Lighting has always been a bit of a passion of mine. When I was a child I used to take part in a youth theatre workshop at Chesterfield Theatre during the summer holidays – ask me about my legendary Trigger Happy TV phone performance next time I see you. I was so fascinated with the scenic lighting that I used to pester the technicians to show me how it all worked.
As my career moved towards interior design (fortunately for Dom Joly) I carried this interest with me and it has become a key part of our approach at Sculpt. I wanted to share with you some key tips and principles that I’ve picked up over the years working with fantastic lighting suppliers and world class designers including Speirs Major.
Illuminate things not floors
Any modern house seems to have a grid of downlighters pointing straight at the floor. While they effectively bring a lot of light into the space the perception can actually be less effective. We should focus on illuminating artwork, tabletops and features to bring variety to the space and the well lit ‘things’ bring a better feeling of light to the space.
Get the temperature right
Light has a colour temperature, measured in Kelvin this is the warmth of the light. Confusingly the lower the temperature the warmer the light. An office might need a slightly cooler or whiter light but a cosy bar would benefit from warmer coloured lighting. Get this wrong and it can ruin the mood.
The key thing is to get all the temperatures to match as closely as possible otherwise it will look very messy and out of place.
Mix it up
Varying light levels through a space will help to create interest. You might want a well lit feature with more subtle wall lights, dramatic at the counter and toned down at the tables. A good supplier or designer will help to get this spot on.
Have some features
Besides the functional lighting needed for operations or to see what you’re eating there can be feature elements that are more decorative to add to the atmosphere. Shelving can have integrated lighting or an artwork can add interest or brand identity to a space. The image below is a subtle feature we designed for Compton Verney Art Gallery which utilises a cropped version of their brand iconography in the restaurant.
Keep control
Systems such as Dali, Lutron and Rako bring advanced control to the lighting circuits or individual fixtures which can be altered manually by pressing a button or automatically at certain times of the day.
This is particularly useful for hospitality venues where there can be different settings for lunchtime and evening services. You can set your outdoor or window lighting to come on at dusk and even have a cleaning setting where everything is turned to maximum. It’s even possible to have light levels change intermittently to create theatrical features – comically huge phone is optional.
CIAO!