Look and learn
Bangkok 22nd February 2012
Another trip, another hotel! As hospitality lighting is a big chunk of our daily work as lighting designers it is obvious that we check out the lighting in every hotel we stay. We learn from others successes as we learn from others obvious mistakes. I did the round in my hotel room tonight just to check out the lighting, its functionality and its level of satisfaction as an end user. The hotel is classified as a 5 star hotel and I have no idea if there was a lighting designer involved (likely there was, but maybe this was a design and supply job). So this is just my observation and experience as a guest.
The master key card at the entrances switches on ALL the lights without any discrimination. It all looks average and there is absolutely no wow effect. In other words there is not really any welcome mood. Just all on… not really a big deal but some energy saving and mood (wow) setting could be achieved with some more thought…Likewise all lights in the bathroom are on one switch, another opportunity lost for part switching light on an as need basis only (toilet or vanity only) and saving energy in the process.
Several design issues that I noted:
1- Pendant located over the lounge seat, potentially a hazard when getting in/out the seat
2-Bedside wall sconces, clearly show a burn mark on the shade à because of the use of 60W GLS (!) in a shade probably designed for maximum 40W. Opportunity missed for the use of energy saving lamps.
3- Bedside switch, usage unclear, engraving not readable.
4- Adjacent dimming panel only seems to work as a master on-off. The up and down dimmer does not seem to have any effect?
5- Bath room wall sconces, (incandescent) lamp replacement bulb does not fit and sticks out. Looks cheap and opportunity missed for energy saving. These kind of lights should have been designed to accept only suitable lamp types.
6- I accidentally discovered there is a linear back light behind the bedhead panel…totally invisible and a waste ef energy and expenses (intention though is good but as so often execution so poor it renders the end result useless) .
I am just being critical as a professional lighting designer, in real life most guests may not even notice what I notice 🙂
Light Watch 3-23: Look and learn ….
The unreadable switch
The pendant over the lounge chair
The un-noticable linear bedhead lighting
The bathroom sconce with oversized bulb
The burnt shade
Delivering the goods
Jakarta 21st February 2012
Another day, another country, another city…Jakarta today, Bangkok tomorrow…Not sure if I will manage to keep up the blogs during these heavy days of travelling…
Typical day at the office though…got up at 5am to catch the first flight out to arrive in time for our scheduled meeting at 9am in Jakarta. A little nibble in the lounge, breakfast in the plane and (lots of) coffee during the meeting :). Presentations, discussions, confrontations, decisions and forward planning…. The usual stuff in these kind of meetings. Also as usual the meeting agenda never really works out as there are always unexpected issues or longer than expected discussions. But generally (certainly in our case today) the meetings were conducted in good spirit and with a positive solution oriented focus. The project manager in control, the client understanding but firm, the specialist project team members professional and experienced in moving forward to the desired end result.
But it is not always like that! Specifically when some team members have not done their homework come unprepared and with unfinished work to present. I think we all have had these moments. It is clear from the start that work has not been done or is lacking in respect to what was expected and unhappy project managers and clients are then quick to fire. You are paid a professional fee to deliver your expertise and whenever you can you should exceed expectation, be one step ahead. Sometimes easier said than done courtesy of crazy deadlines or ridiculous budgets, but in general that is the idea for a successful relationship with your client….deliver the goods as promised (and more)!
Light & Learn 3-7: Continuing on yesterday’s lighting design solutions I look at a sectional view of a space and show you examples on how with the same lighting location you can create totally different effects.
Example 1(down lights):
Same location/ same power load/ same physical appearance/ same layout/ different lighting levels/ different uniformities/ totally different visual effects
Example 2 (pendant):
Same location/ similar power load/ different physical appearance/ same layout/ different lighting levels/ different uniformities/ totally different visual effects
green in the face
Singapore 20th February 2012
I am really starting to get worked up about these power-load issues…are we pushing it too far? I am beginning to think so. What is worst is that these so called “green” specialists just approach this form an engineering point of view (at least that is how it looks like)…I already blogged about my frustrations on this subject just a few days ago. Today again it came up in yet another project. Now it is about meeting a 7W/m2 LEED requirement. Our design after much blood sweat and tears (and many LED’s later) still ended up above the 10W/m2. We are talking about a multi-room high end serviced apartment.
Now this LEED requirement was not communicated to us in the beginning, but that in itself is not a big thing as we design to the most energy efficient lighting systems anyhow. The problem is coming from outside the lighting design field…we are often stuck with an interior or architectural design concept that does not consider any energy saving at all. Details like cove lighting, pendants, decorative features, artworks, etc. imply that some related lighting is required, not just a general fluorescent or LED bulb in the ceiling. Space modelling and visual interest are key ingredients to create a visually comfortable mood and environment. Is this accounted for in the LEED requirements?…not that I know of.
