The Hotel Element by Westin is located in Vancouver Metrotown, situated twenty minutes from the city’s downtown. A modern-day construction, ‘Element’ offers contemporary accommodations within both efficient and well-ordered surroundings. Spaces are vivid and airy, making full use of the hotel’s extensive glass facade. Interior Designer Adele Pransky of CHIL Interior Design, a Hospitality Studio of global architectural design firm B+H, introduced a palette of quiet and soothing neutrals throughout the hotel. Pransky then contrasted this with the Element brand’s signature green tones, so accentuating key areas across the venue.
The impact of this interior styling is particularly pronounced in the hotel’s public areas, where guests can take advantage of sweeping double-height volumes and extended meeting and lounge spaces. The Element lobby and reception greets visitors with an air of respect and eloquence. It exudes a marked confidence with its bright high ceiling, textured plaster wall panels and immaculate seating zones. Yet the eye is largely drawn to the lobby’s aesthetically pleasing light installation, where a thrilling group of LZF Link Chain pendants hang in stylish repose. Specified by Element and supplied by Symmetry Lighting, a young Vancouver-based lighting agency, the Link Chain lamps imbue the lobby with an expressive dynamic.
The Link Chain is a studious and geometric modular light, designed by Irish-born designer Ray Power. Power’s characteristic technique lies in his propensity to create three-dimensional forms with flat materials. The Link Chain’s individual handmade modules are put together using a stack of wood veneer Möbius strips (in mathematics, the Möbius strip is a surface with one continuous side). The shape of an individual Link module is almost cloud-like; when linked in a series, each module harmonises, constructing an elegantly solid and eye-catching body.
At Vancouver Metrotown’s Hotel Element, the remarkable impact of a grouping of LZF Link Chain lamps is evident. The five lights suspended from the high lobby ceiling are a veritable showcase for wood’s propensity to diffuse light with aplomb.
This project won an ‘Award of Merit’ at the IDIBC Shine Awards in September 2015.
