup, who led both the architectural and lighting design of the renovation, sought to implement inspiring spaces, including a central gathering space that harnesses “distinctive geometry and lighting elements” to evoke ancient, tent-like structures.

Paul Urbanek, Vice President and Design Director at SmithGroup, tells arc: “This renovation is about ordering a new plan within the equilateral triangular footprint of an existing Administration building that speaks to the Fetzer Institute’s mission of supporting a holistic, loving world with open dialogue.”

Paige Donnell, Associate Lighting Designer at SmithGroup, adds: “Our multi-faceted design team worked together to charette the over-arching concepts and ideas that we wished to implement, driven by the client’s goals.”

In support of these goals, SmithGroup developed a lighting concept, titled “Revealing Legacy”, which Donnell says “empowers and enforces notions of inclusivity, awareness, and open dialogue by highlighting the warmth and texture of materiality and seamlessly integrating concealed lighting treatments within architectural forms”. Within this, the design parti looked to create a sensation of “lightness within” – a challenge in itself in a space devoid of natural light.

“We needed to craft a bespoke solution that not only performed similar to daylight – diffuse, ambient, soft illumination – but also created the visual sensation of daylight effortlessly pouring through translucent materials and crafting the human experience by creating a captivating and welcoming environment for gathering.”

Central to the renovation of the Administration Building, at the heart of its angular shape, is the Convening Room, a major sacred space within the Institute. About this are a series of supporting spaces that continue the open dialogue cherished within the organisation.

Urbanek explains how the triangular form of the building impacted the rooms within, and the lighting therein: “The unique shape of the building plan made for some unusually shaped rooms. Instead of rectangles, we were confronted with parallelograms and triangular spaces. Therefore, the application of standard lighting fixtures took on a creative slant. Even the straight corridors have special attention at the corners, because they are 120°, instead of 90°.

“The major Convening Room employed a myriad of triangular forms to create a tentlike structure that incorporated the lighting. Other rooms used regular treatments placed in juxtaposition with the angled geometries.”

The triangular forms in the Convening Room are comprised of a series of custom designed and fabricated, edge-lit acrylic panels that diffuse light from an LED source concealed in the ceiling. Meticulously detailed with limited space, the 16ft acrylic features, designed with knife-edge end conditions and z-clipped backer plates, effortlessly slide into the bespoke ceiling without visible fasteners.

SmithGroup worked on numerous mock-ups with the manufacturer to fabricate a distinctive, 3D-printed acrylic refraction pattern for uniform and effective transmission of light from top to bottom. The product was reviewed at multiple scales, with appearance, ease of maintenance, and accessibility as critical design drivers. With a CCT source of 3500K, the designers at SmithGroup believe that the feature strategically contrasts a cool daylit impression and warm material palette, evoking the sensation of daylight emerging through a tent-like form, amplified by the dynamic spiral play of veiling, and revealing illuminated panels.

Donnell recalls the design process for this unique feature: “Paul and I initially sat down together one afternoon with a napkin sketch of an idea to create this structure that emits light almost magically, without visible fasteners, and fully integrated into a custom millwork triangular shaped form. We wanted to both highlight and honour the angular architecture, while also crafting an experience that was inviting and encouraging of open community dialogue.

“We talked through the initial limitations – ceiling space, fabrication methods, achieved light levels, accessibility – and we determined the only way to achieve this aesthetic and function was to find a product that was small-scale, custom-sized, and edge-lit with uniform distribution.”

Elsewhere, a newly added exhibit space showcases the owner’s legacy, highlighting key storytelling features with a playful spin. Baffled adjustable track lighting, detailed into a reveal in the ceiling and situated within an extremely low plenum space, allows for spatial adaptability. RGBW cove lighting central to the space breaks the horizontal ceiling plane and continues to evoke the sensation of “lightness within”, while custom 3D-printed patterned metal partitions filter and extend daylight from the surrounding existing building, creating a playful and comfortable expression of natural light within the windowless interior.

Office support spaces, such as huddle rooms and a library, utilise glare-free perimeter indirect solutions for visual comfort and warmth; accessible restrooms exemplify how multiple layers of indirect illumination transform the elegance and intimacy of an occupant’s experience. “We created a custom control element at the door handle that visually notifies occupants of the room’s vacancy,” Donnell adds. “This custom millwork-integrated light illuminates green or red to enforce more ‘quiet’ methods for communication of everyday tasks, that in-turn allows more space for intentional conversation.”

