Location, Location, Location

A glowing farmhouse isolated in a snowy countryside field, windows warm with illumination from within. A porch lantern beckons, as it has for generations, from beside the door. 102 floors and 1,450 feet high, the Empire State Building rises in famous form from the middle of a dense urban environment. Lighting of this monument has evolved gradually since the first searchlight beacon was installed in 1932 to an automated colour changing design in place today. These two examples of the exterior illumination of buildings could not be further apart, but serve well to illustrate the point that there is no one technique or solution to lighting buildings.

Unlike lighting building interiors, lighting the exterior of buildings has few mandated tasks. Other than a requirement for warning beacons, wayfinding or emergency egress, design choices related to the illumination of buildings are aesthetic. If you are an architect, developer or a building owner, where do you start your thinking about lighting a building? How do you communicate your ideas to your professional lighting consultant?

You should target your efforts to identify the broad ideas. Why do you want to light the building in the first place? Are there key factors that drive the decision? Among many possible reasons, some of the most straightforward are to give the building a presence in its surroundings, to identify how you get to the front door and provide safe egress in an emergency, or simply to add beauty to the property at night. Try to think of your building as a whole, rather than in pieces to avoid chopping up the overall architectural form.

Identify what type of illumination is in the surrounding district. What is the impact of spill from adjacent building and street lighting? Often, your building or structure should be a part of the landscape, selecting features from the neighbours to give a sense of place to the overall composition. What view perspective is important? Is this building seen from far away? From above or from adjacent buildings? Are there specific view corridors through other structures that reveal your building a piece at a time?

Light trespass and light pollution must also be considered, again in the context of the overall environment of the building. In a commercial building, will your tenants be disturbed by the proposed exterior lighting scheme? Is the district where your building is located a brightly lit urban environment or a minimally illuminated rural park? A common mistake is to overlight buildings compared to their surroundings. Mind you, defining "overlit" can be difficult if your building happens to be on the Las Vegas strip or the Atlantic City boardwalk, but in many areas restraint should be exercised in relationship to your building.

You should consider your commitment to a maintenance program. No lighting design is completely free from maintenance. As a general rule, the more elaborate the design, the more maintenance there is. Access to fixture locations is required and how often you need to get there are important questions. A design that is difficult to maintain usually doesn't stay maintained. Don't forget your window washing system! Sometimes it provides safe access to locations that you might not otherwise consider.

What about your budget? Due to the endless range of possible building forms and an equal number of possible design solutions, establishing an initial budget can be a difficult task. Clearly describing your goals and dreams to your lighting consultant early in the design process will aid greatly in establishing a realistic budget. Trimming and/or expanding the design is done best when it is done early. "Value Engineering" in price panic mode late in the process often leads to poor choices and the execution of a partially realised design. The general public usually notices what went wrong more than what went right.

So now you need to begin talking with your lighting consultant. Many of the thoughts and decisions outlined above can be simply communicated through open dialog and discussion. Giving examples of building lighting that you like is a real asset. If you don't already have a list, start taking field trips to look at nighttime lighting. Take photographs if possible. As an alternate, collect photos from publications of installations that appeal to you. If your building has a history, determine if it was illuminated in the past and if there are archival photographs. If you feel comfortable with drawing or sketching, please do. Many great projects have started on the back of a napkin! Even pieces of an overall lighting design or idea can be valuable to assist your lighting designer in understanding what you are looking for.

If many of these goals can be achieved the complex design process of identifying what should be revealed, or not, through the selective application of light has begun with a clear channel of communication between you and your lighting designer. With this invaluable tool in place your lighting designer is likely to deliver ideas that are closer to your stated objectives or perhaps even surprising you with a wonderful idea you had not considered.

In addition to elaborating upon design criteria noted above, some (but by no means all) of other issues the professional lighting designer considers are the style and period of the building, how the interior lighting affects the exterior lighting, energy considerations, designed lighting levels confirmed through photometric calculations, hand drawn or computer generated illustrative renderings, the choice of lighting sources, appropriateness and durability of selected luminaires, applicable codes and regulations, dark sky and related light trespass issues, luminaire layout and mounting details and the generation of schedules, catalogue data sheets and specifications.

Every project is unique and presents an opportunity for an approach that is tailored to the myriad of design choices available to the designer. Ideally starting early in the design process, the professional lighting designer offers the best talent and craft to bring the exterior lighting of your project to a successful conclusion. Hopefully, the communication that you establish initially will continue to strengthen and grow throughout the design and construction process, leading to the most satisfying of results.

information : www.iald.org