Another contradictory issue I find is that operators/ developers have in one hand the guidelines about lighting levels and other (lighting control) requirements they have to achieve and in the other hand these energy saving power loads for the various areas. Have these been crossed checked and brought into balance?…not that I know of. Yes there are some relations to lighting levels in LEED guidelines but then the operator guidelines should be matching!
This is the part that I am now trying to reconcile in our design work, finding myself as a mediator between client, lead design consultants (such as architects and interior designers) and the green (LEED) specialists. There is still a lot of education to be done in relation to lighting design and sustainability…
Light & Learn 3-6: I want to leave you with some food for thought when it comes to lighting design. There are many solutions to a lighting design challenge. Here are a few to start with, all with 4 lighting points.
Example 1(point source):
Same space/ same power load/ same physical appearance/ different layouts/ different lighting levels/ different uniformities/ different visual effects
Example 2 (point vs linear source):
Same space/ different power loads/ similar layout/ different physical appearance/ different lighting levels/ different uniformities/ different visual effects
Between hope and glory
Delhi 17-18th February 2012
What an interesting day it was yesterday…and once again always expect the unexpected!
A presentation that had been planned to start a 1pm, with 4 teams presenting 30 minutes each, finally only started at 2.30pm to finish around 6pm. The meeting room from the Delhi Tourism Board was very small, located in the middle of a tourism handicraft park, with no internal waiting facilities, effectively leaving us waiting outside…some chairs where put outside for us to sit and wait on but it was an uncomfortable feeling with all these tourists buzzing around you. Lucky the weather was clement. We couldn’t really wander off in the handicraft park too far as we might be called up at any time. I wasn’t really in the tourist/shopping mood but I understand some managed to secure some good buys while waiting 🙂
After all team presentations were made (I felt we did a really good job) we were all called back into the meeting room (some standing only) to be advised that after long deliberation there would be a resubmission request. Due to new design changes that had just been approved by the minister that same morning… quite a deflating feeling after having been full of anticipation that some form of decision would be made after months of work…
Our lives as lighting designers are very much a roller coaster ride between our hopes, disappointments and glories, every project again. We go in with high hopes, sometimes facing disappointments and rejections and sometimes facing success and glory if it all works out. In between lies a vast stretch of uncertainty and unexpected turn of events…
Light Watch 3-22: Talking about unexpected things, I was totally surprised to find a lighting item on sale in the inflight duty free sales on my way toDelhi. Not an ordinary flash light or so, no a healing lamp, marketed as a “collagen booster and skin lightener” ; basically lighting for anti-aging and as a skin whitener. In this time and age where energy saving, sustainability and wellness are the trends of lighting, it was unexpected to see such (seemingly advanced) product sales in an inflight magazine! A lot of lighting research is being done in the welness area these days and while a lot is potentially commercial crap riding the wellness wave, I would assume Singapore Airlines has checked the credentials before putting it on sale?
Presentation and anticipation
En route to Delhi, 16th February 2012
The next two months will be pretty full on travelling…I am in the lounge waiting for the boarding announcement for my flight to Delhi as I write this entry and upload later tonight in delhi. I must say that I have managed my travelling pretty well lately but we are entering the “busy season” again, traditionally with a lot of work and happenings between Chinese New Year and the European Summer Season when things will quiet down again.
I have a major presentation to the Delhi government tomorrow, so fingers crossed. Right now I have been putting a hand to the final touches running through the presentation again making sure I anticipate possible questions and queries. To me a good presentation has its foundation in the preparation and anticipation. You don’t make a presentation as an ego trip, you make a presentation to satisfy your (potential) client’s expectations of (wanting to) hiring you. Clients are good in shooting holes in your story if you have not anticipated their requirements or not carefully analysed their design brief. Time (tomorrow) will tell if I did a good job….
Though I am confident about my presentation, which was put together over the last 3 months, I will run through one more time tonight, probably reshuffling some sequences. I am always like that, up till minutes before a presentation (if new information presents itself or I get a different feel of my audience), I may re-arrange my presentation to suit. I can’t really show you my presentation (due to confidentiality and competition 🙂 ). The worst presentations are the ones that have slides you can’t read or see what’s on it as it istoo much and too small! I am sure you have seen those….? Keep it simple lots of illustrations, with easy to read text if needed, you do the talking :).
