Dubai

Sexy Fish Dubai

The light that disappears into space and reveals the artwork

Entering Sexy Fish Dubai is not simply crossing the threshold of a restaurant. It is an immersion in a liquid, vibrant, almost dreamlike universe.

In the heart of the Dubai International Financial Centre, lighting design studio 18Fifty has conceived an environment where every visual stimulus is calculated with surgical precision. Iridescent surfaces, organic shapes, Damien Hirst 's monumental sculptures suspended between art and nature. A total theatre, where the challenge for the lighting was not to add but to subtract.

In a context already saturated with visual stimuli, light runs the risk of becoming noise. The brief was clear: no technical element was to stand out to perception. Light had to exist as an effect, not as a source.

Dining Area

To enhance the Marlin & Squid sculptures without overpowering the environmental composition. The light had to follow the volumes, not illuminate them generically.

Reception - 11th floor

Integrating the lighting into a cave-like structure, with architectural cavities that completely hid the light sources from view.

The solution: Mini Tini

18Fifty chose DGA's Mini Tini projectors for both rooms. Precision instruments: small in size, but capable of transforming the perception of space.

In the dining area, the light touches the surfaces of the sculptures, follows their contours, enhances their texture. The works are no longer static elements: they seem to move, to emerge, to dialogue with the environment.

In the reception area, the Mini Tini are embedded directly in the architectural cavities: invisible to the eye, but perceived in all their intensity. The light seems to come from the very material of the walls. A perfect illusion, which elevates the sensory experience without ever betraying its technical presence.

When detail becomes experience

In a place where everything is designed to amaze, the real luxury is control. The ability to guide the gaze without forcing it. To create atmosphere without overloading. To let the details build the experience.

Sexy Fish Dubai is a world of its own: a theatre, an aquarium, an inhabitable work of art. And like any memorable experience, it is not just about what you see, but how you see it.

Light, calibrated and essential, is what transforms space into a narrative. In this tale, DGA signs one of the most subtle passages. But also one of the most decisive.