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Much of the glamour associated with The Mira Hotel is from how it glimmers at night. A beacon of sophistication, this boutique hotel can be easily spotted in Hong Kong’s bustling Tsim Sha Tsui district because of its attractive lighting scheme outside and inside. Much of credit for that goes to audiovisual, lighting control technology expert BAP.

BAP was commissioned to supply, program and test the lighting control systems for the main lobby, function rooms and lift lobby on the second floor and the Chinese and Western restaurants on the third and fifth floors. The program had to be designed to integrate with third-party systems, such as LED and ceiling feature lights, in order to achieve colour-changing and special effects. Tens of hours were spent on testing to understand the technical issues involved and to build up a stable, seamless and flawless program for the client.

A combination of Lutron_® partition sensors and time-clock programmed lighting control systems tailored for each area has provided a perfect solution for the hotel. BAP installed partition sensors for the function rooms to minimise human error in case two functions went on simultaneously. This intelligent system is easy to operate without intensive staff training. The new technology replaces manual switch panels which traditionally require regular intervention or unreliable mechanical partition switches to report the status of lighting configuration, sound and other systems. Now, everything is automatic and human error is virtually taken care of. 

The outdoor hanging garden on the third floor for the western bar and restaurant has a series of preset lighting scenes. Light levels are automatically adjusted according to the time of day and occasion. For the restaurant, BAP created cocktail, dinner and late night scenes, allowing operators to conduct the last part of business for the day, then slowly move on to unwind and relax as the evening progresses. The transition is so smooth and subtle that the restaurant customers won’t even notice the lighting changes. For the main lobby energy saving measures were taken into consideration. BAP used a daylight-harvesting technique by making good use of daylight to complement electric light. By dimming the lights during the day, the hotel can provide a good mix of electric light and daylight for a welcoming and lively reception for the guests, while saving significant amount of energy and extending the lamp life to reduce waste.

One of the feature attractions of the BAP system was the success achieved in integrating the dimming system into the LED colour wall at the lift lobby on the second floor. BAP programmed the LED wall to change colour in a set sequence. The concept proved to be a huge hit with the hotel. The wall, composed by several large pieces of glass, changes colour gradually, adding intrigue and amusement for hotel guests.

No project, large or small scale, goes without challenges. With both the interior and lighting designers present in overseas for the entire project, BAP worked solidly for two months without time zone boundary, confirming lighting fixtures and circuits from mechanical and electrical consultants, to program various lighting scenes specified by the designer and integrate them into existing lighting systems. This meant hours of labour-intensive work, but judging by the end result, both BAP and the Mira think this time was worth-spending to provide a truly magnificent and electrifying experience.