Paul Ruffles, Principal of Lighting Design & Technology, has recently completed work on LG7 - a controversial guide for the Society of Light and Lighting and CIBSE. Here he explains just what the guide can offer those tacking lighting issues in the office environment...

The title of this article relates to my new guide which was written for the Society of Light & Lighting and CIBSE. The guide emphasises that offices can be lit by all sorts of lights, from simple uplights to combination direct/indirect lights to traditional downlighting. Even then it points out that the downlights don't have to be linear fluorescents recessed in the ceiling; they could be circular fluorescent or even discharge where appropriate. The guide is well illustrated with pictures to show the wide variety of possibilities and is keen to point out that not all office space is in brand new tower blocks.

Whilst many prestigious office buildings are lit by experienced lighting designers who are willing to use a wide range of lighting techniques, these may not be so familiar to many electrical consultants who design the lighting for many buildings, or to the electrical contractors who end up designing the lighting for most of the smaller buildings and refurbishments. The guide tries to encourage all designers to at least consider the many lighting methods, from localised lighting to combined direct/indirect, that can not only provide better lit environments but also save a considerable amount of energy.

As well as looking at all the options for providing good working light it does not miss out on the all important feature lighting within the office space. It points out the importance of providing simple lighting for notice boards, art works and architectural features. Although not directly related to office work, good feature lighting can add to the visual environment making the office space much more conducive to work in. It points out that the small extra investment in capital and running cost of these lights is offset by improved staff attitude and perhaps reduced staff turn-over.

Much office space is provided in all manner of old and converted buildings, such as churches, mills and factories. These spaces provide both a challenge and an opportunity to a good designer. Picking out interesting architectural features for a spot of highlighting or using differences in floor height for special effects is often well worth the effort. For those with less experience there is plenty of help and advice about avoiding problems and picking out the best options.

In Bath, where I live and work, there are hundreds of grade 1 and 2 listed Georgian buildings that have been converted into offices. These provide offices that range from grand open plan spaces on the principal floors to small one person garrets in the roof. Lighting in these sorts of buildings need to both respect the architectural integrity of the interiors whilst providing good working light for the office workers. For such listed buildings the exterior appearance can be marred by inappropriate internal lighting. If not handled sensitively you can end up with the external view of a beautiful building marred by the view of suspended fluorescent lights hanging in fine rooms.

Daylight is not forgotten about. The use of available daylight is most important, as is the avoidance of solar glare and dazzle. As well as positive sections on how to make the most of daylight, the guide offers comprehensive advice on ways to provide either internal or external window shading to reduce glare from bright sky and the sun. As this guide has incorporated the relevant parts of the old LG3 guide to display screen areas, there is plenty of advice on how to minimise problems with direct and reflected glare from screens - which are usually caused by windows not luminaires!

The guide ends up treading a careful course between reminding the experienced designers about some important fundamentals, such as task lighting requirements, and giving the less experienced some ideas of how to provide more interesting and visually exciting spaces to work in. Let's hope that many office workers will benefit from this advice over the next few years.

*LG7 is available from the Society of Light & Lighting
T: 020 8675 5211
www.cibse.org

Correspondence concerning this column and its contents is welcomed. Please email comments to p.james@mondiale.co.uk. This will then be considered for publication in mondo*arc.