How do you create a space that is both immersive and adaptable? How do you welcome in natural light by day and create a lightscape that wows guests by night? MRD Lighting, the winners of Guest Experience Tech of the Year at 2024’s Cruise Ship Interiors Awards, sat down with us to discuss their work on Princess Cruises’ new ship Sun Princess. They discuss the bleeding edge of lighting technology, collaboration across the supply chain and granular customisation.
Congratulations on winning Guest Experience Tech of the Year at the Cruise Ship Interiors Awards, for your work on Sun Princess’s central Piazza. Can you describe the project for us?
MRD designed the architectural lighting for the entirety of Sun Princess. The Piazza needed to tie the whole ship together. As the central hub of the vessel, it is meant for dining, entertainment, relaxation, and congregation. It’s a multi-purpose space, and therefore required a multi-purpose design. The lighting is designed to support and enhance every activity programmed within the central entertainment area and surrounding lounge and dining venues, regardless of the time of day. The architectural lighting is intended to immerse guests in the color, motion, and vibrancy of the central Piazza; radiating that energy outward to create a unified experience throughout the vessel.
Leading on from that, your installation has been described as a ‘unique, one of a kind piece of technology’. For those who may not be steeped in knowledge about lighting technology, what makes this stand out?
Really, it is the sum of the whole that makes the Piazza unique. The first mention has to be the architecture of the space. It was a great collaboration with Jeffrey Beers International to find ways to light the architecture in a way that it became the primary light source. The large spherical windows flanking The Piazza allow in a substantial amount of natural light (as well as providing breathtaking views), which helps with the lighting design’s daytime impact. The space is meant to be both your daytime lighting – through circulation lighting, table highlights and white light – but also burst to life and be an interactive show element in the evenings.
All of the lighting elements have a very granular level of control. This allows us to isolate and balance out the venue’s functional lighting when needed and allows the integration of the architectural lighting into the entertainment system. The result is both a cohesive multi-use space and an immersive performance experience. At the end of the day, Piazza’s only limitation is the imagination of the designer behind their controls during each show.
One of the core themes of the brief for the Piazza was adaptability. Talking practically, what do you have to take into consideration when you’re involved in creating a space that requires this level of flexibility from your product?
When designing large, multi-use, adaptable spaces, it’s crucial to consider a few key challenges. First, you must understand the client’s needs: the desired level of adaptability, the intended effects of lighting changes, and the specific elements within the space that will be affected by the light. It’s really important for us as designers to understand what story our clients want to tell, and what pieces of architecture they want lit, or surprise elements and atypical special moments they want to happen.
Additionally, it is crucial to balance the needs of so many different stakeholders and maintain the vision over the course of a very lengthy design process.
The flexibility of the final design depends on the flexibility and coordination of the teams involved in its creation. As the ship evolves, venues shift location and purpose. As it is fine tuned, different teams are brought online with their own wish lists and requirements. Value engineering requires further adaptation. We were fortunate on this project that the Piazza was always a priority space for Princess and with the support of their New Build team that original vision was able to come to light.
There’s a rigging point and winch attached to the central chandelier in the Piazza. When a client has special requests like this, how much collaboration is involved with other suppliers, or the client and outfitters?
One thing I love about this industry is the level of collaboration required to create your visions. The flexibility we needed in this space required coordination with architects, audio designers, automation designers, video designers, the entertainment lighting design team, along with others to ensure the elements can all interact and function together. It also required coordination with the outfitters to ensure everything fits together and looks as it should. Choices like this need to be figured out amongst all parties to ensure architects/designers are getting the technology they need for their work, but also ensuring the rigging points and scenic elements are safe for the cast and crew to perform on and operate.
Looking five years in the future, what is the future for lighting on cruise ships?
The cruise industry’s lighting future is constantly changing, driven by technological progress and brand preferences. We can anticipate more sophisticated, interactive lighting installations, and innovative spaces that encourage guest interaction with lighting, similar to land-based immersive experiences. Advancements in lighting controls can leverage LED technology’s flexibility to achieve this, enabling more guest-centric, personalized lighting, greater integration of entertainment and architectural lighting, and increased energy efficiency. Utilizing existing onboard data sources can further support these goals. In the future, lighting technology advancements will enable cruise ship lighting design to elevate the guest experience and create unforgettable memories at sea.
Want more of this?
For more technology insights and the latest in the evolution of guest experience, visit Cruise Xperience Innovation Summit (CXI) Americas. CXI Americas is the event for cruise lines, shipyards and suppliers to showcase, demonstrate and unveil cutting-edge & innovations, taking place 3 – 4 June at the Miami Beach Convention Center.