Mindseye enhances lighting at pizza restaurants

Mindseye were brought on board following input given to a residential refurbishment project, which turned out to be for the design director of Pizza Express.

She appointed Mindseye to review the way lighting was being handled within the whole Pizza Express chain.

The Pizza Express property portfolio is large and varied, so a strategy needed to be developed to deal with significant differences in terms of ceiling heights and types of buildings, while maintaining a clear visual identity across the chain.

In addition, Pizza Express has a new zoning strategy within its restaurants, such as fast dining at the restaurant entrance, a family zone overlooking the Pizzaiola and a zone for couples in the quieter parts.

As a result, Mindseye was asked to consider this from a lighting point of view to help distinguish these different areas.

One of the main challenges was to introduce a new track and spotlighting scheme, with better performance and an enhanced aesthetic appearance, which would be feasible in terms of budget and practical in terms of maintenance and operations.

The main focus of the new concept was to create different pools of light with varying light intensities for the restaurants' zones.

For example, the fast-dining areas feature bright areas with large pools of light, compared to small pools of light at lower levels for a more intimate feel within the area for couples.

All this was done using the same fitting, but with different reflectors and lenses and using two lamp types.

The remainder of the scheme focused on accentuating feature areas, such as the wine and glass displays and banquette seat lighting.

In the Gloucester Quays restaurant, large ceiling rafts with integral tracks are suspended within the 12m-high space.

The same track delivers spotlighting onto the tables and an up-lighting element.

The Lucent track fitting was modified for this project to allow the head to tilt in order to up-light the ceiling area.