The Sussex Cellar is an amazing new space designed by MJP Architects for Berry Bros & Rudd, the oldest wine merchants in the country. The amazing design by the architects has a tiled, vaulted ceiling over an underground double height space. A real cellar with no daylight. The lighting is flexible. It has to be bright to see wine colours for the famous Wine School, or intimate for dining and adjustable for events of all kinds.

Mark Sutton Vane wanted the ceiling to be celebrated and not obscured with any fittings and to be lit to show off its colour and shape. The challenge was how to provide bright down lighting. Mark decided to break the rules. The down lighting is provided by large numbers of tiny lights concealed between the tiles. These would not be seen when turned off, when on they would appear as tiny stars. The lighting is designed so individual lights cannot fail. For energy efficiency, all lighting is by dimmable LEDs. The upper and lower levels are separately controllable. The displays of historic bottles are lit to celebrate the Berry Bros story and the cellar is a great commercial success.