Light Watch 3-21: Presentations are very much like a stage play, there has to be focus, ambiance and a plot, a storyline so to speak. Using lighting terms; visual guidance, logical sequence (controls), high lighting of features, creating contrasts, architectural rhythm and modularity all apply to a presentation, just like the lighting in stage play. The right dimensions and proportions are critical to understand the space. The actors are centre stage and so are you as the presenter, with your client as the audience.
bLEEDing away
Singapore 15th February 2012
There is this new craze from companies, corporate institutions and hotel operators who are coming out with these design guidelines to comply with LEED certifications, Green Marks to look like a responsible company. I don’t know about other lighting designers out there but as far as I am concerned I have yet to come across a sensible guideline for lighting design relating to energy loads that makes common sense. Most directives for lighting I have seen seems to have been developed by engineers and not by lighting designers as far as I can see (correct me if I am wrong!)
I recently received a directive from a hotel-operator asking us to design around 9W/m2 for a 5 star hotel guestroom. Now that may all look responsible and a laudable direction but has someone actually cross checked and referenced these lighting load directions with:
a- The lighting level directives
b- The other design standards for a 5 star hotel
c- Budget implications and ROI for the extra investments required?
We have just completed a 5 star hotel upgrade in which we have applied all our lighting knowledge and expertise to achieve the lowest possible energy loads, minimum number of lighting points, compliance with required lighting levels and most of all design within the allocated budget (which for all intent and purposes was quite reasonable). Guess what… we did not manage to stay within the 9W/m2. We ended up slightly under 10W/m2 (with 90% of the lights being LED and the balance fluorescent lighting).
To me if you set a directive of 9W/m2 it means you should comfortably be able to design within these limits. From my observation there is only one way we could have achieved these loads; reduce the number of lighting points and apply LED lighting only. But what about the lighting comfort, lighting levels and the cost of the lighting? Also, anyone mentioned lighting controls in this equitation? Let me put it crudely; yes I can put in one or two big (flood)lights creating all the levels I want within budget, achieving the lighting levels, but is that the mood, comfort and attraction that 5 Star hotel visitors expect? I am all for sustainability and saving our planets energy resources, but the application have to be done with thought and balance. It feels like the same story of banning the incandescent lamp….
Light Watch 3-20: I drew a quick sketch to illustrate my point. A bedroom with fluorescent style office lighting…is that where we are going. Some other alternatives below where you create one (or more) big balls of light. Plenty of light but suitable mood for a guestroom?
Lighting and materials
Singapore 14th February 2012
Valentine’s day…another commercial day. I am not sure about the origin and history of this day but it surely has been commercialised. You are branded a cool, inconsiderate @#$% if you don’t sent your love some flowers or take him or her out to dinner. Talking about creating peer pressure. I do have some affinity with the date though as my oldest daughter is called Valentine…as it happened her mother and I met on Valentine’s Day.
At the office we had a mixed day of typical office work, for me some office admin, client chasing, teleconference calls, emailing, site visit reports and actually some design work. Specifically the teleconferencing lately safes me a lot of time and money (travelling!). In our design presentation in the afternoon we presented the exterior lighting design for a residential project and one of the issues always is the understanding the materials you are dealing with, in this case the architectural finishes of the building façade. During the discussions it became clear that some façade elements were actually glass and not aluminium as we had assumed. Obviously a transparent material reacts differently to light than a polished reflective material.
By this change of materials suddenly the whole complexity of interiors and exteriors became a new factor in the design approach. From just being an “exterior” experience we now have to deal with an “indoor-outdoor” situation where people outside can see inside and vice versa. This requires a totally new thinking hat…
Light & Learn 3-5: Understanding materials and how they interact with lighting is another crucial component of good lighting design. With that understanding not only can we make better decisions in regards to our lighting design but we can also better advise architects and interior designers about the potential side effects that their material choice will have in an illuminated environment. It allows us to avoid, anticipate and even more use the material characteristics in our lighting design concepts. Below some basic material interactions with light.
Are you Linked-In?
Singapore 13th February 2012
If having a website and being connected to the internet was the key for staying in business just a few years ago (Bill Gates once famously said that those companies not on the world wide web would not survive in business) it is communicating through the social media which is now a must. For years I resisted sites such as Facebook and Linked-In but have succumbed recently when I discovered that they provide more than 50% of the traffic to our website, more than Google search. I was quite surprised to find out. I also started a Twitter account out of curiosity but honestly my blogging and other writing commitments keep me busy as it is, so the account is not active. Interestingly I have still new followers joining weekly despite that I do not tweet…:) Huh? Can’t they see I haven’t twitted for a year? Likewise I am getting requests left, right and center to connect with people on facebook and Linked-In eventhough I have never ever met them…eventhough I share through my daily blog, I feel I dint have to share everything….I connect with people I know…
And that is the danger of these sites, you join by the click of a button, who cares. There is an oversupply of info and opportunities and as a result people loose common sense I think. I have joined several discussion groups on Linked-In to get a feel what is playing in the market. I read and find some interesting subjects, but seldom comment for the same reason as I don’t Tweet. Sometimes I think I should hire a ghost writer as I am sure a lot of celebrities do. I was approached by one recently…but really…I cant get some one else to blog for me! How to convey my thoughts and feelings? By the time I have told someone I have already written it down. Blogs are personal. And on top of that it take me less than 30 minutes to write.
