usher hall, edinburgh by speirs + major
all photos by james newton


speirs + major were invited to re-light usher hall, edinburgh, one of scotland’s main
historic arts venues. the project was part of a major refurbishment, led by architects LDN,
to upgrade the building and add a modern extension. our aim was to design an integrated
approach to light, carefully concealing equipment and retaining the architectural integrity
of the building.

one of the challenges we faced was finding a solution for lighting the spiral stairwell that links
the original usher hall building with its modern extension. the cylindrical, concrete walls meant
it was difficult to fix lighting in a way that would appear architecturally integrated. so, they
developed the idea of a contemporary chandelier – a single shaft of light that forms the central
axis of the spiral staircase. the structure solved several issues at once: not only of lighting, but
also issues of mounting, cable routing and maintenance.

the 13.8m chandelier uses lengths of fluorescent tubes encased within double acrylic cylinders;
the inner layer is frosted to soften the light while the outer layer is etched with a ringed pattern
that catches the light. each fluorescent section is separated by shorter sections of frosted glass
rings uplit with leds to add sparkle and introduce variation along the length.














speirs + major designed the concept for the chandelier and developed it
with bespoke manufacturer mike stoane lighting in collaboration with
architects law dunbar naismith.