LUX magazine | posted: 18April 2019

A LUXURY hotel has introduced a wake-up call - using lighting.

Bedrooms feature a 1.2 m diameter ceiling-mounted luminaire, fixing plates with LED circuits and a range of colour temperatures combining a 2100K, 85 CRI amber, a 4000K, 90 CRI white and a 6000K, 90 CRI white

Guests at the Retreat in Iceland can book a ‘natural wake up’ call in the morning along with their daily newspaper and breakfast.

At the time indicated by the guest, a five-minute-long dynamic light cycle is activated, which shifts the light intensity from 0 per cent to 90 per cent and from amber to a colour temperature of 5600K, to ensure that guests are woken up gently and gradually, not by a sound, but by light.

The upmarket venue has also installed dynamic white lighting to allow guests to manage their own lighting requirements.

Bedrooms feature a 1.2 m diameter ceiling-mounted luminaire, fixing plates with LED circuits and a range of colour temperatures combining a 2100K, 85 CRI amber, a 4000K, 90 CRI white and a 6000K, 90 CRI white (the latter values are particularly significant as it is extremely difficult to create such high colour rendering indexes with very cold colour temperatures); cables for adjusting the height of the luminaire; a Clipso acoustic ceiling covering which creates the blurred effect envisaged by lighting designer Guðjón Sigurðsson.

Project credits: Blue Lagoon

Four different light scenarios controlled by small panel by the bedhead.

The four scenes include: Relaxing, with low lighting levels of approximately 50 Lux and a warm colour temperature; Energising which raises the lighting levels to 350 Lux without the amber component; Day with lighting levels of approximately 120 Lux and Night where only the 4000 and 6000K LEDs are operated with a number of circuits switched off to reproduce the dark spots on the moon’s surface.

The Retreat is the new space that welcomes guests looking for relaxation and the benefits of the mineral-rich water of the Blue Lagoon, a Unesco Global Geopark.

The architect, Sigríður Sigþórsdóttir, a founding partner of Basalt Architects, has worked for Blue Lagoon Spa since it was first established in 1987.

The lighting concept developed by Guðjón Sigurðsson is based on concentrated cones of light and an intimate atmosphere.

The lighting levels are carefully controlled and many of the products used were chosen because of their comfort optics and special Warm Dimming features that allow light intensity to be reduced while simultaneously warming the colour temperature. All this has been done to create what they term ‘human centric light’.

Most of the luminaires have been built into the architecture or furnishings, a decision that required collaboration between the lighting designer, the architect and the interior designer.

An extremely important part of the mood of the Blue Lagoon structure is the spa, which has an intimate atmosphere with low lighting levels and accent light effects in certain points.