Umami Restaurant, Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen-based restaurateur Jesper Boelskifte asked Orbit Design Studio to ‘design the environment and create an identity’ for Umami restaurant, an ultra-stylish fusion restaurant that marries Japanese cuisine with French style. “We did our own blending and used walnut, stone, silks and chandeliers to create a clean Japanese feel with the addition of a soupcon of French glamour,” explains Mike Duncalf, Design Director at Orbit Design.

Changing atmosphere
Alongside the interior design, Orbit was commissioned to design and synergize the identity for the restaurant. This included visual identity elements – menus, uniforms, etc. – and a cover of mood generating color from Martin Cyclo 03 fluorescent color changers. The result is the most refreshingly eccentric restaurant in Copenhagen.

“I wanted to create an environment or atmosphere in the restaurant where color changing lighting would have an effect on the diners’ experience, on their mood, so that the atmosphere would change throughout the night,” states owner Jesper Boelskifte.

Chandelier curtain
One of the major design elements is a large chandelier curtain created by Orbit Design. Located on the first floor main dining area, the chandelier runs the entire 27 meter length of the room. Hidden from view in the ceiling soffit are Cyclo 03 fluorescent color changers whose light produce an enticing yet pleasingly subtle effect in the chandelier’s glass panels.

Cyclo 03
“We were looking for a solution where we’d have a light that was discreet enough not to disturb the guests,” Jesper explains. “We didn’t want it to actually illuminate the room; we just wanted to create an effect colorwise and as a reflection in the chandelier.” Jesper proposed the idea of the color changing system – his color choices are white light, green, blue, orange and red - and Orbit came up with the idea of using the lighting effect in the chandelier. The Cyclo 03 is an RGB T5 fluorescent color changer capable of generating nearly all colors or white light of any color temperature.

Orbit Design
Mike Duncalf of Orbit Design commented, “The lighting was a very important element of the design and it was established with Jesper at the initial briefing to use color changing lighting to change the mood, ambience and look of the restaurant. Jesper had recently visited a Japanese restaurant in the States (Morimoto) which had color changing lights and Orbit had also used similar technology in a bar/restaurant in Bangkok.

“Following the briefing, and with a good understanding of Jesper’s ‘Umami’ vision, we came up with a design statement: ‘Modern Japanese with a touch of French romance.’ This then translated into the restaurant’s main decorative feature, the chandelier curtain, which was the perfect vehicle to control and carry the color changing lighting. This of course had its challenges: how were we going to achieve the color changing effect? How were we going to ensure an even distribution of light along the chandelier’s length? Would this actually work?

“The next stage was to produce a small prototype, so we had a section of the chandelier manufactured and spoke with several lighting manufacturers, most of which did not produce a fitting that had this capability. Some manufacturers suggested that we should make a bespoke fitting but this, along with the other challenges and the time constraints, plus the idea of producing a fitting from scratch and the risks involved in not getting this right, this was not a good option.

“I think it was Jesper that found the Cyclo fixture and when we trialed this with the chandelier the effect was exactly what we were looking for – great control over the colors, excellent distribution of the light, and the size and compactness of the fitting were all spot on, plus we could either wall mount or ceiling mount the fitting. Most of the Cyclos we used were concealed as they were sandwiched between the curtain and the wall but the fitting itself looked great. We would use this on future projects where the fitting is in view.”

Front window attraction
Additional Cyclos are located in a large window display at the front of the restaurant, illuminating side work and the building’s exterior while sharing the color changing effect with passersby out on the street.

“The fixtures have held up well. We’ve had no problems whatsoever,” Jesper states. Lighting supply for Umami was from Bangpro A/S and Martin Professional Scandinavia A/S.