Translucent fabric ceiling: a cut above

Specialty Fabrics Review | October 2011

The wealthy and famous frequent the sun-drenched Greek island of Mykonos, a holiday destination where hospitality rules. Mykonos Grace, a luxury boutique hotel, has been listed as a World’s Best Hotel by Condé Nast, so when the architectural firm Divercity redesigned the intimate poolside Grace Restaurant, it enlisted fashion designer Myrto Dramountani to create a ceiling through which the ocean breeze moved “a choreography of shadows through the light.” Fabric Architecture Ltd., Gloucester, England, found a silicone glass weave fabric that matched Dramountani’s vision.

The ceiling is perforated with laser cuts made with high-tech diamond blades to create a waffle pattern that allows a free flow of air and slight movements in the three ceiling panels. The fabric retains its shape and integrity under tension, even with the thousands of small cuts, and is 100 percent recyclable, fire retardant and easy to maintain. The panels, installed into lightweight metal frames and suspended with cables, provide 40 percent light transmission. Ocean-colored lighting installed above the tensioned fabric shines through, realizing Dramountani’s inspiration: “the bottom of the sea, the materials that we find in the sea and the light that is created in the water through fish nets.”

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