Pegging lights on site
Goa, 28th January 2010
Away from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, I am today in Goa, touted as one of the beautiful holiday locations in India. Our hotel resort project is right on the waterfront and has a very large landscaped area with many existing indigenous trees some well over 50 years old. As such they have been preserved and give the resort already a very mature feel. Site progress has reached a critical stage were the electrical cabling is going into the landscape and confirming the landscape lighting points is key to avoid having to open up any hard or soft scape later on.
I have yet to find a landscape plan that properly reflects actual tree locations (see also my earlier blog “lighting for a moving target”). On plan the tree shows as a symmetrical neat circle but in reality trees lean and spread their branches/ canopy in unpredictable directions. I want the lights to capture these (real) trees without light being lost in space. So my only “resort” is to actually peg the lighting locations on site, tree by tree. We use pegs from scrap building materials which are spray painted in bright red for easy identification. In this way it t is now clear where each light really needs to be and cabling/ installation works can safely proceed 🙂
There are many situations during installation on site that need some quick improvisation to communicate your lighting intend to the construction team. To visualize a lighting location in the actual site condition, I sometimes use a prop such as a coaster or an empty paper coffee cup to show the intended lighting location. I then take a picture which subsequently can be used as a reference for the contractor’s follow up. I find these little “tricks” very helpful and gratefully accepted by the site construction team. Moreover they provide me as the designer peace of mind…
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