Touch Digital Fashion House

Architectural and interior design practice, POST-OFFICE, had an interesting lighting challenge when the company was commissioned to design the new offices of Touch Digital in Shoreditch, London.

Established in 2009, POST-OFFICE is a London-based practice lead by Philippe Malouin. their aesthetic mixes unexpected materials with an artful sensibility to create clean, utilitarian yet often surprising spaces.

This unique aesthetic was brought to bear at Touch Digital when typical office lighting was put to one side and dark and light were used to maximum effect; enabling style and functionality to work hand in hand with stunning results.

As one of London’s leading fashion photographic retouching agencies, Touch Digital wanted its new offices to be a ‘modern equivalent of the traditional darkroom’. Graeme Bulcraig, founder of Touch Digital explains further: “The company was set up in 1999 to provide a digital alternative to conventional darkroom hand printing. Over the past 13 years we have evolved from scanning and retouching negative film to providing services ranging from digital hand printing of film and retouching, to post production and fine art printing. Our move to 2000sq ft warehouse premises in the heart of Shoreditch gave us the opportunity to create the very best environment for working on photographs digitally; the end result is indeed the modern equivalent of the traditional darkroom.”

With traditional commercial spaces recommended to have a maintained illuminance of 500 lux for general office areas, the Touch Digital offices created a fresh challenge for Philippe Malouin, Director at POST-OFFICE. “Digital retouching agencies need a minimal amount of light in order to correctly visualise the computer screens. This constraint usually makes retouching studios a dark environment. However, we took this challenge to heart as we wanted the communal areas of the new Touch Digital offices to be bright and airy, whilst providing lowlight environments to facilitate the retouchers’ work.”

The end result is a space that uses the latest in innovative LED lamp technology from MEGAMAN^® and combines it with a mix of Scandinavian classic modernism and 1960’s corporate American grandeur for maximum visual impact. The communal office spaces and reception area are lit with pendant luminaires, which create a statement in light. The luminaires, designed by Philippe Malouin, not only create pools of light within the high ceiling spaces, but bring a warmth and classic feel to the public spaces.

Luminance and Beauty Combined

Ideal for use in decorative architectural applications, MEGAMAN^®’s unique 7W LED Crown Silver series was chosen for use in the public areas of Touch Digital’s new offices as it fitted into the classic feel of the design scheme. Based on the 60W incandescent crown silver lamps made so popular by Hollywood in the 1950’s, MEGAMAN^® took the features of this iconic light source and brought them into 21^st Century.

Designed in the classic A60 shape, the E27 based Crown Silver 7W LED has a silver-plated crown top and clear finish and achieves 80% energy savings compared to its 60W incandescent equivalent. It also assures a saving of 2,044 kWh which equals 1,260 kg CO₂per year*. Delivering a well controlled, glare-free light, the lamp creates a soft, indirect, diffused light. Add to this a high colour rendering index of up to Ra92, the LED Crown Silver has the ability to bring a touch of the extraordinary to any lighting scheme.

Graeme Bulcraig concludes: “The space that Philippe and his team at POST-OFFICE have created for us is a testament to his team’s ability to mix materials and use light for maximum impact. The public spaces within the office have a slightly 1960’s feel, yet are warm and welcoming and blend well with the much more utilitarian retouching areas. We are very impressed with the lighting and the visual drama it gives the office for guests and employee’s alike.”

^*Based on 0.616 kg CO₂ emission/kWh

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