A vast culinary complex that spans 41,000 square feet of luxury retailer Tyson’s Galleria in Fairfax Virginia, Isabella Eatery offers an unprecedented dining experience that turns the traditional food court concept entirely on its head. Designed by the architectural firm Streetsense, this upscale food emporium includes nine restaurant and bar concepts with seating for over 600 guests.

Working with lighting design firm Illuminating Concepts, Hammerton created a bold series of sculptural lighting installations to punctuate central seating spaces and underscore the eatery’s sophisticated design. One of them -- a 25-ft diameter LED chandelier comprised of five concentric copper rings and weighing over 6,000 lbs – represents a feat of both engineering and lighting design, since dimensions and weight required the fixture to be fabricated and shipped in multiple operational pieces that seamlessly bolted together onsite.

Says Scott Lempert, project manager at Illuminating Concepts, “Hammerton did an outstanding job. I’m not sure there’s another custom lighting manufacturer that could have executed this project as effectively on any scale.”

(Greg Powers Photography)