Inspire for Women

Inspire For Women is a Pilates studio in Victoria, Australia, designed with a focus on creating a warm, inviting sanctuary that serves as a haven for female empowerment and health. The space aims to be a home away from home, offering a sense of safety, liberation, and rejuvenation while catering to various needs, from pregnancy classes, workshops, strength training sessions to post-training drinks. 

The lighting design for Inspire is very much aligned with the principles of Pilates says Stephen Justice, Communications Director, at ambience, emphasizing alignment and flexibility. The goal was to create adaptable and versatile lighting scenes tailored to the different events and classes. Harmoniously interwoven, natural light complements artificial illumination, with strategically placed luminaires artfully mimicking the nuances of natural light in specific areas. 

The main studio features tunable white, up-indirect linear pendants that match the terracotta coloring of the finishes. These luminaires provide adaptable and versatile illumination, bouncing light from the ceiling to avoid direct glare. The placement of pendants is carefully aligned with Pilates machines, ensuring optimal lighting angles in the colored mirror. 

A highlight of the space is the mesmerizing stretched fabric false skylight in the staircase, inspired by traditional Japanese use of light. The RGBW stretched fabric with Casambi dimming creates a gradient effect influenced by the sun, enhancing the ambiance throughout the space. 

Casambi was chosen for its ability to create the desired dynamic lighting designs, facilitating a broad range of atmospheres. The control system enabled the creation of scenes with different color temperatures and dimness levels, catering to specific activities or classes.  

“This versatility ensures that the lighting not only meets but also anticipates and elevates every aspect of the space’s varied uses. Casambi allows for seamless transition between such scenes and empowers the women to easily take control of the space depending on requirements” says Stephen. 

The wireless nature of Casambi greatly minimized resource consumption in the production, distribution, selection, installation, and maintenance of cables. Coupled with the use of recycled and recyclable packaging, recycled lighting waste in the ceiling feature, and locally certified fittings by Symphony, the eco-credentials of this space are indisputable. Additionally, the control system contributes to energy savings through automation programming, avoiding unnecessary energy consumption as Stephen explains:  

“Groups of fittings can be pre-set to pre-determined operating hours and dimming levels so that the lights are not left on when they are not needed (lighting activated by motion). The brightness can also go up/down during different times of the day adding to the human-centric considerations and positive impact. One of the unsung implementations of the innovative strategy is that lighting scenes can be controlled/tweaked from any location”.   

Stephen also explains that the system’s flexibility gave them creative freedom, and space for experimentation, resulting in an effective commissioning process:  

“As with all Casambi projects, we learn a little more about just what the possibilities of Casambi are. This is no exception. With us taking away a lot on how to use not just for practical but creative design purposes”.  

The success of the project, marked by accolades and client engagement for future locations, attests to the transformative impact of ambience’s Casambified lighting design on the user experience. As such, Inspire For Women has been shortlisted for the 2024 Casambi Project of the Year Award.