Fitlight Lighting Projects | Lighting Design for The Ritz-Carlton, Suzhou
Completion Year: 2025
Project Location: Suzhou, China
Client: Suzhou Chunji Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.
Design: KPF, Remedios Studio, Fitlight Lighting
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Project Overview
The Ritz-Carlton Suzhou, opening on March 18, 2025, is located in Gusu District,
Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. It is adjacent to the ancient city of Gusu, approximately 0.7 km
from Shilu Subway Station, and just 3 km from Suzhou Railway Station, offering exceptional accessibility.
Housed within the Suzhou China Central Place, the hotel features architecture by KPF,
interiors by Peter Remedios, and lighting designed and delivered by Fitlight Lighting as a turnkey solution.
This interior design breaks from the brand's traditional classical style, embracing Suzhou
elements while achieving a more contemporary and minimalist aesthetic.
The reception area is enclosed by polished art screens, with light flowing across
the facade to highlight the texture of the materials while creating a refined and layered welcoming ambiance.
Maple Court primarily features narrow beam lighting fixtures, creating a distinctive
and layered play of light and shadow through focused beams.
To complement the bar's diverse operational model, the lighting design incorporates
preset scenes that shift the ambiance, allowing the space to instantly transform its mood and character.
To complement the bar's diverse operational model, the lighting design incorporates preset
scenes that shift the ambiance, allowing the space to instantly transform its mood and character.
The reception area and swimming pool both feature “sky-blue lights”
in their ceiling design. While ensuring ample illumination throughout the space,
the lighting effects create a sense of fluidity as they change over time,
fostering a comfortable and poetic spatial experience.
The hotel features a total of 190 guest rooms. To prevent glare discomfort from overhead lighting,
the design intentionally avoids placing downlights directly above the bed. Instead, indirect lighting
creates a comfortable ambiance while providing adequate brightness on vertical surfaces,
ensuring a balance between functionality and visual appeal.
Reflections
The project progressed from inception to completion in less than two years,
a relatively swift timeline for such undertakings. This achievement was made possible
through the close collaboration between the client, hotel management,
and the construction and design teams. The final space stands as a testament to
the collective dedication and meticulous attention to detail of the entire team.
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Q&A with Mr. Liu, Lighting Designer from Fitlight Lighting
1.When designing the lighting for The Ritz-Carlton Suzhou, how did you incorporate
lighting effects to complement the local culture and the hotel's interior design?
This was a fascinating and challenging project. Suzhou boasts a rich cultural heritage,
with elements like gardens, Kunqu opera, and silk being highly representative.
Meanwhile, The Ritz-Carlton is an international luxury brand that emphasizes refinement, elegance, and understated luxury.
The interior design draws inspiration from the minimalist aesthetic of Suzhou's traditional architecture—
white walls and black tiles—combined with the philosophical concept of “knowing white and guarding black”
and “black and white interdependence.” Through restrained yet elegant neutral tones,
it creates a space with a modern Chinese sensibility. To echo this design language,
our lighting design emphasizes the contrast between light and shadow, the layered interplay of solid and void,
and the rhythmic interplay of planes and lines. This enhances spatial tension and contour expression within
the black-and-white composition.
Simultaneously, the gradual transitions of light prove crucial. Much like the delicate artistry
of layered color progression in Suzhou embroidery, we aim to infuse the space with a restrained
yet refined Eastern sensibility through soft, natural light variations. This imbues the entire
environment with poetic warmth within its rational order.
2.Could you share some noteworthy design highlights throughout the hotel?
I believe The Ritz-Carlton Suzhou is a hotel that breaks away from traditional perceptions.
It differs from previous Ritz-Carlton styles, being bolder and more contemporary.
This design incorporates numerous modern elements, respecting the brand's spirit while infusing
it with the emotions and language of our era.
Regarding lighting, our goal extends beyond mere illumination. We aim to guide emotions and
spark imagination through the interplay of light and shadow. Building upon the overall aesthetic,
we leverage the dialogue between light and darkness to create an atmosphere rich in dramatic tension.
This allows every guest entering the space to intuitively sense the subtle shifts in its emotional mood.
Above the pool, the skylight design proves particularly captivating. It not only infuses the space with
transparency and tranquility but also evokes emotional associations with the natural sky, standing as
a highlight of this project.
Regarding “Memories Evoked by Light and Shadow,” I engaged in an in-depth offline discussion with
Mr. Hirotaka Komatsu. He envisioned this piece not merely as something to be viewed, but to be “felt.”
We experimented with lighting to project flowing shadows of feathers onto the ceiling and surfaces,
as if memories unfolded slowly with the light. Pursuing this effect involved multiple on-site tests,
meticulously balancing the artistic vision while minimizing glare interference.
To complement the shifting light throughout the day, I designed distinct lighting scenes for
different times, hoping guests would experience varied sensations and emotions each time they looked up.
3.How many times have you visited Suzhou? Could you share some of the places
in Suzhou that moved you the most?
Actually, I've been to Suzhou many times.
I was responsible for the lighting design of the W Suzhou hotel when it opened in 2017,
and later worked on the lighting design project for the Songling Avenue Station integrated hub
in Wujiang's Taihu New Town. Since I've always been involved in architecture-related design work,
Suzhou's architecture has left a particularly deep impression on me.
Suzhou's traditional architecture possesses a truly refined elegance. Elements like white walls,
black tiles, small courtyards, and roof ridges are both simple and sophisticated, revealing restraint
and beauty in their details. The Suzhou Museum, designed by Mr. I. M. Pei,
is a brilliant example of blending this traditional essence with modern design language.
Every visit leaves me deeply impressed and inspired.
China's cultural heritage is profoundly rich, with each city possessing its own distinct character.
Suzhou stands out as uniquely special—its quiet elegance and meticulous attention to
detail resonate deeply with me. I sincerely hope to return to Suzhou in the future,
continuing to draw inspiration from this place.