Architectural laser lighting
Australia, 5th March 2010
Right now LED lighting is the trend in practically every architectural lighting application. Interiors, exteriors, landscape lighting, you name it LED will be one of the first lighting systems mentioned as prospective choice. But what about other lighting systems?
Recently in our projects we have been investigating the possibility to use laser light as an alternative to floodlighting. These are conceptual thoughts still but the more we study the more it seems a viable and exciting option. While I can’t really tell you the concepts for obvious confidentiality reasons :), I thought it would be nice to share a little bit. Maybe some of you have already had some really good experiences with it.
Most of the laser lighting I see when “googling” around are in the entertainment or projection applications, mostly beam projections in the sky or image projections on building surfaces. What interests me particularly is not so much the multi colored laser beams but the white laser. It looks pure and has a much more architectural feel. Because of the nature of laser it seems we can place the “light box” that creates the laser beams in simple and singe locations, reducing the need for multiple lighting point installations. Add to that the relatively low energy consumption per m2 of building area covered and we have another potentially strong energy saving point.
On the downside, laser is associated with potential danger because of its highly concentrated beam properties. Operating professional laser systems requires a technical license in most countries and may even require a clearance from civil aviation authorities. There may other negative issues related to laser but despite all that I believe that we may well see more and more laser applications in the architectural lighting domain.
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