Barbecoa Restaurant

Located in London's One New Change, Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa restaurant offers unique views of St-Paul's cathedral. The restaurant's large windows, however, posed a problem for lighting designers Speirs + Major in 2010 - daylight and street lighting flooded the space, making it difficult to develop a distinct lighting scheme that would still meet tight energy requirements.

Sixty per cent of the space's energy allowance for lighting, in fact, had been allocated to decorative tungsten light sources. To balance the energy equation, the firm turned to LED technology, using 247 downlights to provide ambient lighting and to highlight architectural features. The luminaires accent walls and columns to reveal texture and character.

"The fittings are either aligned along a wall, or along main circulation routes between the fixed seating. In the open seating they are relatively evenly spaced to provide enough light whatever the seating arrangement," Speirs + Major's Clementine Rodgers told Lux Magazine.

"We showed the client product samples of a couple of downlights and they were impressed with the quality of the light," she said, adding that the product line was one of the few at the time that provided a 20-degree beam angle, a necessity given the large ceiling heights.

The design - which is still going strong nearly five years on - allowed Barbecoa to meet its energy load limits, all while preserving a warm and vibrant atmosphere for diners.

Equipment specified:

125 x Clear Small (2700K, 80CRI, 20°)
122 x Clear Small (2700K, 80CRI, 40°)