DesignSolutionsProblem: Derek Bennett, who opened Harry's Café in Dún Laoghaire last year, wanted an interior that would make the place memorable, but not in a flashy, over the top way.
So he got Amanda Hogan of Scudding Clouds and her partner, Laura Farrell, in to look at the design.
A large part of the Scudding Clouds ethos lies in using materials in unusual ways and giving old things a new function. "Everything has potential, nothing is disposable", reads its website. Textured Japanese wall plasters, tinted concrete, powdered steel, earthy colours and an element of humour are part of the mix.
At the moment, the company is working on projects for Norma Smurfit and artist Graham Knuttel. In Harry's Café, a bar was positioned at one end of the space and is used to serve food, prepare coffees and house the cash till. It has a long curving counter, green leather stools and is the first place the eye falls when entering the room. The challenge was, says Hogan, "to design lighting that would give a feeling of intimacy above the counter".
Solution: Finding potential in a junk object, Hogan created three hanging light fixtures made from washing machine drums. Rooted out from landfill sites, the drums were cleaned and polished before a simple wiring system was hooked up to the fluorescent bulbs that sit inside.
They hang from steel brackets on different lengths of iron chains. "The size and proportion are perfect for the space," says Hogan. "They fill the area above the bar but the light they give off has a great luminosity and a speckled texture because of the perforations in the drum. The chains follow the hardware vibe we like."
The three drums have also sparked interest among the clientele of Harry's. "People look, like them and sometime afterwards get a kick when they realise what they are - it's a conversation piece in a way."
Hogan and Farrell have developed this drum idea into outdoor lighting and standard lamps to order as well as working on a chandelier type piece, not including glass obviously, but with different sizes and types of drums.
"It's cool that there are so many - industrial washing machines are kind of different to domestic drums." The lights have been appropriately nicknamed "Spin Cycle".
Scudding Clouds makes the lights to order, but you can get similar shades made from recycled washing machine drums from Carrick Hoover Centre in Monkstown, Co Dublin, for €150.
www.scuddingclouds.com
Carrick Hoover Centre
tel 01 2800610
