Retail needs a mix of sources
Retail Focus recently looked at the role of natural light in shops and shopping centres
Retail Focus recently looked into the complex issue of integrating natural and artificial lighting. Daylight is continually changing in intensity and direction. Because it is full spectrum light it shows objects and materials in their true colours by because light is a form of energy it also has photochemical effect and causes some material s to fade or degrade. Lighting designers use tools including software to model its behaviour, mitigate its effects and choose the right artificial sources for day and night.
‘Daylighting is excellent where you have food courts and shopping centres,’Lighting Design House principal May Rushton-Beales told the magazine. ‘But for retail space to be successful you need to highlight products. I think you can save more energy and gain more benefits in a retail scheme or shop with a really, really carefully considered artificial lighting scheme than with a daylight scheme alone.’