Jeremy Quantrill, Managing Director, Dernier & Hamlyn, shares his thoughts on bespoke lighting.
“When people think about bespoke lighting, they will have their own ideas on what that means. For some it’s about standout chandeliers for hotel receptions or luxury homes’ hallways. Often it will be about taking inspiration from the site and sometimes there is a need to reflect the brand or owner’s personality.
“We never cease to be amazed by designers’ creativity and imagination that stimulates the lighting challenges they bring us. Looking at just a small selection of the commissions we’ve recently had highlights why our team’s wide range of experience and talents is needed.
“Take The Langley hotel. The statement reception chandelier’s 221 solid brass curved arms are hand finished in antique brass. Each is fitted with a handmade glass spear hand cut to form facets to either side to provide playful reference to the hotel’s setting as a former royal hunting ground. Another chandelier comprises hundreds of metres of swags of differing lengths, embellished with individually positioned hand cut crystal balls, hand fixed to a brass frame. And another is made of antique brass fitted with 824 solid glass rods. While lighting for the hotel’s main bedrooms is inspired by surrounding countryside with antique bronze leaves and porcelain English rosebuds.
“The new Bob Bob Cité restaurant brings the traditional French brasserie into the 21st century and demanded ultra-high-quality bespoke lighting. More than 400 light fittings were manufactured and hand polished in our factory using luxury finished metals complemented by a variety of handpicked glass panels. Our craftsmen also made decorative gantries comprising square polished stainless steel tubing some 420m long and weighing in excess of half a tonne.
“Bespoke doesn’t necessarily mean new it can mean remodelled or reinvigorated. As well as manufacturing new lighting, we often work with designers or their clients to include items that have been sourced or hold memories for them. As part of a recent project for a beautiful residence that included a dramatic 69 arm pendant that extends almost 3.5m metres from the sloping ceiling at the top of the property to its entrance hall, the clients wanted vases converted to table lamps. We manufactured rods to accommodate electrical cables and metal bases to complement other features and wired the three table lamps with silk cable.”
