Kitchen pendants and dimmers for a beachside apartment
A 14th-floor Broadbeach apartment with a new stone island bench and nothing above it but two glary downlights in a concrete ceiling. We added three pendants on a dimmer, put the downlights on their own dimmed circuit and worked inside the building's strata rules from start to finish.
Location
Broadbeach
Service
Pendant lighting
Duration
1 day on site
Client
Private homeowner
The brief
The owner of this two-bedroom apartment in a 1990s Broadbeach tower had just renovated the kitchen with a long stone island facing the ocean. The only light over the bench came from two old halogen downlights, which threw harsh shadows across the stone and turned the whole room into a spotlight at night.
She wanted three pendants hanging over the island, light she could dim for dinner, and the rest of the kitchen and living area on a softer setting. The catch was the ceiling: a concrete slab with a plasterboard bulkhead only around the kitchen, and a body corporate that does not allow any drilling or chasing into the slab without approval.
What we did
We started with the building manager, booking the service lift, lodging our licence and insurance details and getting written sign-off that all cabling would stay inside the existing bulkhead and ceiling void. Then we opened the bulkhead with two small access holes to check the cable route and the condition of the existing lighting circuit.
The pendants hang 750mm above the stone, low enough to light the bench without blocking the view across the room, and each is on a short adjustable cable so the height can be fine-tuned later. We matched the colour temperature of the pendants and downlights so the kitchen reads as one space at every dimmer setting.
Left: hanging the pendants at a measured 750mm over the island. Right: warm, dimmed downlights across the living area.
The result
The island is now evenly lit for prep and drops to a warm glow for dinner, and the living area has its own softer setting on a separate dimmer. The eight LED downlights use about 64W between them, where the old halogens drew close to 400W.
The building manager signed off the work the same afternoon, there was no dust in the common areas and the only sign we had been there was a patch of fresh plaster for the painter. The owner had friends over for dinner that weekend under the new pendants.
3
Pendants on their own dimmer
About 85%
Less downlight energy
1 day
Including strata sign-off
Project at a glance
Fixed-price quote
Planning new pendants?
Send a photo of the ceiling above your bench and the fittings you like. We reply within the hour in business hours.
What the owners said
“They handled the building manager and the strata paperwork for me, and the pendants are perfect. The kitchen finally feels like the one I designed.”
Fiona B.
Apartment owner, Broadbeach · Pendant lighting
The service
Lighting and downlights
Feature pendants, dimmable LED downlights and lighting scenes for Gold Coast homes and apartments, with a fixed written quote and a 12-month workmanship warranty.
The area
Electricians in Broadbeach
High-rise apartments, beachside units and older houses behind the light rail. See recent Broadbeach jobs, local reviews and typical arrival times from our Coomera base.
More projects
Related lighting projects
Get in touch
Thinking about new kitchen lighting?
Send us a few photos of your ceiling and bench and we will come back with a fixed price, usually within the hour.