The iconic Milwaukee establishment known as SafeHouse has been delighting spy fans since opening in 1966. Patrons enter the bar by finding the hidden door and declaring the secret password, at which point the wall opens and the hidden world of SafeHouse has been revealed. Once a singular location, SafeHouse was recently sold to Marcus Hotels, who decided to bring the establishment to Chicago. Morlights was called in by The Gettys Group and Epstein to provide the lighting design for this exciting new restaurant, including fully integrated lighting and a brand new control system.
The first major obstacle we encountered was the building’s existing duct and pipework. Since the restaurant was built in the basement, we needed a plan that would account for the uneven infrastructure. We cleverly circumvented these conditions by uplighting the ceiling for an ambient glow. Using precisely positioned and controlled fixtures, we created multiple layers of lighting for the restaurant, drawing heavily on our experience with museum exhibits to direct focus to specific objects and provide the proper ambiance. Our lighting design contributed to a fantastic opening of SafeHouse, which was recently named the “Most Instagrammable Restaurant in Chicago” by Haute Living.
