Low-key elegance: The head office of footwear label Le Silla

The offices at the newly built headquarters of Le Silla, where the Italian family company designs and develops its exclusive footwear, has been equipped with ERCO recessed luminaires. As well as delivering functionality with exceptional energy efficiency, the lighting solution enhances the elegant character of the premises.

Exceptionally high heels, extravagant design, elegant materials and an artisan craftsmanship are the characteristic features that best describe the exclusive ladies’ footwear label, Le Silla. Defining itself as a brand with a passion for seductive and distinctly feminine shoes, for style and luxury, for quality made in Italy, the company is based in Le Marche, nestled between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains, in a region of Central Italy that is known for its long tradition in leather craftsmanship and shoe manufacture - a heritage which the company, founded in 1994 by designer Enio Silla and his partner Monica Ciabattini, proudly and successfully continues. As a growing business, today’s range extends to bags and beach fashion in an addition to the shoes, and is sold through a retail network that includes Le Silla boutiques in Milan, Florence, Moscow, Baku and Dubai, as well as in other major cities from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.

Clear spatial structures for glamorous footwear

Last year, Le Silla moved into new premises in Porto Sant’Elpidio. The complex, built to designs by the architect Ivan Palmini, provides space for the creation and production of the shoe collections as well as for the administration offices and the brand outlet store. In marked contrast to the rather glamorous style of shoes, the architecture of the head office is defined by a linear, almost sterile design vocabulary that reflects classical modernism. The offices, which are largely separated by glass walls, as well as the adjoining design studio are illuminated during the day with natural light entering through large window areas that often extend up to the ceiling, offering an expansive view of the surroundings whilst giving the interior an airy, modern and tidy feel.

The lighting concept briefing: Design quality and optimum glare control for creative working

The requirements for technical lighting in the offices - including the connected meeting rooms and Enio Silla’s design studio - were high. The architect Palmini, who had already designed the Le Silla flagship stores in Milan and Florence, strives for clearly defined spaces. Nothing should distract from the architectural structure other, that is, than carefully selected and deliberately placed furniture and equipment. For this reason, he prefers a discreet and unobtrusive lighting solution, preferably with almost invisible luminaires. Further criteria for the selection of lighting tools included glare control, energy efficiency, low maintenance costs as well as the option of a practical and useful lighting control system. The design studio, where the concepts for new collections are created and where materials and colours need to be carefully considered, additional critical qualitative specifications, such as brilliant colour rendering and the delivery consistent colour temperature were added the equation.

Quintessence for efficient visual comfort with freedom in design

ERCO proposed a lighting solution based on Quintessence recessed lighting tools as a single range of luminaires. This concept fulfilled all the relevant criteria, and thanks to ERCO’s proprietary LED technology, combining superbly uniform light with excellent luminous efficacy and glare control, it also complied with the European standards required for office workspace (EN 12464) requiring just a few luminaires. The economic and ecological advantages of this exceptionally efficient lighting solution are perfectly obvious. Quintessence is, as it were, the all-round star among the ERCO recessed luminaires. Its modular system design facilitates a flexible lighting concept as a unified whole. Downlights in combination with directional luminaires and wallwashers meet all the requirements of a perception-orientated concept for ambient and accent lighting. Downlights with flood and wide flood distributions illuminate the horizontal surfaces, particularly the Le Silla workstation and conference areas, with optimum uniformity. The walls and shelving, in contrast, are illuminated using wallwashers, giving the room a light and spacious impression.

Consistent minimalist ceiling design with downlights

For optimised synergy with the building’s architecture and to achieve a harmonious, low-key ceiling design, Le Silla opted for the square version of the luminaire. The result is a formally coherent and yet highly discreet illumination with precise, linear intersecting beams, without compromising on the light quality.
Due to the large windows with the resulting occurance of natural light in the Le Silla offices, particular focus was given to the precise coordination of daylight and artificial light. Once again, ERCO impressed with its highly efficient lighting technology, which allows continuous dimming of the light down to 1%. The warm white light (3000K) creates a natural and pleasant ambience with amazing brilliance whilst meeting the highest standards of natural colour rendering, thereby providing ideal conditions for the type of creative work in which Enio Silla and his team are engaged every day.

Project data

Project: Le Silla Factory, Porto Sant’Elpidio / Italy
Architecture: Ivan Palmini, studio ipalmini, Macerata / Italy

Products: Quintessence
Photo credits: ERCO GmbH, www.erco.com, photo: Sebastian Mayer