DesignPlusLight produce a low-key landscape lighting scheme for Medina House

This former Victorian bath house, built in 1894 and used seawater for its public baths, was completely refurbished and restored in 2018. It’s a private house with a very public history.

It was owned by a firm of diamond cutters in the early 1940s and then became a makeshift hospital during the Second World War.

In the early 2000’s it became a collective artists’ studio with an annual rent of £1. Following the eviction of squatters in 2007, the developer owner attempted a number of planning applications which included a 12 storey building. Subsequently, they were 2 fires (cause never determined) and in 2013 the pools were filled in. However, the Royal Doulton tiled bath house remained and were listed as part of a conservation order.

The house was eventually developed by the guitarist David Gilmoure with Pilbrow & Partners Architects.

The views of the sea are framed by a tryptic of arches in the garden with the landscape diagonally planted with large trees, by Arabella Lennox Boyd.

As a nod to the historical nature of the building, DesignPlusLight produced a very low-key landscape lighting scheme with a focus on the decorative tiles and arched walls. The reflected light provided a wonderfully soft glow back into the space. Bespoke path lights, designed by principal and founder Sanjit Bahra (produced by Light Graphix), provide pools of light at the planting threshold and define the terraced area.

Directional spots were angled to illuminate the trees, which cast playful shadows on the side wall, gently leading the eye to the sea beyond.

“A little light goes a long way in the nightscape”, said Sanjit Bahra from DesignPlusLight, “and we prefer to softly light our landscape lighting schemes, to create a calm ambience at night.”

Architect: Pilbrow & Partners.
Landscape design: Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
Interiors: Studio Ashby.