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EST Lighting and Surface Gallery Brisbane Showroom by DKO
With graceful interplays of light and stone, the EST Lighting and Surface Gallery showroom in Brisbane offers an immersive retail experience.
“This project holds a special place in my heart because it’s located in the area I lived in when I was studying,” says Michael Drescher, director at DKO. “When EST Lighting and Surface Gallery showed me the site, I was instantly connected to it. As a designer, the strength of what we design comes from that.” Combined with a strong knowledge of the brands’ identities, this affinity helped in addressing a challenging brief. The showroom had to celebrate two different product types – lighting and surfaces – in a way that did not create a sense of competition between pieces. Instead, the items interact closely, with enough space between them to enhance their individual features. “Retail is about experience – about immersion,” adds Drescher. “Showrooms need to understand how things like sight, smell and sound come together, so that people can understand a brand. It’s not about having everything on display, it’s about knowing how people take in a space and letting them breathe.”
In considering the balance of lighting, surfaces and space, DKO acknowledges the benefit of demonstrating the relationship at showroom level, when designers are early in the creative process. “As designers, we look at spaces, walls and materials, but we rarely see them together with lighting until installation day. Natural light, artificial light and different colour temperatures all change the way products look and feel,” he says. The Brisbane showroom provides vital insight into how products will appear within a completed scheme, with realistic distances between the lighting and surfaces. It also invites visitors to engage with products in a deeper way. Rather than simply picking up items from a shelf, customers first experience the emotions evoked by the products in relation to surrounding pieces.
“When you walk into the space, there is a compressed collection [of pieces], but we were very mindful that we didn’t want the person to be surrounded by product,” says Drescher. “Instead, we created moments they could journey through.” The first moment consists of a curated surface gallery, past which the other zones of the showroom unfold. Thoughtful changes in lighting, surface material and flooring ensure an engaging experience through the sets. While lights from Christopher Boots feature in a sophisticated boardroom with a concrete floor, Articolo sconces gently illuminate a plush carpet in the next space. To the rear of the showroom, a monolithic stone kitchen island is complemented by warm pendant lighting, creating a luxurious social hub.
Crafted as a multisensory retail environment, the EST Lighting and Surface Gallery showroom delivers a product experience true to those found within completed projects. Through its dynamic combination of lighting and surfaces, DKO successfully captures the essence of the two brands.
Architecture by DKO. Lighting by EST Lighting. Surfaces by Surface Gallery.
