6 minute read
The Art of Finishing
By Gregg Mackell, CLD, IALD , HLB Lighting Design
Photos courtesy of the author
What is lighting design? Is there a certain model that leads to the best outcome, or does the world need different levels of lighting design? Not every homeowner can afford full design services, so there will always be room for different business models, but I would argue that firms with business models where projects are not just started, but finished, are the companies that deliver the best results.
Manufacturers and companies with low-cost lighting design models are jumping into the world of lighting design. Lighting consultants who have never climbed a ladder will draw lighting plans and then move on to the next lighting layout without seeing the project through final adjustments. When design services are limited to plans and specs, the outcome is not guaranteed. There are those who offer initial designs on the cheap⎯or even free⎯with a certain dollar value of purchased lighting equipment. Homeowners will most likely get what they pay for. Drafting a lighting plan is a start. Creating a fixture schedule and a specification cut sheet package is the next step. However, for great lighting design, that shouldn’t be where it ends.
These initial steps are essential components of a lighting design, but if a client is receiving the paper design without the follow through, the finished product will inevitably end up somewhere between underwhelming and awful. The best lighting designs are initiated alongside the design phases, then carried through the implementation and finished off properly when the client has moved in and most other trades have left the project.
Staying involved through the Construction Administration phase is critical to keeping the intent of all design elements. Shop drawing review, mockups and finish carpenter coordination can ensure the details perform as designed.
Construction walk-throughs keep designers in control of elements such as art light placement, when conflicts may arise with in-ceiling infrastructure. When a recessed light location lands on a structural joist, a decision must be made to move it to the bay closer to the wall or the one further from the wall. If it’s moved too far away, this could be the difference between lighting your client’s Picasso or lighting their baseboard. If the light is moved too close, this could be the difference between casting crenellated picture-frame shadows halfway into a Monet or making it look like it would if it was professionally lit in an art museum.
Leaving these decisions up to the contractors, who may not be in-the-know about the fixture’s adjustability or available accessories and most likely don’t have a clue about the client’s art, leaves the design open to interpretation by people whose first priority is not great lighting design.
It is not difficult to drop thirty-grand on a Les Paul at Rudy’s Music in NYC, but that doesn’t guarantee great music. The instrument needs a proper tuning.
The E string needs its peg tightened until it’s overly tight, then loosened until it’s slightly too loose, then tightened again – tweaked in smaller and smaller increments until the note sounds just right. Now it’s time to move to the A string and perform the same process. Then the D, G, B, and E strings, one at a time until each string is pitch perfect. Only then can you perform your best imitation of Jimmy Page and truly experience the instrument you paid for.
Lighting designs work the same way. Adjustable lights need craftsman-like adjustment, or the homeowner will be left to the care of the installer, who won’t necessarily understand the intent of the design. It’s not uncommon for us to enter a project we’ve designed to immediately get blasted in the eyes by recessed lights in sloped ceilings, find kitchen counters unlit, glimpse splotchy white walls with unintended scallops and art begging for some desired photons.
We perform a methodical walk-through to create a game plan for aiming the lights, then divide and conquer with aiming crews starting in different parts of the house. Even the best planned interiors are subject to the shopping habits of the owners, so lighting designs need to be nimble. Lights intended to be general illumination may turn into art accents as an unexpected sculpture manifests itself in the corner of a room. Optics, louvers and lenses are swapped, added or subtracted to change the nature of a beam or to control glare. Focus is created by tightening up spots and aiming at intended objects, while wider optics and lenses broaden out cones of light to blend one beam with another at the confines of a large canvas.
Light by light, the tuning is completed. The accent overshoots too high, then it’s too left and must be tweaked back towards the target. Repeat this process until it feels like that one light is the best it can be. Then it’s time to move on to the next. Depending on the scale and the design, this can take minutes, hours, days, or even weeks. Once all the lights in a space are dialed in, only then do you know how it feels.
Now it’s time to bring the spaces into balance by adjusting the scenes in the control system settings. This is another incredibly important step in creating visual comfort within each area. Chandeliers dim to the point where they no longer produce glare, and art accents adjust to levels where clients can enjoy their collection. Global entertaining scenes are set for the ease of use when the client has a large fundraiser or an intimate dinner party. Each room should have a “90% of the time” scene set and ensure the toggle or off button includes everything desired when you transition from one room to the next.
These are the basic steps to take design from start to finish and to create a comfortable, user-friendly home full of planned contrast, focus and balance. There will always be a place in the world for people who just draw plans, but the best lighting designs will be performed by those who finish.
