Light Fantastic

GOOD LIGHTING IS SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST BRIGHTENING A ROOM— DESIGN INTERVENTION SHARES THE MANY WAYS IT CAN ELEVATE YOUR INTERIOR SCHEME

Like a skilled makeup artist highlighting and shading the contours of a face, Design Intervention works with a palette of tools to create the perfect glow in any int erior space. For the award-winning firm, lighting plays a vital role in the ambience of a room and so its team of designers treat it with utmost care. “Lighting is like fairy dust,” says Nikki Hunt, principal of Design Intervention. “Sprinkle it just right and you can make magic.”

THROWING SHADE

According to Design Intervention, there is so much more to successful lighting than choosing some pretty lamps and fixtures. “Good lighting is all about the contrast between light and shadow,” she says. “Deciding what you are going to leave in the shade is just as important as what you highlight.” The practice is a strong advocate of considering lighting from the early beginnings of a project. “The ideal time to consider the lighting plan is at the start of a renovation project, thereby ensuring that the focus is where it is needed,” says Hunt.

GLOW GETTER

A perfect example of this successful approach is an apar tment at Ardmore Park designed by the firm. The practice helmed by Hunt and her partner Andrea Savage won the Best Interior Lighting Design (Singapore) accolade at the 2018 Asia Pacific Property Awards, for the ways in which it transformed a once gloomy corridor in this enchanting abode. The long and narrow space that leads from the living area to the bedroom was elevated from a humble hallway to a stunning space through the clever use of wall sconces in a series of r ecessed alcoves. The space is also decorated with gold finishes and flor al accents; the result is a soothing passage that entices with its romantic atmosphere. “Clever lighting affects how we feel,” Hunt enthuses. “It can make a space feel bright and invigorating, warm and friendly, or intimate and even sexy.”

DESIGNED TO INSPIRE

Whether concealing unsightly strip lighting or revealing a source’s radiance, the Design Intervention team are no strangers to unconventional ways of bringing out the very best in a room, often transforming entire pieces of furniture into giant floor lamps or reinventing door frames as oversized wall lights. “Our goal is for someone to walk in and think that this place looks and feels amazing but not really know why,” explains Hunt. “It’s about subtlety, and the space as a whole. That is successful design.”