Passion, luxury and beauty is what awaits visitors
of the Swarovski store at the Carrousel du
Louvre shopping center in Paris. Before long,
nearly all visitors of Swarovski boutiques all over
the world will experience the same impression,
for the leading manufacturer of precision-cut
crystals places great emphasis on maintaining
a congruent brand identity which customers
can easily recognise. For this reason, Swarovski
commissioned the development of a global
lighting concept for all stores to emphasise the
elegance and exclusiveness of the Swarovski
brand.
From the beginning of the planning
stage, the new Zumtobel lighting solution is
now rolled out step by step in all boutiques all
over the world, including two boutiques
in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre and the
Champs Élysées: a well-thought-out general
and accent lighting concept featuring downlights
and spotlights, including a luxmate
emotion control system for lighting scenarios in
dynamic colours.
A shining example of the global brand image is
therefore also the 80sqm shop at the
Carrousel du Louvre shopping centre, which
is attracting special attention already from the
outside thanks to its large, brightly lit glass windows.
The shop’s elegant appearance is enhanced
even further by the linear architectural
design and the lighting concept matching the
high-quality products. Shop windows and display
cabinets are sparkling with brilliance. The
predominantly white room concept provides a
clear, uncluttered appearance, with warm colours
creating a cosy feel-good atmosphere.
“What we want is to make visitors sense the
lightness and beauty of the exhibits on display
already from the outside. In particular the delicate
crystal element called ‘chrysalis,’ which
is more than five metres high so that they are
enthralled and stop to enter the shop. Thanks
to the subtly matched interplay of brilliant light,
crystals and reflections, we managed to create
a highly emotional ambience,” explains Urs Schreiner, the lighting designer in charge of the
Paris stores.
While the luminaires themselves recede unobtrusively
into the background, the light reflected
from the precious crystals has a mesmerising effect.
Ambient lighting is provided by Zumtobel’s
2light mini downlights flush-mounted in the
ceiling. The gimbal-mounted pivoting lighting
heads can be perfectly adjusted to changing
displays and flexibly adapt to architectural and
functional requirements. A variety of radiation
angles and the application of a special diffuser
disc allow the consistent use of the downlights
in various areas of the showroom. Thus, thanks
to this consistency, the ceiling maintains a uniform,
uncluttered look. The 2light mini downlights
installed feature high-quality HIT lamp
technology, which ensures excellent colour
rendition of the top-rate crystals and jewellery
items.
Impressive illumination of the ‘chrysalis’ art piece
is provided by two spotlight systems which
are in perfect harmony not only in terms of design,
but also in terms of lighting technology.
All in white, the spotlights remain completely
unobtrusive on the consistently installed 3-phase
track section. Moreover, the high-performance
LED spotlights installed in the shop window
are dynamically controlled via the luxmate
emotion lighting management system, which
enables easy control of brightness and allows
to set a variety of colours for the LED spotlights.
In the process, the colours or brightness level
can be changed individually at any time at the
press of a button. Thanks to dynamically changing
light colours that for example have been
used in the boutique at the Champs Élysées –
the coloured reflections from the crystals within
the room become clearly visible.
The emergency lighting system was globally
implemented by Zumtobel as well, with very
few exceptions. Especially impressive are the
very discreet design of the Artsign escape sign
luminaire and the excellent luminaire features
of the Resclite LED emergency luminaire. The
high efficiency achieved by Resclite powerLEDs
ensures that the emergency lighting system
meets all relevant standards with a minimum
number of luminaires. This is a major advantage
in terms of interior design, but also with a view
to maintenance, and allows for potential energy
savings of as much as 85%.