Into

As lighting designers, Into considers itself to be the catalyst in the customer/ user experience, encouraging spending and brand loyalty. “We feel the challenge for lighting designers is not to follow trends, but to look deeper into the lighting schemes they are creating. For example, to use vast expanses of colour or kinetic lighting does create an experience, but the skill lies in understanding the experience that is being created and the physiological and psychological effects of the use of light,” says Into associate Darren Orrow.

In its recent work for the Safeway store at London’s St Katherine Docks, for instance, Into’s aim is to focus the customer’s attention on the product and create an ambience of “warmth and passion” to complement the store’s redesign. The emphasis is on direct illumination of the product, and general ambient illumination is kept to a minimum.

One of the key interior design elements was to create market-style zones for different product groups and the lighting reinforces this. In the Health and Beauty section, for instance, the white glass pendants provide a crisp, cool glow of light which interacts with the blond wood. In the Wine Cellar, amber glass gives a warmer glow and richer feel to complement the dark wood, vaulted ceiling.

There is an element of theatre in the Fresh to Go zone, with low-voltage downlighters positioned above the cloth canopies to provide pools of light and colour filters to create a warm glow. The displays are lit with warm white son spotlights and pendants, together with internal illumination within the counter to focus attention on the product and reduce glare from overhead. Special reflectors were designed to achieve maximum light with minimum heat output within the counters.

Into also works in the fields of leisure, commercial and architectural lighting, with projects for the Sheraton Hotel Group and Millennium projects in Beijing. n