One Aldwych hotel

The building that houses the One Aldwych Hotel is a Grade II listed Edwardian building.  Built in 1905 as the headquarters of the Morning Post newspaper, it is now a 5-star hotel in the heart of Covent Garden.   

StudioFractal, which had already been responsible for the lighting of the Royal Opera House in this area in 2018, was commissioned to create the exterior lighting to enhance the Edwardian architecture in detail. 

The Covent Garden area was defined in 1630 when the 5th Earl of Bedford commissioned Inigo Jones, the leading architect of the time, to create the country's first public square in this part of London. Inigo designed the layout of the area, the surrounding houses and St Paul's Church, taking inspiration from Italian piazzas. 

After alternating periods of glory and disgrace, also caused by several fires in 1905, the London newspaper The Morning Post commissioned a new building in this area from the famous Anglo-French architects Mewès & Davis, authors of many other famous buildings, including the Ritz, in London and Paris, and the Royal Automobile Club, also in London, in Pall Mall. Since the 1930s, extensive alterations have been made to the property, including the addition of two extra floors, the removal of the original dome and changes to the interior layout. 

The lighting design by StudioFractal highlighted the architectural details, playing with an alternation of light and shadow.  
In order to achieve a balance between the two elements, Palco InOut ø 83 mm base projectors with medium and spot optics were used, with honeycomb screens to reduce any glare, and iPro projectors with super spot optics and the use of a visor to control glare.