Testing our concept

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Perth, 21^st November 2014

How do you test a piece of glass that is 3m high and nearly a meter wide and weights too heavy to even think lifting it…well you use a trolley and execute everything horizontally instead of vertically…That is what we did tonight when we went to a glass factory in an industrial zone to test out the lighting effect and determine the best relationship between the lights location and the resulting effects. In this residential project that will “see the light” early in the next year we are backlighting artwork glass that serves as divider between the building’s integrated covered car park and the actual street. Light from inside is supposed the project to treated double laminated coloured glass that have decorative artwork patterns embedded in them. Not only are we intending to bring out the patterns with the lighting, the position needs to be such that the patterns also project onto the walkway alongside the building; all this without causing disturbing glare while maximising the visual effect.

It looks quite straight forward on paper and in our design concept we already indicated the type of light, its required light distribution and its approximate position to achieve the desired effect but between conceptualising and actually achieving the effect generally lays a world apart! So while we were executing the tests horizontally projecting light on a wall rather than on a floor we were able to establish the probable position for the light fitting in relation to the panel. This was important as the electrician on site has to install the conduits and junction boxes and waterproof the whole well before we get to the point of installing the lights. It was interesting to find out that we had the right lens optics, but that the anticipated distance away needed some correction, in this case further away to achieve a better effect bringing out the patterns and projection. Our concern remains the potential glare but we believe that with a proper louvre we will be able to resolve that issue.

We can now instruct the contractor for the cabling but I am sure that once we can test the lights again on site and in position we will want to adjust the lighting position again…I would be surprised we got it 100% right from just this testing…

Light Watch 5-198: Below some impressions from our preliminary glass factory testing tonight. We had to improvise a bit as we had little space and could only move the heavy glass on a trolley…