Hotel Astoria Oradea
The architectural lighting project for Hotel Astoria Oradea was implemented alongside other facades designed by Visioluce, including the Black Eagle Palace, the Moskovits Palace and the Moon Church. The building, a historical monument, is located in the central area of the city of Oradea, Romania. The former Sztarill Palace, today Hotel Astoria is an emblematic building of the city. It was built in the years 1902-1906 in an eclectic style with strong secession influences, by the architect Ferenc Sztarill.
Architectural Lighting Design
Through the lighting project carried out by the designers from Visioluce in collaboration with Luxten, the aim was to highlight the architectural rhythmicity of the facade. This modern conception betrays nothing of the interior volume. The panoramic building on the corner has a rounded meeting angle between the facades. Window openings are treated like modules, each marking a bay. Also, the window openings preserve rhythmicity by being divided into modules, each module marking a span. The lighting concept involves preserving this rhythmicity and, at the same time, emphasizing the braces that make up a winding attic above the windows.
The building consists of a high ground floor, a mezzanine and two floors. The formula in which the corner is treated by rounding turns it into a pseudo-tower. It is surmounted by a lantern crowned with a metal helmet. Being an architectural feature, we wanted to emphasize this detail through the lighting project.
Lighting Design According to Guests’ Needs
Since the building still functions as a hotel today, any light entering through the windows was strictly forbidden. That was a challenge in designing the lighting for Hotel Astoria. We mainly used narrow optics. The shades in which the building is finished suggest the use of a warm light temperature.
On the ground floor of the building is the EMKE cafe, which became a favourite of writers and journalists of the time. In 1930, the building was transformed into the hotel with today’s name, ASTORIA hotel. It was closed after the Second World War, being reopened only in 1975. The EMKE cafe was replaced by the Crown Pub restaurant.
LED Technology
This project used linear lighting fixtures from the Galaxy family, equipped exclusively with LEDs. With their help, we highlighted the verticality and splendour of the building. Since this project’s implementation, the hotel’s beauty can also be seen at night. This project aimed to highlight the hotel’s aesthetics by using LED technology to reduce electricity consumption and providing eco-friendly lighting.