Oboe, Reimagined: Shaping spaces with custom lighting

Lighting can do a lot for a space, set the mood, highlight features, change atmosphere. But sometimes a project needs something more, and that’s where custom lighting comes in.

Part of the Symphony range, Oboe is one of our most customisable fittings, and a great asset whenever the brief requires something different.

Here are a few cases when Oboe was more than an off-the-shelf option.

Sarah & Sebastian, Chadstone

The piercing suite inside Sarah & Sebastian’s brand-new Chadstone store feature two pairs of custom luminaires, that run vertically on each side the room. Each of the bespoke luminaires houses a complete Oboe, with profile and diffuser, inside another custom diffuser.

The carefully considered fittings are wall-mounted, supported by perfectly detailed brass brackets custom machined by our friends at EMAC. It’s a detail that adds to the sophisticated atmosphere of the space while keeping things clean, as the structure also hides all the power supply.

Grill’d Swanston St, Melbourne CBD

At Grill’d Swanston Street, ambience worked with Studio Y to reshape a casual dining fit-out into something more atmospheric and refined, with each area of the venue needing its own mood rather than one concept applied throughout.

Oboe became the basis for three different custom pendants throughout the space: in the bright and active takeaway area a bold grid pendant. And in the basement where layering and light play were the key to overcome the lack of natural daylight, the U-shaped and caged pendants tie everything together.

Scanlan Theodore’s Chatswood

Scanlan Theodore’s Chatswood boutique, designed in collaboration with Flack Studio, sets out to blur the line between high-end retail and spatial storytelling. The brief called for lighting that was theatrical and warm, mixing diffused light, backlighting and spotlighting rather than leaning on any one approach.

Oboe’s role in that mix is to bring the drama, and it does its job well. 2400K warm white Oboes are suspended vertically behind a glass brick wall, with the glow diffusing through the glass to become one of the space’s key illumination features.