Do you know a Helipop from a Delmar Indy? Us neither. But we soon learnt the ins and outs of skateboarding when The Bowl in Selfridges needed decking out with a lighting scheme.
The fully enclosed skatepark sits in the corner of the newly opened Designer Street Room – and it’s a match made in heaven. So the pressure was on to create a lighting scheme that optimised skateboarding conditions, was authentic to the skateboarding domain and not distracting. And it also had to withstand flying boards, look good and complement the wider retail space.
To meet the brief we pared back the design, while not compromising on other elements. To achieve uniform light levels (who wants to be blinded by light when “catching air”?) a number of large baton luminaires grace the ceiling. They’re IK-rated to the highest level so can take a pummelling, yet they look good in the space and fit with Selfridges’ interior style. Moving on to optimal skateboarding conditions, we did plenty of research and ran a lot of calculations to create the best environment.
More functional lighting is provided by miniature spotlights around the inside of The Bowl, which highlights a ledge that skateboarders can take a break on.
Images: © Selfridges Archive
— Daniel Blaker
