PSLab

Fusing Japanese and Peruvian food and culture, Chotto Matte brings modern Tokyo underground to a 1960s residential building in Soho. The brainchild of Kurt Zdesar and designed by Andy Martin Architects, the energy of underground Tokyo is communicated through a mix of eclectic collaborators without resorting to stereotypical visual references.

.PSLAB was chosen to create the lighting concepts, as well as design and manufacture custom-made fixtures for the Bar, the dining area and a full-wall graffiti mural.

To emphasize different aspects of the space, without lighting it up completely, .PSLAB divided their response strategy into two main types of insertions. The first is a set of dim sculptural lighting to create an ambient supplement to main pillars of the space, namely the bar and the columns. The second is a technical layer responsible for illuminating the tables and the graffiti wall.

The bar lighting elements are installed to create visual continuity in response to the curve of the bar counter. Each element was made to measure, with different dimensions of steel tubes mounted separately to the adjacent beams, suspending from the ceiling at different points when more support is needed.  

The lighting elements installed on the columns mimic the style of the bar lighting and disperse the dimly lit glass bulbs vertically throughout the space.

To give the tables the required lighting, without flooding over to the space and compromising the low lighting ambiance, the dining area was lit using directional ceiling mounted projectors that specifically target the tables.

The full-wall graffiti mural is protected behind a layer of bespoke glass. This assembly made it impossible to light the artwork using projectors in the dining area because of the glare that would be caused by the glass encasing. .PSLAB designed a floor mounted linear lighting system installed behind the glass along the base of the wall to illuminate the graffiti.