Rolls-royce bespoke collective reveal illuminated fascia

The Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, is a global centre of luxury manufacturing excellence. The Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and craftspeople who operate from this world-renowned facility restlessly create innovative and sophisticated means for Rolls-Royce clients to bring their Bespoke visions to life. Today, this highly creative group of specialists present Illuminated Fascia: a Bespoke innovation created exclusively for new Ghost ahead of its global reveal on September 1 at 13:00 BST via rolls-roycemotorcars.com.

Developed over the course of two years and more than 10,000 collective hours, Illuminated Fascia brings an ethereal glowing Ghost nameplate surrounded by more than 850 stars into the interior suite of new Ghost. Located on the passenger side of the dashboard, the constellation and wordmark are completely invisible when the car is not in operation. This world-first Bespoke innovation subtly echoes Starlight Headliner, which has become as much a part of Rolls-Royce iconography as the Spirit of Ecstasy, Pantheon Grille and ‘Double R’ monogram.

Illuminated Fascia was formed following the marque’s decision to pursue a Post Opulent design direction with new Ghost: itself, a direct response to feedback provided by Ghost clients prior to the motor car’s development. Busy, superficial detailing was rejected in favour of more refined means for customers to realise their Bespoke visions. In this spirit, the Bespoke Collective chose not to use simple screen technology to achieve the effect they desired. Instead, they embarked on creating a highly complex and authentic true luxury innovation.

The illumination itself is achieved by way of 152 LEDs mounted above and beneath the fascia, which are meticulously colour matched to the cabin’s clock and instrument dial lighting. To ensure that the Ghost graphic is lit evenly, a two-millimetre-thick light guide is used, featuring more than 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface. This not only disperses the light homogenously but creates a twinkling effect as the eyes moves across the fascia, echoing the subtle sparkle of Starlight Headliner.

Extensive engineering work was undertaken to ensure that Illuminated Fascia was completely invisible while not operational. To achieve this, three layers of composite materials are used. The first is a Piano Black substrate, which is laser etched to remove the black colouring and allow light to shine through the Ghost wordmark and star cluster. This is then overlaid with a layer of dark tinted lacquer, hiding the lettering when not in use. Finally, the fascia is sealed with a layer of subtly tinted lacquer before being hand polished to achieve a perfectly uniform 0.5mm thick, high-gloss finish, matching other high gloss accents incorporated into the interior.

Lead Bespoke Designer, Michael Bryden, says, “Illuminated Fascia is perfectly in tune with the Post Opulent design direction we pursued with new Ghost. This elegant and minimal aesthetic is a specific response to the layer of clients who respond to Ghost: men and women who share a desire for a clean, pared-back expression of Rolls-Royce. Like the rest of the motor car’s progressive design, this hidden-until-lit feature hides the complexity required to create a sense of effortless luxury with a simple decorative statement.