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The first
inspection visit paid to the building, brought to my attention the
deep red stone that paves the Entrance and most of the Ground Floor.
It became an obvious evidence that the deep red stone has been, since
the beginning, a very strong characteristic of the building
relationship with those who visit or work in it.
The Main Entrance to the building displays
two very worn out mats that
require a more definitive solution, materialized in a more defined
cleaning area as can be seen in the floor plan.
The Main Hall is too crowded in visual terms.
Too many distracting elements have removed the possibility to turn
this important area into a first emblematic area.
The intense use of the space and the addition of other facilities such
as the ATM machines or the recent construction of
two new counters in the contiguous area have changed the floor’s
silent call for a coherent display of its original nature and the
restoration of its order of space.
According to the ancient Dao de Qing a house is made of
walls and ceiling but it is the Emptiness within that makes it
serviceable.
Therefore the aim of a designer is not to place his signature,
but rather to hear the call of the space he is to renew.
In the present situation what becomes evident is the less harmonious
combination of colours and materials and the need to implement more
grandiosity and height to the Ground Floor.
The
decoration approach
My approach as explained in the
Introduction, is based
also on practicality combined with the
enhancement of the best parts that already exist, and the
reorganization of all elements to achieve uniformity of colour, to
increase the height of the ceiling, and to create more open spaces by
using different means to achieve these aims. All these are aimed to
better qualify the overall image.
Colour
By using the deep red stone all over, I achieved a more
consistent and coherent rendering of space more in tune with the new
colour scheme of the Company’s image. The other colour that is deemed
important is the presence of brass, which is not only connected to the
second of the Company’s colours but also blends better with the
red stone and is connected with Gold, therefore with
Prosperity.
Height
1. By simplifying the present decorations of the elevator’s
wall, and using protruding boxes above the elevators doors, a first
feeling of increased height has been created, because it leads the eye
upwards on a visual continuity from the elevator doors to the boxes
created to attract attention as volumetric elements.
2. By using an aluminium grid to visually lighten the ceiling.
3. By incorporating new and more controlled vertical blinds on
the windows behind the counters, therefore accentuating the number of
vertical lines to further heighten the ceiling.
4. By using brass tube lights above the counters to increase
the sense of verticality.
5. By using a
light beam about 1.5 x 1.5 meters in the centre of the Main Lobby
and another one in the centre of the Main Reception desk area, I have
created pieces of attraction that are very low cost, innovative, and
that represent the use of light, i.e. electricity, which is the best
possible representation of the Company.
Space
1. By imbibing the ATM machines as well as the City Guide
Computer into less important but very accessible walls treated in
total coherence, space is gained as it is a very important element in
the Main Lobby since it is directly connected to a sense of a
more luxurious place, void of disorganized elements.
2. By creating a Light Chandelier as the centre piece with just
the use of Light Beam, as explained before.
In short, it is not possible to understand the Main Lobby
area as disconnected from the Main Entrance area as well as the
Main Reception and the External Access
area. To confine the small unification of the ceiling to just one area
would be to accentuate the difference, something deemed not desirable. |
