A wide selection of light fittings from SKL have been installed throughout the newly refurbished Dragon Hotel in Swansea. Specified by Pentangle Design Group, Hitchin, who were responsible for the overall design, the lighting was essential in creating the right ambience, so different types of luminaire were selected to achieve the effects required in the design scheme for each area. Over £3.5 million has been spent on the refurbishment of this 106 room hotel in the heart of Swansea. The Dragon Hotel houses superb leisure facilities, including an 18-metre indoor swimming pool, male and female saunas, a state-of-the-art gymnasium with plasma screen TVs and a beauty treatment room. Holistic therapy and Sports Massage Therapy are also available. The hotel also boasts a Brasserie and restaurant which regularly holds gourmet evenings.
General lighting throughout the public areas, including the reception, lounge bar, piano bar and lift lobby is provided by table lamps with hardwood bases and shades of various styles, chosen for their ability to complement the contemporary style of the surrounding décor. Low energy, ceiling recessed downlighters create a welcoming ambience in the entrance lobbies.
Feature wall lights have been installed in the first floor breakfast room and fine dining restaurant to provide extra visual interest. Trevor Webb, Director of Interior Design at Pentangle Design Group, commented "We were very pleased with the dimmable feature wall lights in the restaurant which were selected for their strong presence and attractive quality of illumination to wall and ceiling surfaces".
Low energy wall flutes have been mounted in rear bedroom corridor walls and in stairwells for both safety and aesthetic reasons, whilst front bedroom corridors have been illuminated using a combination of low energy, surface mounted fluorescent ring fittings and recessed low voltage downlighters. Chrome bracket mirror lights, complete with shades, provide relaxed illumination for the bedrooms, with low energy ceiling lights and mirrors with integral fluorescent lighting in the adjoining bathrooms.
The exterior light fittings employed on the project worked particularly successfully, using spot lighting and fluorescent uplighting to the exterior of the building. This has been utilised to illuminate the box hedging features above the entrance canopy, whilst narrow beam metal halide uplighters provide vertical emphasis to the front elevation of the five story bedroom building in a bright, white light. The Dragon Brasserie frontage has been lit using wall mounted, porthole LED's with concealed gel sleeved fluorescents to the underside of the Brasserie window blinds.
Although the lighting was considered one of the most important elements of the design scheme, energy efficiency and total cost of ownership was a primary consideration. With this in mind, low energy lighting options have been used where possible and in conjunction with dimming controls where viable. Programmed scene setting, dimmable lighting controls have been incorporated in the Piano Bar and Restaurant areas and dimming controls have been installed in the main public areas.
Trevor Webb added "SKL were able to offer solutions in response to our brief and source fittings which met with the specific needs of our design. SKL provided a flexible and responsive service, supplying a wide variety of fittings at competitive prices".