Donnell explains how the overarching design concept of “lightness within” extends to the various spaces within the building: “The design philosophy encouraged achievement in our somewhat competing goals, by creating a juxtaposition of dark-toned intrigue, intimacy, and comfort, with a simultaneous feeling of lightness, awareness, and limitless bounds. We capitalised on indirect illumination strategies, paired with a warm material palette to both create that welcoming environment and express the sensation of vast openness and discovery.”

Alongside this, Donnell adds that the use of indirect lighting throughout limits contrast and visual discomfort and enhances the warmth and texture of the wood materials in an effort to “create elegant, intimate, and welcoming experiences that support and inspire open community dialogue.”

While the concept of designing lighting in a completely windowless environment may seem like one of the biggest challenges that a lighting designer can face, Donnell believes that there was another, more troublesome factor to consider. “Our biggest challenge was the design, execution, and installation of our customised feature ceiling element during a global pandemic,” she says.

“Throughout the mock-up phase of the project, we needed to review varied scales of custom 3D-printed acrylic refraction patterns both quickly and effectively. This led to countless video calls with the lighting manufacturer, an abundance of shipped material samples, and innovative methods for quantifying light level performance data for the design team to validate the system in their 3D models. Once the mock-ups became larger in scale, we benefitted from teaming with a local manufacturer, and were able to drive to the factory to review intricate details in-person, wearing masks and maintaining distance.

“During the construction phase of the project, we ran into unforeseen issues with in-field humidity conditions causing our custom panel elements to bow with the heat. Fortunately, we had a great team of designers, contractors, and fabricators, who were remotely able to verbally and visually communicate challenges and concerns to find novel solutions to these unprecedented site challenges.”

Urbanek adds that the logistics of remodelling within an existing building and framework brought with it some further struggles. He says: “As this was a remodel of an existing building, we tried hard not to disrupt the structure, but rather work within. Wherever possible we incorporated the existing columns into the design.

“The main Convening Room was placed in the centre of the plan, in the largest open space available, and its truncated hexagonal plan is a result of trying to gain the most area within the structure. The Fetzer Exhibit space is designed as a rhombus shape for many of the same reasons. In both of these spaces, working around the mechanical ducts and structural beams to achieve greater ceiling height was tricky.”

That being said, on reflection the design team at SmithGroup, as well as the client, are all “extremely satisfied” with the outcome of the project. Donnell adds: “Photos can’t fully describe the experience of this technically static system, with a seemingly dynamic effect. The sensation of moving about the space and experiencing the perspective-driven environment and its revealing panels is difficult to describe but it is immensely felt by the inhabitants.”

Both Donnell and Urbanek also feel that the new lighting design is integral to the ambience of the renovation, and particularly in achieving the goal of “lightness within”.

Urbanek comments: “Lighting is a key element of the renovation. The built-in fixtures of the Convening Room add to its tent-like form and act as almost skylights to the most internal room in the building. The mystery of an evenly lit space where one can only view half of the light fixtures from any point adds to the spiritual nature of the space. It is intended to bring a sacred feeling to those within. The exhibit space again is lit in a fashion to highlight within the exhibits, creating a rich visual environment.”

Donnell adds: “I believe the power of lighting and its intentional interaction with form can sometimes be undervalued. With this project, however, lighting was fundamental to the design process, which ultimately made the project much more successful. The design philosophy of ‘Lightness Within’ allowed us to challenge the norm, expand our impact, and truly design holistically to create a one-of-a-kind experience, curated for our client’s specific needs.”

Perhaps the highest praise for the renovation though, comes directly from the client. Rob Lehman, Fetzer Trustee, says of the new-look space: “The new expression of the Administration Building – the Commons, One World Room, and all the other carefully designed meeting spaces – has been created with such a sense of the sacred. These spaces represent a deepening of our relationship-centred work.

“Standing in the Exhibit Room and reflecting on our history made me realise how the remodelling is truly an ‘outward visible sign of an inward invisible reality’.”

www.smithgroup.com

by Matt Waring