“Like everything in life, first impressions matter,” is how Giannis Nestor, Music and Entertainment Managing Partner at Botánica in Manama, Bahrain, summed up the thinking behind the venue’s newly completed refurbishment. This push to focus on instantly impressive visuals doubles as a fair description of the brief handed to the space’s lighting designer.
Botánica is a premium cocktail bar that sits in Adliya, one of Manama’s busiest nightlife districts, and looks to grab customers with its aesthetic; the retractable roof, an extensive drinks menu, and a giant palm tree at the centre of the room all lean into this. Earlier this year, the venue closed for a full renovation, floor to ceiling, as Nestor puts it, which included handing the lighting brief to Alex Douglas Design.
Nestor reached for two high-end reference points to explain what Botánica was chasing with this upgrade. “We wanted the place to have that wow factor that stays constant throughout the whole night, just adapting with the mood: mellow at the start of the evening, then moving to a high pulse, high energy atmosphere later at night,” he said.
Read the full story in the 36.6 edition of MONDO-DR here:
