Lighting Up the Night

“Light has not just intensity, but also a vibration, which is capable of roughening a smooth material or giving a three-dimensional quality to a flat surface.” Renzo Piano, architect

Garden illumination in tropical design has become a creative extension of architecture, one in which lighting is a silent design partner, improving visibility and complementing form, shape, and colour to create an after dark world of magic and sophistication. Good lighting enhances the mood and desirability of garden spaces and contributes greatly to people’s sense of wellbeing. Therefore it makes sense to involve a professional lighting designer from the beginning of your project.

The medium of light is ‘invisible’ until it strikes an object and it is the creation and implementation of these invisible patterns of light that gives the lighting artist an advantage over other design disciplines. As Jai Turner from Lightcom in Bali puts it, “The goal of the lighting designer is to create drama with pools of light at varying distances from the viewer, thus creating a journey for the eyes.”

Lighting designers are a tremendous resource for innovative, practical and economically viable garden lighting solutions. They understand the role of lighting in architecture and garden design and rely on their extensive experience and knowledge of lighting equipment and systems to enhance and strengthen the effects of appropriate lighting. “Gardens require a good knowledge of the available lighting tools and it is the job of the lighting designer to keep up to date with the latest technologies,” says Jai.

“For gardens it is important not to simply use just use one type of lighting. Trees have different shapes requiring varying beams spreads and wattages to highlight effectively – for example, a change in colour temperature can show the colours of flowers differently and change the whole mood of the garden for the better.”

The downside of outdoor garden lighting is the long-term exposure to the elements of the light fittings themselves. Tropical climates have a lot of associated problems with sea air and damp which can lead to a lot of corrosion in fixtures and fittings and this is where your lighting professionals can advise you on the best course of action to take. “Due to the high levels of corrosion in nearly all resort locations in Bali and Thailand, selecting the correct lighting fixture materials could mean one fixture lasts one year while another last 10 years,” explains Jai.

“We are constantly developing fixtures to combat this issue comprising mainly pure machined aluminum which has higher corrosion resistance when compared to die-cast aluminum. With this in mind, we have a new range of LED interior and exterior lighting manufactured that will last a whole lot longer than standard products.”

Lighting design is not cheap, however, but through cost-control techniques and the appropriate selection of lighting products, lighting designers help clients realise improved energy efficiency and reduce lighting costs. “In many of our villa projects we are using combinations of LED, halogen, metal halide and fluorescent to keep the costs down while still providing the maximum lighting effects,” says Jai.

For more information www.light-com.net