WALLACHIA, Czech Republic — The Solan Hotel, located near the ski slopes at Solan Mountain, was recently refurbished by new owner Josef Valchar, who updated the look of the resort’s pool and other areas with an installation of architectural LED products from Anolis. “Anolis are among the best available on the market, so the brand was an obvious choice,” said Valchar, who is working closely with architect and interior designer Peter Vinklarek on the resort’s upgrade. The idea is to preserve elements of local traditions but with a contemporary twist.
The indoor pool area features large windows along one end showing off the mountain views. The room has Anolis ArcLine Outdoor Optic 36 strips embedded in the ceiling in a continuous line along one edge of the pool. These can be selected to change color, bathing the whole space in a range of saturated colors or pastels. They also illuminate the edge of a ceramic relief sculpture mounted on the wall near the pool — visuals that get picked up by reflections in the pool’s surface.
For white light, six Anolis ArcLine Outdoor Optic 18 Warm White fixtures are concealed in the ceiling along the far side of the pool above the lounging area. These bathe the area in an ambient glow, while six Anolis ArcPad 3-48 Integrals mounted in the walls boost the lux levels with a diffused calming quality of light, enhancing the chilled atmosphere.
The pool area also has three large discharge “practical” lights, but they are not used most of the time as the LEDs are proving so popular, whether in white, different saturated colors or on a slow fade color chase.
“It is vital that the pool looks beautiful,” said Valchar. “I wanted to bring a vitality to the space with the lighting and a feature totally unique to the hotel. Different coloration can really enhance and chance people’s moods, and I want to make a visit to the pool the ultimately relaxing and meditative experience.”
Valchar has already heard positive comments from customers using the pool area, and plans to extend LED lighting throughout the hotel.
Other areas currently benefitting from Phase 1 of the lighting installation are the atrium at the top of the main staircase, lit with eight Anolis ArcLine 18 RGBs. It is an open staircase, so guests can see from top to bottom on all levels going up or down.
The window spaces of the fourth floor corridors, meanwhile, are lit with ArcLine 36 WarmWhites to highlight the artifacts arranged on their sills.
Each of the four bedroom floors features wide corridors, which will be used as gallery spaces highlighting the work of local artists. Phase 2 of the LED installation will see this artwork lit with ArcSource 3 Warm White fixtures. The same units will also be used to illuminate the numbers on all the bedroom doors.
Phase 3 of the installation will see an RGB LED design fitted into all 42 rooms and suites, complete with a control system allowing guests to choose a color scheme to suit their mood by pressing a number of pre-set options.
Providing hotel lighting is a growth area for LED products, and Anolis products were also used recently for a visual upgrade at the Figis Hotel and Conference Centre in Zeist, The Netherlands.
For more information, please visit www.anolis.eu.
