Looking more like a nightclub than a shop, the 800 square metre Louis Vuitton store is located in the trendy new Roppongi Hills high-rise development in one of Tokyo's liveliest nightlife districts. At USD 2.25 billion, the venue is a take on the area's nearby clubs and bars. Centred around a 'dance floor' (the main shopping area), the store also boasts a Bag Bar, a Shoe Salon and a Luggage Lounge.
In line with VIP rooms at clubs, Vuitton features a polished staircase that leads customers to a vault-like room, incorporating a wall of steel compartments resembling safety-deposit boxes. Inside the boxes? A handful of super-expensive watches, rings, and jewel encrusted bracelets.
Internationally renowned lighting designer George Sexton of GSA faced a difficult problem at LV Roppongi Hills. GSA's design philosophy was for individual mannequins to be lit but not the surrounding floor space. In the dramatic entrance hall of the flagship store the ceiling is nearly 10m high and halfway along it there is a flight of steps. Focussing downlights from scaffolding towers or hoists would be impractical if not impossible.
Sexton wondered if RCL's remote control system could be used in this application. Yamagiwa - the major Japanese lighting manufacturer and distributor - supplied a basic downlight for modification and RCL then designed and manufactured the remote controlled control packs and sensors.
The lighting design incorporates 400 remote controlled spotlights of which 175 are on the 10m high ceiling. RCL provided the DR5 remote control packs which receive commands via ceiling-mounted sensors and move the lights using mechanical linkage. The DR5 pack also controls dimming.
The remote control system consists of a motor/electronics pack and ceiling-mounted sensor offering full remote control of beam angle within a 90 degree vertical cone, full remote control of dimming from 0 - 100%, luminaire and control gear to fit though a 100mm aperture, lamp type MR16, 61W very narrow spot and no additional data cables or control desk.
This arrangement allowed Sexton and his team to focus the beam direction and intensity for every light on an individual basis - something that is impossible with conventional downlights. The setting of orientation by hand would have been possible from hoists or scaffolding but very difficult given the height of the ceiling and the fact that there is a flight of steps in the middle of the room. RCL gave GSA the ability to optimise the lighting over a period of days without danger, delay or obstruction of the space.
Once Sexton was happy with the result, the entire scheme was memorised for future use or to be recalled if lights were moved for temporary special exhibitions.