Cara Satmoko and Adrian Ball, partners in the practice, were introduced to LED's Ian Kirby by Umbaba director Jeremy Hartley, and between them they have evolved a series of changing scenes and moods to highlight the West African theme of the adobe/earth-style architecture.
In total, the Kent-based distributors supplied three Alkalite Octopod 80's; 35 x Solar MR16 3W high-power Luxeon RGB lamps and eight metres of Coemar Linea flexible RGB Strip, along with four Geni Mojo Spinmaster 3Y barrel-effect scanners for the dancefloor. Control gear consists of a 256-channel Sirocco desk for the LED effects, working under Mode programmable control, and a Geni PC Brain for the dancefloor lighting.
The owners had wanted to achieve a slow colour-changing ambience - particularly in the niches and alcoves. "Because of the environment, we chose warmer colours such as red, yellow and orange," said Satmoko. "Used indirectly by bouncing the light off the walls, it proved to be really effective with the blacked out ceiling."
Satmoko Ball are reportedly delighted with the overall result. "We have achieved what we hoped for, and the use of the MR16's in the niches is particularly effective," added Satmoko.
Her company has also worked on other projects involving Jeremy Hartley, most notably the original Chinawhite in Piccadilly, as well as those in Istanbul and Ibiza plus the restaurant Taman Gang in Mayfair.
(Jim Evans)
