Articles and whitepapers

Architectural Lighting (3/5/2004)

By Caro Hill

Today's lighting designers are able to capitalise on the consumer's growing appreciation for the style, design and architecture of their surroundings. Larger budgets are available for designers to highlight and show off the architecture they are lighting, whether in large public or civic areas, or within private high-end residential homes. Every client is now informed and understands the importance of good lighting design. Domestic consumers see the growth of well-lit public buildings and now realise they can have the same at home.

The Langham Hotel, London

From lighting hotels, parks, statues, museums and shopping centres, architectural lighting design has moved to gardens, swimming pools, home cinemas, drawing rooms and hallways. Large private houses can now have the same budgets spent on architectural lighting as hotels. The one thing everyone will agree on is that nothing is more important than the lighting. Today, walking into a grand apartment in Knightsbridge whose owner has left the lighting to chance almost offends the senses. To many, the difference between 'having lights' and 'great lighting' is the use of a suitable architectural control system.

Lighting of the hallway of Earlescote Manor

Overall effect

It is not enough to highlight a particular feature in a room or on the faŤade of a building. The overall effect must be controlled so that each feature comes together as a work of art to please the senses and do the architect, owner and property proper justice. Whether it is using light and shadow to different effect at different points in the day, or using fibre optics, mixed-load types, or colour change, a control system will make all the difference to the way a design is experienced.

If each lighting circuit, or outlet, is wired back to a central point, the whole can be controlled by software programs specifically chosen by a designer to work sympathetically within the remit of the design. Scenes can change at a given time, operate on a chasing sequence, colour change through DMX (digital multiplex) integrate with sound systems via RS232, and interface with control systems by companies such as Crestron, AMX, Premise or IMI. Alternatively, the software for some projects runs emergency test sequences and interfaces with building management systems.

The advantage of putting the lighting on a controlled network can be seen in both domestic and commercial applications. Master control by the front door of the house works on the same principle as that in a large office or hotel. Both could have the ability for all lights to power to full on, in the event of a fire alarm. Both might have the need for remote scene setting via touchscreens, and both might need security scenes programmed through a time clock. Indeed the advances made in the last ten years in commercial architectural lighting controls are being used every day in domestic markets.

Cross-section of a Leax remote dimmer rack

At its most basic, a control system will require a remote dimmer rack, a control signal cable run to the local control plate, which in turn would have the capability of recalling pre-set scenes at the touch of a button. Any number of lighting circuits can be run back to the dimmer racks, and control of those circuits can be bound into the control plates. So, where one would previously have seen a bank of eight or twelve dimmer switches on a wall (a.k.a. wall acne) we now only need a single-gang control plate to do the job. The racks can act individually if required, or more likely, can be connected to a network allowing for a more centralised system control.

Examples of wall-mounted control plate

No two projects will be identical. Systems are usually built from scratch, allowing a lighting designer to specify the quirks of any job and take into consideration other features that may be required of a control system. These could include the audio distribution system and whether a proper interface is called for, whether the curtains and blinds must be controlled in conjunction with the lighting, what security needs the client may have, and whether Internet access to the system and remote dial-in is required. It is never just about the lighting!

Alternatively, for the less demanding projects that call for single-room dimming, wall dimmers are available that require less radical rewiring. There is obviously some advantage in the domestic application for such products. The price paid is that of aesthetics - remote racks are fixed out of sight allowing for elegant control plates on view to the end user, whereas the brilliantly useful wall dimmers tend to be larger and perhaps rather more unsightly. Both systems have their uses, and the specifier must balance the requirements of the job with the practicalities of installation. They must consider what opportunities there are for rewiring, what additional features will be required, whether a networked system is called for, and what the aesthetic needs of the client are. Anyone unused to specifying such systems should talk to the dimming system manufacturers directly for systems advice and support.

Technology moves fast and the business is competitive. Nowhere are the needs of domestic lighting controls seen more than in the field of home cinema. An affluent client tends to be well-educated enough to want the lighting to integrate seamlessly with audio control systems, curtain and blind control etc. No one wants to return to the 'wall acne' of multiple controls.

Lighting for home cinema

A little forward planning can result in the most discrete and elegant solution, while ensuring that the system is 'future proofed.' Networks can be updated as technology advances, so manufacturers should reassure their clients that whilst some hardware and much software will be updated over the coming years, their cabling will be able to withstand and welcome the advances.

If the right dimming system is chosen, the client will have a sophisticated and elegant control plate that is easily programmable and inexpensive to maintain. Nothing will upset a client more quickly than having to pay for engineers to reprogram their system every time their needs change. The control should be discrete, with the users almost unaware of its workings. It goes without saying that it must be reliable, but the specifier should reassure themselves that the system can be supported by the manufacturer either by service visits or contracts if necessary.

One thing is certain, architectural lighting controls are never just about the lighting.

Caro Hill is Director of Leax Lighting Controls, a British manufacturer of architectural dimming and lighting control systems. Leax is a member of CEDIA, the British Interior Design Association and The Lighting Association.

www.leax.co.uk