When CGA Arquitectos Asociados were asked to design the lighting scheme for the Prestige Hotel in Barcelona, they introduced Lutron lighting control systems to enhance the building's architectural features and create a welcoming atmosphere for guests. Located in the heart of Barcelona's Paseo de Gracia, the main challenge with the Prestige Hotel's lighting design was to make the most of the available space, paying special attention to the interior decor and lighting scenes of a large multi-purpose communal space and 45 private rooms.

During the construction phase of the new hotel, the operators (Prestige Hotels) wanted a lighting control system to complement the hotel's individuality and the primary objective of the project was to maintain the building's historical structure while turning the space into an urban haven with modern interior design. The imaginative lighting scheme was designed to make guests feel comfortable in every area of the hotel and maximise their enjoyment of the Prestige experience. In order to clarify the lighting requirements of the hotel, a very clear brief was set, defining exactly what should be achieved: a lighting control system designed to meet the various requirements and complement the existing architecture; lighting was to play an essential role in the decor and layout of a multifunctional communal area; an easy-to-use lighting control system for the hotel's 45 individual bedrooms, appropriate for use at any time of the day; to ensure a feeling of comfort and sophistication, reflecting the hotel's philosophy

In order to closely meet the brief, CGA made it a priority to make the best use of the building's space and architecture by creating a variety of light effects to highlight the decor and enhance the original features of each of the hotel's communal areas.

As the hotel incorporates only one large communal area, ensuring it was multi-functional and could be used for many different tasks was imperative. At different times of the day, the space may be used for dining, relaxing, functions or as a bar area for late night drinks - with this in mind, the lighting design had to reflect the requirements of each of the room's functions by providing the right amibience.

Within the Prestige's communal area, a total of six different lighting scenes were preset on a Lutron Grafik Eye 3106 system corresponding to the area's different uses throughout the day. These range from a fully lit scene for breakfast time, to a muted lighting level with relaxing music for evening drinks. Other scenes include a general 'day' scene, bright evening and a more typical evening scene with softer, dimmed light for dinner. As a result, guests can work at their laptops or hold business meetings throughout the day, have breakfast in the morning or dinner at night all in the same space, but with a completely different mood setting for each situation.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Prestige's bedrooms is that they all incorporate Lutron Grafik Eye 3000 lighting control systems, making the Prestige Barcelona one of only a handful of hotels worldwide to incorporate this kind of technology on such a wide scale.

To mirror the aesthetic design of the bedrooms, each room also incorporates three Lutron SeeTouch keypads with back-lit buttons, replacing the traditional light switches, so scenes can easily be selected in the dark. Each keypad allows access to all of the preset functions from three different locations within the room; one in the doorway and two either side of the bed. From each control, guests can select from four preset scenes, designed to meet all their needs at the touch of a button. www.lutron.com