I am amazed what people write sometimes. Some (lighting designers!) even use these media to plainly ask how to do lighting design!
Light Watch 3-19: Today a look at how a combination of 1000’s of points can completely change our perspective. The first is the use of 1000’s of LED’s at Gent’s (Belgium) recent Light Festival. The LEDs create a beautiful cathedral. In the other 1000’s of colourful stickers in a white space totally blur our vision….(from the site www.thisiscolossal.com)
There is a time for everything
Singapore 11th February 2012
It got late yesterday and as you may have noticed I am a bit more relaxed about my daily blogging…:) Had some meetings yesterday, including a presentation of our lighting concept for a mock up room in a hotel in which we are trying to break some new ground. Can’s say too much at this stage, too early days (and for confidentiality reasons) but if it gets approved and we will actually build it I will surely share it. In the evening I caught up with some friends (social networking…) and had dinner with one of the sponsors of my book (Performance in Lighting) who was on a visit in Singapore. Thanks Roberto!
It’s weekend and I decided to do some spring cleaning in the good old tradition…cleaned out cabinets, re-arranged my office, etc. There is a time for everything and it is easy to get carried away with work all the time. I think in our business (certainly as a business owner) you can find thousand reasons to work…there is always something to be done. The thing is that you also have to make time for yourself, for your family and friends. Today is such day…forget about emails, forget about reports or fee proposals, forget about lighting design in general…Monday is as good as any other day 🙂 If I were in Europe right now I would be away skating away all day over the frozen canals, stopping at the famous “koek en zopie” tents where you can get a hot chocolate, cookies or a hot soup. A day to forget about work and just enjoy life and the wonders of nature…
Light Watch 3-18: Holland is skate crazy these days and as an avid skater in my youth I am really jealous to the point of wanting to jump in plane to join the fun. There is such peaceful feeling when all is snow white, the sun shines in the cold and everyone forgets about his or her troubles to go have fun on the frozen canals. See some pictures of the Dutch skate fever. I think these moments are inspirational (just look at the light!) and create memories forever…forget the Eurozone worries for just a while…(picturs from Google)
Lighting Design; art and science
Singapore 9th February 2012
Sometimes I wonder about those who practice lighting design as a profession. Today’s thoughts are triggered by a very enlightening meeting I had today with an architect/ developer who contrary to most people was very knowledgeable in lighting. Not only in the artistic and performance related needs of lighting and lighting design but also in the science behind the products. Specifically in times where everyone seems blinded by the LED craze that no-one seems to take a step back and say; hey, do I really need LED here, does this make economic and “sustainable” sense, is this really the best solution?
Lighting designers are supposed to be responsible people with knowledge of the art of creating as well as the knowledge of the science behind the products that allow us to create. We design for people in spaces that are designed to specific tasks and functions, not only to look beautiful. Lighting (as many other disciplines such as climate control, acoustics and sound management) need to make sense besides having that unique creative touch to it. It needs to be practical to install, practical and efficient to operate. LED is certainly a very exciting technology but some return on investment calculations make absolutely no sense. ROI calculations can be manipulated and in all honesty they are just a general indication as so many variables impact on the outcome that only over time we will know what the real impact is.
I am maybe part of the older generation but I find nowadays many (lighting designers included) of the new generation having little understanding of the science and technology behind the lighting products that they specify, often just going by the word of the manufacturer or supplier. As a rule we generally don’t specify a product without having seen and played with it, but how many just specify from a catalogue reference?
Light Watch 3-17: Northern Europe is going through a very big cold spell. In Holland there is now talk that the famous 11 City skating tour (Elfsteden Tocht), last time held 15 years ago, maybe held next week, that is if the cold lasts till then. To accommodate this famous race it has to be very cold and the ice needs to be a minimum of 15 cm thick to safely accommodate the thousands of people…For the first time in 15 years people are skating again on the canals in Amsterdam. I heard even in Venice the waters have frozen! Below some pictures of the Swedish Ice Hotel to get you in the (cold) mood…
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