Fares Dagher Lighting Design

02

Arthaus

Year
2019
Location
Gemmayzeh, Lebanon
Type
Hospitality / Hotel
Area
1300 m²
Client
Nabil & Zoe Debs
Designer
Habib Debs
A guest room beneath a vaulted stone ceiling, with a coloured-glass chandelier, a tall curtained window, and a patterned textile hung above the bed.

A traditional, century-old Lebanese residence built in the 1800s and owned by the Debs family for generations, transformed into a niche boutique hotel revolving around the owners' private art collection. The quarters comprise a main house and two guest houses of two levels each, arranged around a central courtyard with a pool. A modern extension connects the two guest houses with a passageway and two additional rooms.

The sandstone façade of the main house facing the courtyard pool, with pointed arched windows, round openings, a balcony, and climbing plants.

Lighting approach

The lighting needed to reflect the introverted nature of the grounds, turned towards the central garden and surrounded by the high-rises of Gemmayzeh. The focal point of the project has always been the artworks on display throughout the house.

The result is a minimal intervention that preserves the old character of the house while highlighting the art pieces and the main features of the architecture.

A dining room with timber chairs and a long table set in front of a painted landscape mural.
A high-ceilinged living room with a timber ceiling, a cascading chandelier of coloured glass, and a large blue painting above the sofa.
A bedroom framed by three traditional arched windows with carved timber fanlights and an embroidered bedspread.

The rooms

In the rooms, decorative pieces in keeping with the century-old spirit of the house are combined with a discreet architectural layer that puts the stone walls and the artworks in the light.

That layer is achieved with recessed wall-washers in the floor and in the false ceilings along the stone walls, and with tracks and projectors concealed behind timber beams and steel structures, directed at the artwork.

Lighting plan

Lighting plan of the main house and a guest house, with light positions in yellow and five numbered zones outlined.

  1. Projectors on the timber beams

    A black projector mounted against an old timber beam. Light grazing down a plastered wall from fittings set between the timber beams.

  2. Wall lights

    Two glass globe wall lights on a dark wall above a sink.

  3. Surface-mounted downlights

    A white cylindrical surface-mounted downlight.

  4. Wall-mounted projector, stair

    A narrow stair between tall walls, lit from a single fitting high on the wall. A white wall-mounted projector.

  5. Adjustable spotlights directed at the artwork

    A pair of black adjustable surface-mounted spotlights. A small red artwork on a white wall, lit by a single ceiling-mounted spotlight.