LIGHTING
A
t Nulty, we are often asked to make annual predictions of trends for the industry and in ‘normal times’ this can actually be a bit of
a struggle. Light forms an invisible character that we as lighting designers are fascinated by. It can change the whole mood of a building, excite an entire room and inspire creative play. But it can also be a challenge to work with this intangible substance and so figuring out future forecasting can be difficult. What’s interesting though, is now that we are in the full throttle of a global pandemic, we can predict a whole host of likely alterations that the lighting industry will seek to adopt. The first of these predictions is that most of us now understand the importance of light, whether natural or artificial, and how it can impact our health and wellbeing, so the way in which we light our homes will likely become a crucial part of future design. Over the last year, we have all experienced our homes in a new way. So much time at home has meant that we now understand every inch of the space, every intimate detail, every sound, every creak. For prospective new homeowners or tenants this will mean a change in demand in what they seek when buying or renting a new property. For those remaining in their homes, a new level of understanding about light is now in motion. We used to only really experience poor lighting when we left our homes. We would complain to office managers that our desks were poorly lit, or usher over waiters in restaurants and ask them to re-light the candle on the table to set the mood. We rarely put
Light
fantastic
Ellie Coombs takes a look at the enormous influence that lighting can have on the inside of a home
much energy into our own homes, but now that we find ourselves working, eating, living and sleeping at home, the time to think about light and make it a priority has never been more important. Open plan living has long been a requirement for many homeowners. As lighting designers, we have spent a lot of our time during the pandemic helping people use light to define areas within these open plan spaces and to change the ambience throughout the day. Different types of lighting solutions can alleviate the issue of spending the majority of our time in the same space. As we move into a new year still in the throes of the pandemic, we expect to see a return to more traditional space planning. There MODERNHB.COM
11
