Introducing The 'Maantis
The ‘Maantis’ represents a new approach to contemporary lighting design. It is the first time that Richard Rogers, the architect behind the millennium dome and the London ‘Gherkin’, has collaborated with a leading international design company, such as Reggiani, to develop a product range which can be used in new build office developments or in the refurbishment of existing office space. In addition, it is envisaged that the system will also be used in other commercial and residential buildings in the future.
The idea was born our of a conversation over lunch at London’s River Café in between Goffredo Reggiani, founder of Reggiani, and Richard Rogers. They identified a significant gap in the market for high quality office lighting systems.
Richard Rogers with his projects, The Millenium Dome & London Gherkin
The inspiration was the delicate glow of deep-sea creatures. Their natural evolution evolved with them emitting light energy which is purely derived from their own structure and metabolism. This is the same way the ‘Maantis’’ prismatic ribs are designed to ensure that rays emanating from the fluorescent tubes are diffused, reflected and refracted. This is done in so that the amount of light spillage and glare is reduced for optimal performance and can even work when the light is switched off due to the ribs absorbing light and colours from the surrounding space and produce a slight translucent glow.
The ‘Maantis’ incorporates standard T5 fluorescent tubes, spot and LED
lighting to be to make it super functional and offering a highly
aesthetic approach to lighting design. The system is based along a central aluminium spine from which stem a
series of prismatic ‘ribs’ made from translucent polycarbonate. These
ribs are supported by brackets through which structural rods are
carried. The uniqueness of the design allows the power cables to be
completely hidden within the structure.