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Lighting Design (3/5/2004)

By Chris Gildersleve

Lighting has always been important to anyone remotely concerned about design. A room that is designed to make best use of natural light can have an incredible presence. Just take the way our churches look with light pouring though stained glass windows. The effects can be stunning.

Lighting for mood and function

Many new homes now have a lot more thought put into how rooms can benefit from larger glass areas or skylights. When it is done well, it can significantly enhance the enjoyment and the value. But what to do when the sun goes down? Just having a pendant hanging from the centre of the ceiling, with the light diffusion being dependant on the lamp shade used, is of limited effect. Add a dimmer switch and you have the beginnings of some control. Put a second dimmer on pair of wall lights over some artwork and thing are getting interesting. If this is a dining room for example, then a mood can be set that befits the occasion.

Well used areas of the house deserve more thought when it comes to lighting. Take a kitchen for example. It is common to find both up lighters on top of wall units along with fluorescents underneath, lighting the worktops. Glass units can be backlit, and there could be a dozen low-voltage down lighters in the ceiling - ideally zoned, with say four of them over the dining area. Try controlling that lot with a dimmer and you could start giving yourself, not to mention your electrician, a headache. It could be time to consider using a lighting designer.

Professional help

What can a lighting designer offer? Well firstly, an insight into modern methods of controlling not just individual circuits in one room, but multiple lighting formats, all from one very simple, yet sophisticated, control panel. When it comes to control, nowadays, a dimmer is just the starting point. Single dimmers can be used very effectively in children's bedrooms as a nightlight, or in hallways for gently lighting passageways in case of emergency. For the lounge, a whole-room control system can offer a great deal. Multiple scenes or moods can be memorised into individual buttons and recalled when required.

Lighting setting for home cinema

When watching TV, ideally you would require low light around the screen to enhance the picture, since TVs look much better with gentle light behind the screen, rather than on it, whereas more local light is required for using remote controls or reading.

Lighting setting for reading or listening to music

Scenes can be gently faded up or down, creating entirely different moods - all controlled, if required, from your armchair via infrared remote control. The most popular application I am asked for these days, is an integrated lighting system that works in a home cinema room. Being able to synchronise lighting dimming gently as a screen rolls down from the ceiling and the DVD fires up, really has a 'wow' factor - especially when it can all be achieved with the touch of one button! And all that can be seen is a discrete control panel that takes the place of what would otherwise be a huge and ugly array of dimmers, littering the wall.

Lighting setting for entertaining

Whole-house control

The ultimate in lighting is whole-house control, that is, the ability to control any lighting setting for all or part of the house, from any room. A powerful processor links key components via a network of low-voltage switches that dim modules and control systems. Get up at night and light a path through to the kitchen. Synchronise lighting with a security system to come full on in the event of the alarm being tripped, or flash them on and off if the property is unoccupied. You can make the system memorise the last two weeks of lighting activity, and then replay it while you are away on holiday. Now we can see that lighting design and control has come of age, and is making full use of current technology.

Planning the system

Good lighting design is best implemented at new build or renovation stage. Modern lighting control requires a different standard of wiring, since the traditional method of sending a switched feed from a light through a wall switch does not allow a control system to be integrated.

If you have a blank sheet of paper and a willing client or a forward thinking architect, then now is the time for sensible preparation of a good lighting design. Although it is possible to design a controlled lighting system for a house without the end-user being involved, it is always best practise to work with the home owner, the architect or project manager and, of course, the electricians.

A controlled lighting system ideally requires a communications or plant room for all the lighting tails to be run back to. Room control panels are activated by low-voltage cable that must be carefully routed in order to avoid noisy mains cables - otherwise control can be compromised.

The typical planning and installation process involves five stages, namely initial design, first fix, second fix, programming and commissioning, and finally, client handover. All of these steps should be managed and controlled by the lighting designer. The programming and handover conditions may vary tremendously, depending on the sophistication of the design and control system, and whether the client is fully involved with the project or not. Thereafter, maintenance tends to be very straightforward, especially given that lamp life is increased considerably thanks to gentle fading on and off times. In terms of revisions however, while many control systems are user programmable, changes to a fully-programmed whole-house control system may require more involvement from a professional, in which case, programming time can be a major factor.

Lighting now and in the future

What do we get when all is completed successfully? The answer is the ability to create an entertaining 'mood lighting' setting in the evening, with the touch of one button , and a 'cleaning' setting full on the next morning. And the ability to use light sensitively, with lighting pallets that can change a room's personality.

Indeed new developments in colour LED lighting are giving even greater control. Not just for rooms inside the house, but for gardens, pathways and driveways, that can all be controlled from inside and from one panel. Lighting control is really enhancing the whole living experience and value of a home.

The lighting market has developed tremendously in the last ten years, and is becoming more competitive. More manufacturers are offering control systems with more features, and it is now easier to upgrade existing lighting systems without the need to rewire entirely. Radio-controlled systems are coming on stream that make this easier still, and technological advances are being sensibly integrated into lighting control. With other services in the home now having control options, integrating heating and ventilation, security, lighting and audio all into one control system is a realistic proposition. The market is in a very strong position for growth and development, especially as more people are now conscious of the benefits that a controlled lighting environment can provide.

Chris Gildersleve is the owner of The Sound Gallery, specialist Hi-Fi audio visual and custom installation retailer established in 1985.

www.soundgallery.co.uk