Published on: November 10, 2009

Swarovski Ginza by Lighting Planners Associates. A new shop with Swarovski crystals in Ginza district in Tokyo(JP) was opened in 2008.

More elaborate description of the project by LPA:

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Many world-famous boutiques stand shoulder to shoulder along Ginza`s Central Avenue with the first flagship store for Swarovski, Swarovski Ginza, opening in 2008. After revising the crystal jewelry brand image of Swarovski, the company plans to incorporate a new concept, “Crystal Forest” into its 1,300 boutiques around the world. Under the new concept, the lighting design for the two-story, 256 Ginza boutique, emphasized keywords such as, sparkle, translucency, and rhythm or reflection of light. The predominant image of crystal is of a luxurious material, but our design sought to enhance the poetic beauty of its translucent properties through light.

Façade design is at its most glamorous in Ginza, Tokyo, but in the mist of this spectacle, not one lighting fixture is installed on the Swarovski Ginza facade. Instead, 1,500 mirror-finished, stainless-steal bars hang off the façade, dancing with reflections from the rainbow of Ginza lights. Throughout the night, the façade is constantly changing.  By choosing not to do anything, we achieved a more powerful image for the boutique.

By contrast, the interior is pure white and we used a variety of methods to make it sparkle.  By varying the amount of light and its direction from CDM spotlights and LED`s, all at 4200K, we created an atmosphere simulating rays of sunlight.  On the back wall, crystals are enclosed behind a 2m x 2m swan logo with an internalized LED system to create sparkle.  This one symbolic feature captures the essence of the new brand image and the poetic beauty behind the translucent properties of crystal.

Crystals were also incorporated into the staircase for another special lighting effect.  Each step is covered with crystal beads, further magnified by plastic prism sheets, and made to sparkle using 5,200 LED`s.  The final result was achieved through study and confirmation from mock up tests.

In the image of a huge skylight, the ceiling above the staircase radiates white light, flooding the 1st floor for a fantasy-like effect.  Crystals have also been scattered over and embedded into the weathered stone floor.  Narrow beam spotlights, mounted in a ceiling slit, shine on the stone and crystals to amplify the sparkle.   35 W CDM spotlights are fitted with three different types of lenses to create rich expressions with light no matter the object to be illuminated.

The interior walls of the boutique are the same configuration as the façade, only painted white.  Using the direction of light along the surface of the wall we created a rhythm of light and shadow.   Because of the glossy wall finish, dimensions for the cove lighting were meticulously regulated with the builders and finalized at a height of 400mm, with careful considerations to eliminate glare.  We mounted a lighting duct in the cove and attached spread lenses to 35W CDM spotlights.  The spotlights are randomly arranged so that the light is not flat, but reflects the breeziness of sunbeams shining through a forest canopy.

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