070 January / February 2009

VENUEVENUE

LUXEMBOURG

IKKILUXEMBOURG

IKKI is the latest addition to Luxembourg’s new entertainment district Rue Emile Mousel and the first international project by UK-based designer Steve Howie (www.stevehowie.co.uk). With around 170 restaurants and bars plus over 40 nightclubs under his belt, Howie is perhaps best known in the UK for his work on Trade in 1996 and more recently the complete redesign of Stringfellows in London.“We wanted to expand into Europe and we took on IKKI specifically as a test job to see what it would be like working with Europeans – remembering that most English consider Europe to be as alien as China,” Howie tells mondo*dr. It was with this in mind that he set up an office in Luxmebourg as a base from which to co-ordinate prospective design jobs in Europe. “It seemed an appropriate place to be, right in the middle of four countries.”At the same time, local entrepreneur Manou Emringer was looking for someone to create a new club. On first being approached by Emringer’s team – led by Jean-Claude Colbach - Howie couldn’t help but express his surprise.“I said, ‘Look, your in the centre of Europe for goodness sake; you’ve got some fabulously talented designers around; you must be able to find a German one or a French one.’ So they showed me some of the work which had been proposed and I’ve got to admit it was drab,” he says.Emringer explained what he was trying to create - a rock n roll lounge club come champagne bar on the groundfloor with a Japanese-themed restaurant upstairs – and after Howie had done

some preliminary sketches the IKKI team felt confident they had the right man for the job.But this was only the beginning of the design process, as Howie explains: “The thing we did quite differently to the opposition is, after we had agreed the sketches, we built a virtual flythrough - a virtual animation - of the entire interior. And once we’d presented that flythrough to them, they were jumping with joy, because they could see how it was going to look.”Howie says the use of virtual animation has become an increasingly important tool for his firm over the past several years. “I used to be a die-hard designer who used to sketch away by myself in a self indulgent manner, but now I’ve got a team of bright young men. So after I’ve done my sketches, I hand it over to them, and they produce a wonderful looking interior. “They’re getting so good at this, that one client came in the other day to look at a flythrough and asked where we had built it! ” For IKKI, Emringer and co were keen to have a very versitile lighting scheme using LEDs, so Howie created a design that would accommodate as much LED lighting as possible. To this end, bar backs and cove lighting are all LED lit, while both bars on the ground floor feature large square cut-outs behind which Pulsar panels are placed.The installation itself was carried out by Bart Westerburg and Charles Krekelberg of Serutrade (www.serutrade.com). Serutrade entered the project in June 2008 when they were contacted by another of Emringer’s team, Steve Darne. Darne had tried two

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The main bar includes 88 Pulsar panels, placed behind pre-cut wholes in the bar front. Further Pulsar LED strips are used for cove lighting and as illumination for the bottles

072 January / February 2009

VENUEVENUE

LUXEMBOURG

IKKI est une des nouvelles adresses de Luxembourg et le premier projet international du designer britannique Steve Howie. Howie vient récemment d’installer un bureau à Luxembourg, centre à partir duquel il coordonnera la recherche de contrats de design en Europe. Manou Emringer fut déçu par l’autre proposition. Il a été demandé à Howie de créer un club lounge avec restaurant japonais au niveau supérieur. « Ce qui nous a différencié de la concurrence est que, une fois que tout le monde s’est mis d’accord sur les croquis, nous avons construit une animation virtuelle de la totalité de l’intérieur. Lors de la présentation de cette animation au client nous sautions littéralement de joie car ils pouvaient vraiment appréhender le résultat final ». Les propriétaires voulaient utiliser le plus grand nombre de DEL possible et Howie mit donc en place un design qui permettrait d’aller dans cette direction. Ainsi, l’arrière du bar et l’éclairage des angles sont entièrement couverts de LED, des panneaux Pulsar recouvrant l’avant du bar. L’installation à proprement parler a été effectuée par Bar t Westerburg de Serutrade.

FRANÇAIS IKKI ist ein neuer Treff in Luxemburg und das erste internationale Projekt des in GB ansässigen Designers Steve Howie. Howie hat gerade eine Geschäftsstelle in Luxemburg als Basis err ichtet, von der aus er künftige Designjobs in Europa koordinier t. Manou Emringer war von dem anderen Angebot enttäuscht. Howie ist beauftragt worden, im Erdgeschoss einen Lounge Club mit einen japanischen Restaurant im Obergeschoss zu kreieren. “Der große Unterschied zur Konkurrenz bestand darin, dass wir, nachdem die Entwürfe genehmigt worden sind, einen vir tuellen Flythrough – eine vir tuelle Animation – des gesamten Innenbereichs aufgebaut haben. Und nachdem wir ihnen diesen Flythrough präsentier t haben, haben sie Freudensprünge vollführt, denn sie konnten sehen, wie es aussehen wird.”Die Eigentümer wollten so viele LED Produkte wie möglich benutzen, deswegen hat Howie ein Design kreiert, das so viele LED Beleuchtung wie möglich unterbringt. Zu diesem Zweck werden der Bar-Hintergrund und die Gewölbebeleuchtung al le mit LED beleuchtet, mit Pulsar Panelen, die auf der Vorderseite der Bar zum Einsatz kommen. Die Installation se lbs t i s t durch Bar t Westerbur g von Ser utr ade ausgeführ t worden.

