Say Hello to Our New Neighbors - Yotel Amsterdam!
16.02.2020
Say Hello to Our New Neighbors - Yotel Amsterdam!
16.02.2020
Just around the corner from our Blom & Blom store in Amsterdam North, a new Yotel opened its doors in November 2019 as a recent addition to the worldwide city-centre hotel chain. Besides being our new neighbors, the new Yotel has also joined our client list. We had the pleasure of producing two spectacular custom-made lighting fixtures as the crowning touch for Yotel’s impressive communal areas. In this blog post, we take you inside this truly unique assignment.
The New Yotel in Amsterdam North - Image by Walter Herfst
About the Building
The Amsterdam North Yotel was developed by Being Development, and designed by Studioninedots, Delva Landscape Architects and DesignAgency. This brand new Yotel features five interconnected wings set in park-like surroundings. The wings vary in height, function, and ambience while framing a series of courtyards for a combined effect that is open and inviting for visitors and guests.
The outside façade is constructed of titanium-coloured recycled aluminium panels where their colour and composition reflect an ever-changing duet of light and shadow. With this façade fronting all sides, the hotel blends seamlessly into the urban-industrial surroundings characteristic of its location in Amsterdam North.
This is also a hotel where smart design meets innovation and sustainability. With a circular water system designed to collect, hold, filter, and recycle water for various applications, the new Yotel also features an all-electric energy system partially powered by solar panels located on the roofs of both the hotel itself and a neighboring building.
Design at Play
Yotel enlisted DesignAgency for the interior of their latest venue in Amsterdam. We had previously worked with DesignAgency on lighting fixtures for the amazing Generator Hostel in Amsterdam East. The DesignAgency once again approached us to provide two custom-made lighting fixtures on a grand scale for the open and spacious communal areas in the new Yotel.
Technical drawings of the new Yotel’s fixtures provided by DesignAgency
In order to continue the feeling of interplay between light and shadow on the facade, we used the same materials - in the same color - for the inside lighting fixtures. Both fixtures are made of aluminium with a titanium finish that echoes the outer facade, for a smooth and stunning transition that brings the outside in.
Aluminum housing for LED components
A cross-cut view of the aluminum housing
Custom Lighting - Elegance on a Grand Scale
We delivered two colossal fixtures to meet the brief for this assignment with each measuring approximately 350 x 100 cm (11.5 x 3.3 feet). We engineered, built, and installed the fixtures with one suspended above the expansive communal table in Yotel Amsterdam’s grand meeting room and the other floating above their check-in desk, providing an elegant and ‘celestial welcome’ to visitors.
The lighting fixtures trace the contour of the surfaces directly below them - a softened rectangular form above the reception desk and an oval ‘halo’ above the table in the meeting and event area. The two lights incorporate the same materials and are generally the same in appearance, but their subtle difference in shape accents the fluid playfulness expressed throughout the new Yotel’s interior.
The lateral sides of these majestic fixtures are made of aluminum, combined with an acrylic diffuser plate that runs the length of the bottom side. The diffuser panel covers the dimmable LED components within, sending a flow of soft light in a downward direction. Suspended from the ceiling by almost invisible steel cables, the placement of the lighting fixtures achieved a ‘floating effect’ in sync with the rhythm of the free-flowing space around them. The result was stunning - if we say so ourselves.
The ‘halo’ suspended above the table in Yotel’s Co-working and Event Space
One of the fixtures called ‘Mission Control’ is suspended above Yotel’s Reception Desk
Bringing It All Back Home
We devoted a majority of the space in our store for almost 4 weeks to make room for the production of these two super-sized fixtures. The assembly of all the components as well as determining the location of the suspension points on-site presented a challenge that required the utmost in precision.
We transported the fixtures from our workshop to the Yotel on two separate occasions in order to determine the exact placement of suspension points for their final installation. As the fixtures were massive and delicate, this proved to be a major undertaking. Fortunately, our workshop is just 200m to the new Yotel, so we were able to hand-carry each of the mammoth lighting fixtures to their intended destination - with the help of four people! Yet another reason to be glad we’re ‘close’ neighbors with the new Yotel.
Installation on-site
Busy in our workshop drilling holes for the acrylic diffuser plate covering the dimmable LED strips within
Elegance Afloat
All in all, this was a challenging and inspiring project that we are proud to have been a part of and it continues to inspire our future ambitions.
Welcome to our neighborhood!
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