R Hotel Geelong Waterfront
Luxury accommodation overlooking Geelong’s picturesque Bay
The Ritz Hotel was a sad old building that locals knew well. The tired old building had been left to rot with frequent visits from pigeons and bored locals with spray cans or just needing something to smash. Mark Gratwick Architects were tasked to preserve the old building with the design for a new multi level hotel complex and onsite parking. Mark Gratwick Architects, SPA Consulting and Bluelab Design pushed the boundaries creating a clever and elegant lighting design with multiple custom lighting solutions.
When designing the façade lighting bringing the heritage front was the priority. Being close to Corio Bay, we were mindful in selecting marine-grade resistant product. We specified he Fairhaven Range with LED up-lights washing the pillars and LED neon highlighting the heritage lace work.
R Hotel Geelong Facade lighting by Bluelab
The entry boasts nearly 2m crystal custom chandelier with over ten thousand crystals. The chandelier is visible from street level creating the opulence the hotel wanted and creating the drama needed in the foyer. The old Ritz building has been given an upgrade with pizazz.
The foyer and counters took a more simplistic approach; the lighting needed to highlight art work and signage. A simple cluster of pendants are a nod to the premium rooms being the same pendant used over the bath tubs. The historical images are definitely a point of interest although, my favourite feature is the old windows. These old restored windows are featured in the lower level floors of the hotel.
The upper level hall ways feature recessed LED extruded number lights running from floor to ceiling. This feature was calculated to ensure the correct lighting levels were available in the corridors. It is a simple and effective feature coupled with motion sensors to reduce the power consumption within the building.
For any hotel it is important to create a comfortable space for hotel dwellers. We provided task lighters to maximize comfort along with downlights with regressed diodes and rose gold reflectors, these downlights are a wonderful warm addition to the rooms lighting.
Bluelab Design designed and manufactured custom bedside lights and bathroom lighting to tie in with the interiors.