DEUTSCH IKKI è un nuovo locale situato in Lussemburgo nonché il primo progetto internazionale ottenuto dal progettista inglese Steve Howie . Howie aveva appena aperto un ufficio in Lussemburgo come base dalla quale poter coordinare eventuali progetti per l’Europa. Manou Emringer non trovò soddisfacente l’altra proposta. Ad Howie fu chiesto di creare un lounge club al piano inferiore con un ristorante di cucina giapponese al piano superiore. “A differenza dell’altra proposta, dopo aver avuto l’OK per il progetto abbiamo deciso di presentare un breve filmato, un’animazione virtuale, dell’interno de l loca le . Quando hanno v i s to l’animazione, sono rimasti incredibilmente entusiasti perché hanno potuto vedere come sarebbe stato realizzato il localeI proprietari espressero l’intenzione di utilizzare più prodotti a LED possibili, pertanto Howie realizzò un progetto che potesse soddisfare tali esigenze. A questo scopo, la zona posteriore del bar e le soluzioni ad incasso sono state illuminate con luci a LED, mentre per l’illuminazione della zona anteriore del bar sono stati utilizzati pannelli Pulsar. L’installazione è stata curata Bart Westerburg di Serutrade.

ITALIANOIkki es un lugar de encuentro o reunión en Luxemburgo y el primer proyecto internacional del diseñador Steve Howie de UK. Recientemente Howie abrió una oficina en Luxemburgo, como base, desde donde coordinará propuestos trabajos de diseño en Europa. Manou Emringer se desilucionó con la otra propuesta A Howie se le pidió que creara un salón de fiestas, en el piso de, abajo con una restaurante japonés, en el piso de, arriba. “Creamos algo diferente a la oposición; una vez que acordamos los dibujos, construimos un modelo de un sitio virtual (donde la persona parece moverse) - una animación vir tual – de la totalidad del, recinto, interior. Y una vez que presentamos ese modelo, saltaron de alegría, ya que analizaron como iba a verse” Los dueños estaban deseosos de utilizar lo más posible productos LED; de forma tal, que Howie creó un diseño que adaptaría tanto LED como fuera posible. Entonces, se utilizan paneles Pulsar en el frente del bar y la fondo de éste está alumbrado con LED y luces de bovedilla. La instalación en si la llevó a cabo Bart Westerburg de Serutrade.

ESPAÑOL

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

LIGHTING120 x Pulsar ChromaPanel 3000; 13 x Pulsar ChromaStrip 2 1200; 47 x ChromaStrip 2 300; 26 x Pulsar ChromaWallElypse; 8 x Pulsar ChromaMR16 Hearth Tri-Color; 7 x Pulsar ChromaHearth Low Profile; 8 x Pulsar ChromaZone 12; 3 x Pulsar ChromaZone 6; 1 x Pulsar ChromaXone 12 Non Power; 4 x DMX dimmer1-channel;15 x Martin Pro SmartMAC 150W; 2 x Martin Pro OptoSplitter RS-485; 1 x Industrial PC with Martin Light Jockey; 1 x 19” TFT Touch Screen

www.ikki.lu

Upstairs, a Japanese-themed restaurant incorporates circular panels, back lit by LED. Martin Pro SmartMACs wash the rafters in the early evening and help up the energy as the night develops a more club-like feel

or three other suppliers, but none of them were able to provide exactly what he needed. After seeing Pulsar LED products online, he contacted their HQ in the UK and was forwarded on to the Netherlands-based lighting specialists. After demonstrating some of their products to Steve Darne and Jean-Claude Colbach, it was agreed that Serutrade should come on board to see the project through to completion.The addition of Martin Pro SmartMAC moving head to the lighting scheme means that later in the evening, when the diners have finished their meals, the bar and restaurant can take on a more club-like feel.What impressed Steve Howie most about the project was Emringer’s willingness to spend the money needed to get the job done properly – both buying in quality lighting products and hiring in the right team to ensure a quality finish.“They did a rather good job, I’ve got to say. I was very impressed with their method,” says Howie of the Serutrade crew. “They took the shell that I gave them and they did a wonderful job of it. The products they used were very high-class. In my experience, the English won’t usually pay nearly the amount of money that Manou paid to use that company, who are, I’d say, probably the best in Europe at the moment.” As a result of their success at IKKI, Howie and Serutrade are already planning to work together on two further major projects in Europe.