The Hudson Hotel in New York

Owner: Ian Schrager Hotels, LLC

Overall design: Philippe Starck

Lighting design: Johnson Schwinghammer,

Team: Clark Johnson, John Pfeiffer, Terry Nelson

The Hudson, Ian Schrager’s latest foray into ‘lifestyle hotels’, aims to deliver – according to its promotional brochure, ‘a potent combination of urban adventure, daredevil design and true affordability to arguably the most jaded city in the world.’ Designed by Philippe Starck, it was lit by New York-based lighting consultants Johnson Schwinghammer with a concept collaboration by London lighting group Isometrix.

The project started in Summer 1999, and the hotel opened this autumn. According to Clark Johnson, partner at Johnson Schwinghammer, the initial brief was to create something ‘monastic, dark and with a focus around a garden’ and the result is ‘magical, mysterious, dramatic, warm and cosy’. A beamlight illuminates the façade, surrounded by lit trees, which leads into a neutral, low-key entrance, from which starts a 9m glass tunnel of vivid chartreuse-coloured light. The tunnel contains an escalator which takes the visitor into a volume of light, as it speeds upwards towards the lobby and unveils a stretch of sky above.

The 12m-high ceiling in the lobby is lit by Life Lab tracklights and custom-made Artimus uplights in the floor. Rooms such as the library combine old-style features such as wood panelling and a 75-year-old billiard table with computer screens and cyber desks. Here, the lighting design mixes architectural elements with decorative ones. A custom-made Ingo Maurer dome lamp spills purple light on to the billiard table, while custom-made Flos clip-on library lights, low-voltage Celestial cove lights and floor uplights sustain the traditional/ modern mix.

Says Arnold Chan at Isometrix: ‘With all Starck’s work he wants drama and theatricality. We very much follow Starck’s lead, and he always reacts to the architecture of the building. The Hudson used to be a TV studio, so you have huge volumes, which are part of the architecture, and you can automatically create extra drama.’

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