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Aero showroom case Study

At approximately 168 sqm in size, Aero Light Showroom is a small but deeply immersive experiential centre for innovative lighting solutions, the first of its kind in Singapore. Beyond being a place where retail transactions take place or where products are displayed, it educates customers, enables them to experience and appreciate the benefits of good lighting and lighting technology, and strengthens the design community.

Singapore is a design hub that has a lively lighting design community and Aero Light, a niche architectural lighting manufacturer, had a vision to tap into that.

CLIENT

Aero Hospitality Lighting Ltd.

SECTOR

Lighting

SERVICE AREAS

Spatial Design, Experience Design

A man and three women in a cafe space with a bar

THE CHALLENGE

MORE THAN A SHOWCASE SPACE

The brief was to go beyond showcasing the client’s extensive catalogue of over 200 lighting products, and to make their showroom a destination that could facilitate networking, co-working and seminars.

Aero Light primarily designs and manufactures products that are used in hospitality and residential environments. Hence, their products’ advantages had to be showcased in an immersive way that could engage the sensory perceptions and emotions of the visitors.

THE APPROACH

Crafting a user journey for an immersive experience

We divided the space into several key zones: The Café, the Hotel Suite - a fully furnished simulated hotel guestroom, the Meeting Room, and the Light Temple. The lighting products were installed in these zones according to the optimum way that their applications could be demonstrated.

A floorplan of the Aero Light Showroom

To create an engaging experience for first time customers, we crafted a user journey:

Arrival - First, customers arrive at the foyer, which is a minimal space featuring Aero Light’s branding. It was designed to be clean and pure as a contrast to the other more elaborate spaces that they will traverse to, to create an element of pleasant surprise.

Cafe - Customers are next ushered into the cafe to get acquainted with the surroundings (instead of being made to immediately start looking at lights). They are offered refreshments or can help themselves at the bar. Once customers are settled in, Aero would begin to introduce the company, and demonstrate the lights being used in the cafe space.

A man walking in front of a ceiling-height textured wall

Visiting clients or designers can drop in to work, read catalogues, socialise and interact etc, as you would at a café. This area also serves as an event and seminar space. The bar is the focal point here, with a backlit bottle display. The introduction of a tree and hanging foliage softens the space and creates a relaxed vibe, while also giving the client opportunities to showcase their landscape lighting products.

Hotel Suite – The client uses this space to simulate how their products are used to enhance a luxurious and sophisticated hospitality environment. The design team had to be very clever about the room design as it is smaller than a typical hotel suite. The suite included a lounge with an in-house custom-designed minibar, bedroom, wardrobe and vanity counter. Lighting and blind controls were fully integrated so that the customers can appreciate different scene settings.

Entrance to a mock up hotel room suite a lounge area with two chairs and a mini bar

Meeting Room – the hotel suite is connected to a meeting room that doubles as a showcase for simulating lighting scenarios for different functions and table settings (meeting, casual dining, fine dining). The introduction of a luminous ceiling with tunable white light and framed by foliage alludes to a skylight and helps to alleviate the tight space, while providing yet another lighting opportunity.

A small table and some chairs in a room with a mock skylight lined with greenery

Light Temple – Visitors are next led into the Light Temple, a library stocking more than 200 models of luminaires and a curved display showcase at one end. Here they are encouraged to explore, examine and play with lights which are methodically arranged and can be individually controlled or plugged and played.

A small room with different types of lights and a doorway that leads to a small cafe

Back to the Café– Visitors return to the Café, and here the motorised downlights in the high baffle ceiling are demonstrated. The show and tell typically ends here, and visitors can stay on to interact, ask questions etc.

Lightweight furniture is used in the café, with table configurations which could include: 6 tables joined to serve as a large conference table, 8 separate tables for café style seating or 12 tables for a classroom setting. The motorised lighting is pre-programmed to illuminate the tables accordingly.

Some men and women in a café working

Using the space to highlight the product advantages

While the floor area of the entire space was small, the high ceilings presented great spatial and lighting opportunities. Therefore, in the Light Temple, we used the vertical volume to inspire awe and wonder. We created curved terraced ceilings to convey softness, and a feeling of infinity, which show off the purity of lighting.

A room with lights on display

Encouraging self-exploration and discovery

The planning of shelf layers was undertaken with the user’s viewing angle in mind. The bottommost shelves showcased lights typically mounted inground, while shelves at eye level demonstrated small display lights to artifacts, such that visitors can admire the precise workmanship of the miniature luminaires. At shelves that were high above eye level, alcoves were carved out to demonstrate the effect of different lighting colour temperatures.

An enclosed area with lights on display on shelves and the ceiling

To store the large collection of lights in the Light Temple, we designed cabinets with drawer compartments that can be taken out and used for demonstration and pull-out ledges that could be used for connecting and testing lights.

There are also custom boxes designed for recessing luminaires, which can be wheeled out to appropriate wall finishes for testing (e.g. a type of lighting may be demonstrated at the textured wall). Designers and clients are free to test the lights themselves or be guided by a sales staff who will perform the demonstration.

A small room with different types of lights and a doorway that leads to a small cafe

Designing for the customer in mind

We take an approach where the light can be appreciated in more realistic settings with furnishings, plants, accessories etc. The way light behaves and influences the surroundings is just as important as the look of the luminaires themselves. It is not just lighting products that are showcased, but also the bigger idea of how good lighting benefits users, spaces and environments.

Partition wall with a television on it and a small lounge area

Outcome

enhancing social experience through showcase design

The showroom is a microcosm that incorporates multiple spatial typologies in a seamless manner. Through careful space planning we were able to achieve multiple spatial programmes and narratives in a relatively small space. In the design process, we were also able to add value to the client’s branding, as this showroom in Singapore is their first flagship in Asia, and sets a tone for the future experience centres in other locations.

The feedback received from customers and visitors to the showroom is positive. Students who attended classes at the space would stay behind to interact after classes ended as they felt the space was conducive and stimulating.

A man giving a presentation in front of a screen with a group of people looking on

Such retail spaces in Singapore are not common, and by promoting learning and having a space for the community to gather, this strengthens the network of designers and their collaborators, building a sense of belonging. It also supports the education of the next generation of Singapore designers. By having this in retail and showroom spaces, it contributes to the retail experience of the future which takes retail beyond sales generation.

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