Nulty Bespoke worked with developer and designer, Fenton Whelan, to design a tailor-made contemporary chandelier, which would create a dramatic statement feature, while adding warmth to the reception room.
Inspired by natural forms, a spiral of light from 24 petal-shaped shades now gently cascades through the three-storey stairwell. The shades are attached to fine cables, which, in turn, are fixed to a polished nickel double-frame circular structure at the top of the house.
Gold leaf has been hand-applied to each shade. Attention to detail, through a process of drawing, CGI and prototypes, has ensured that the light both reflects off and passes through the shades, creating a soft, radiant effect within the stairwell.
Trevor Morgan, Managing Director at Nulty Bespoke, explains: “We wanted a warm, golden quality, similar to candlelight – this has been achieved through careful design of the form and by the use of gold leaf and miniature 2800K LED lamps, each of which supply 180 lumens of ambient light.”
The design
The floating, sculptural quality of the chandelier adds visual interest, complementing the muted backdrop of polished plaster walls, wrought iron balustrade and oak handrail, adding warmth and a welcoming feel to the hall.
Technical information
Three different shades were designed. These were laser-cut from acrylic and then drape-formed over a mould. The edges were hand-polished to achieve a crisp top edge and a curved bottom edge. Precision-machined components, with a polished nickel-plated finish, house the lampholder, clamp the cable and beautifully transition from the cable to the shade.
The 24 cables emanate from a laser-cut ceiling plate – behind which is housed the electrical terminations in a bespoke wiring loom, and the transformer. The cables are held in position by two rolled mild-steel hoops with precision-turned cable clamps, again in a polished nickel finish. This creates the correct spacing for the cables. The spiral was achieved by careful computer modelling of the shades in the space and by ensuring that each drop-cable was cut with perfect accuracy.