Who I am what I’ve done?
Design OK design! (Insert big breath), here we go in my mind it can be safe or edgy (quirky no less), when most people approach design the tend to divide up rooms “Geometrically” which is fine but I find this to be underwhelming. Let me explain, Lets say a room is 3 x 3m so you divide it into thirds and where the lines intersect is where you cut the down lights what this does is it projects light down into the room which is what you are trying to achieve right? Yes right, but! The way I like to approach it is to push the down lights out further toward the corners of the room I do this for two reasons.
Let me just say firstly in my opinion “In a perfect world” every room has two sets of lighting (I.E. two sets of switching), now I realise economically this costs a bit more but to run an extra length of cable that’s known as “Twin Active” while your electrician is in the “Rough in” phase gives you two additional switch runs should you choose to use them its such a minimal cost I dont see why you would hesitate! Trust me down the line when lighting options present for sexy and or interesting switching choices the fact that these cables exist and can be easily accessed from behind the switch plate and at the other end easily found in the ceiling space left next to a down light or the central light which ever serves bets for the electrician you will thank me… So back to my two points!
- What you achieve is you create space for a ceiling fan centrally or maybe a pendant which ever suits you best. Now you may think to yourself that I have Air Con (which I do at home myself) but I find I use the fan every day/night during summer and the AC only occasionally for really hot days you may be different its personal. A fan can be used just to move the chilled air around in tandem with the AC (especially in really big rooms) or even in winter switch the fan to “Reverse” so it draws warm air down from the ceiling to keep the room warmer for less money as heating costs over 3 x the running cost of using a fan as any motor costs a fraction to run its only when you involve an appliance with a heating element (Oven, Toaster, Hair Dryer, etc) that cost escalate and from an electrical point of view “Loading” cable size needs to be taken into account.
- The light points which have now moved toward the corner of said rooms (Note this position is subjective, I like it to be somewhere between 450-650mm out) creates a hue of light on the wall (a pattern) which i find personally interesting/artistic and what this does is to reflect the light out into the room creating a even spread of light through out this makes it possible to create “Moody & Ambiance” especially when coupled with a dimmed so you can adjust the intensity according to your mood! So there you have it you have now created “Side lighting” vs “Central lighting” you have lighting choices and varying Lux levels. “Fantastic”.
This is my principal formula for standard rooms all be it Lounge, Dinning, Family, etc…… please take into account most bed rooms have built ins these days I would consider the joinery as the wall not the wall proper when doing my set outs as nobody wants to light up the top of a robe should the robe not be fitted all the way up to the ceiling.
Now to consider lighting through the rest of the house, for me the process is organic in my head I refer to the above mentioned process/formula which isn’t really a formula its experience from many years of playing with the behavior of light. I like to do a walk through and see the space framed up with or without finishes (I.E. Gyprock or Brick) or what ever material you are using just to get a feel so in my head Im running lines and set outs creating and visualizing planning a set out that suits the spaces seeing the flow of a line of lights down a hall and into a family space (or any bigger room) there for the hallway lights give rise to the set out off the wall for the next room so when you are walking down the hall it runs inline visually. Now this set out gives rise to the set out for the opposite side of the room and you have now created your side lighting for this room. There you go because now you have the choice for Central lighting vs Side lighting and so it goes on building a lighting plan through out.
Please consider special areas all work spaces/surfaces as a separate lighting area from the rest of the room by this I mean kitchen benches, desks, laundry counter tops and more importantly vanity mirrors everyone needs to see what they are doing when holding a knife in the kitchen or a razor when shaving not to mention doing their make up! For theses areas you need a light source that is positioned in either of two places either directly above you, or in front of you there for the light source is between you and the surface you are in front of. This creates a lighting concept called “Fill” vs “Fall”. Fill meaning the surface you are viewing is in direct line sight of the light source there for it is NOT in shadow which gives rise to the term “Fall”….. At the end of the day the point im trying to make is when lighting anything which requires direct light onto its surface “Fill” the light source need to be in front of said surface the trick is to have the source at such and oblique angle (I.E. directly above or slightly forward) so as to have it illuminate the required subject without creating glare. This gives rise to another term or concept which is refereed to as “Low Glare” or Architectural lighting which then brings us to one of my main topics and passions which is Light selection. Light selection is possibly one of the most important choices if not equal to layout and design because its all about the “Behavior of Light” then finally how all this information relates to you out door spaces front entry and garden walk up vs drive way lighting and more importantly in my opinion lighting you garden/greenery to create one of the most stunning evening/entertaining vista’s you can imagine. But that’s a whole other topic, thanks for taking the time to read my spiel I hope it helps and or we can help you create something sexy and beautiful. Simon…..