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Light, colour and emotion

CIBSE event features Monocrom ‘tasters’

Mary Rushton-Beales and Dr Meher Engineer to co-present in London
13 August 2015, 18:30-21:00

CIBSE, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, will host a CPD event led by Lighting Design House’s Mary-Rushton-Beales and Dr Meher Engineer of Monocrom, examining the links between light, colour and emotional wellbeing. This seminar promises to be stimulating in more ways than one, since it includes demonstrations of the Monocrom Light Dome. The 400mm-diameter dome creates the illusion of infinite space filled with brilliant colour projections, a uniform field of monochrome light from chosen points anywhere on the visible spectrum.

Dome used for lighting design

Dr Meher Engineer and her colleagues at Monocrom have spent many years investigating the colour light, and wellbeing, factors recognised in CIBSE’s Lighting Guide 02: Hospitals and Health Care Buildings. Mary Rushton-Beales is an advocate of colour therapy and a visitor to Dr Engineer’s London practice where in addition to its use in therapy, lighting designers and interior architects use the Monocrom Light Dome to simulate coloured environments.

Title (On CIBSE site) Colour Dome In London
Date 13 August 2015, 18:30-21:00
Venue Pushkin House, Holborn, London WC1A 2TA

The event is open to non-members, but registration is essential via www.cibse.org or Eventbrite

Colour therapy is a complementary therapy. If you have a medical condition or health concerns you should seek guidance from your doctor or other medically qualified health care professional

Retail lighting

Lighting for retail

Retail lighting has to accomplish a great deal but its chief function should be increase profitability. A well-designed retail lighting scheme is built around the brand, the market, the site, the product and – crucially – the customer. As bricks and mortar retailers look for better ways to bring buyers in-store, lighting’s role in creating an atmosphere and enabling customers to make choices has come to the fore.

Retail environments provide the lighting designer with a variety of challenges. They include balancing general lighting with the need to focus attention on specific items or areas, and creating sparkle and excitement but avoiding glare. From changing room to cash desk, a well-designed scheme will change browsers to buyers, bring customers back and also cut costs by using energy efficiently.

“Always fast track, the images below are from the fastest ever retail project we have undertaken; Rangnam Centre, Downtown Bangkok. Briefing February; lighting tests May; soft opening November – all in the same year –amazing interior and lighting ideas from the design solution for us to implement and truly impressive management and construction from the King Power team”

 

Exterior lighting

Khan Murjan courtyard; client Wafi

Design-led exterior lighting

extpostpics

Exterior lighting has a number of functions. It enables us to move from A to B at night. It can also be used to enhance architecture, to make public places safer and more attractive, improve way-finding and to provide task lighting. This does not mean that more lighting is better lighting. Allowing for some shadow and variation of light levels is an important part of creating an holistic night time experience. And a  balanced lighting scheme will also avoid invasive light spill and other forms of light pollution.

Developing exterior lighting usually flows through several stages:-
Understanding the project, concept and client brief

The reasons why exterior lighting is being enhanced or instigated often provides a framework for developing ideas. Sometimes the need is purely commercial, such as adding signage and feature lighting to make a building more noticeable; sometimes the priority is to enhance a work of art – or a building/space that is perceived as a work of art.

Understanding the site

It is essential to understand the existing conditions and limitations of a site in order  co-ordinate exterior lighting with buildings and hard and soft infrastructure. This usually involves a site survey and access to any “as installed” information. In the case of listed or prominent buildings, planning applications may be necessary and for this it is vital to understand how to comply with the relevant guidelines.

Developing ideas

A master plan is created, taking into account the client’s brief, product/business brand and site conditions.

The plan will include techniques for the following:

Ease of way-finding–vehicular and pedestrian – putting the right amount of glare-free light in the right place.

Minimising light pollution – considering the environmental impact on existing wildlife and surrounding built environment.

Emphasis on and highlighting of architecture and/or landscape features.

Signs; location and integration with exterior lighting scheme

Balancing of light in different areas.

Control – hours of operation.

Different lighting scenes according to the time of year and hours of operation of the space.

Modelling and testing out ideas

Once all these different aspects have been agreed in principle it may be necessary to prove the effects using 3D modelling or actual lighting tests.

Bringing the scheme to fruition

Finally, once the building or environment is completed we can supervise the aiming, focussing and creation of lighting scenes so that a new night time vista can emerge.

Below: lighting tests for established landscapes

Spike lights
Gazebo lighting with linear back light and miniature spotlights
Arch
Archway lighting
Spike lights NE of house

 

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News

  • Industry professional on MA Course
  • Build Back Better judge
  • Suffering from S.A.D?
  • Is blue light bad for our children?
  • Residential lighting
  • Lighting rocks
  • Interior lighting
  • IALD Light night
  • Interior lighting: floor up or ceiling down?
  • Eight tips for home lighting

Industry professional on MA Course

“Totally honoured to be among the industry professionals involved in the online MA Interior Design for the Health and Wellbeing course at New Bucks University” Mary Rushton-Beales

Build Back Better judge

“So excited to be a judge on the Build Back Better Awards.” Mary Rushton-Beales Lighting Design House

Suffering from S.A.D?

Recently I have had occasion to look at 3 individuals’ home-working environments, who all suffer from S.A.D. This led me to reprise a vein of enquiry via NHS Health A-Z which really annoyed me…

Is blue light bad for your child? Article by Mary Rushton-Beale

Is blue light bad for our children?

I wonder if one day we will talk about the time when we spent hours without respite looking at a cool white screen, in the same way as we talk about how doctors used to promote cigarettes? Mary Rushton-Beales

Residential lighting

…the lighting in your home
needs to adapt to many different moods, ambient and functional

Lighting rocks

‘I’ve been designing the lit environment for more than 30 years and I suppose it’s quite appropriate that this was my most difficult lighting challenge ever’ Mary Rushton-Beales

Interior lighting

… fine-tuned for the space and its function but, above all, for people

IALD

IALD Light night

IALD Light night, an evening of film 15 March, 6.30 start Avatar Presented by Mary Rushton Beale Full details IALD Film Night

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