Hi all!

Its been a busy start to 2011 here at W.Two, with a lot of our time spent on a large project for Waterford City Council in South East Ireland. This comprised of the design of a lighting strategy for the Viking Quarter of the City.  It was a challenging but exciting project to be involved with! The Viking Quarter is the historic area within Waterford, the largest city in the South East of Ireland. This area has been ear-marked for development as a cultural hub for the South East. The development comprises of the conservation of the many existing historic buildings, as well the construction of three new museums. The area is to standout as a ‘special area’ within the city.

Lighting master-planning is always challenging. The key with this development was to ensure that while the area should stand out as a ‘special area’, it should also fit seamlessly into the city. The strategy should increase the permeability of and accessibility to the area, make the environment feel safe, enhance views, landmarks and listed buildings, and encourage use of the space and social interaction.

Analysis is key to any project, but particularly important with master-planning. The area configuration, its relationship to the rest of the city, the use and projected use of the space were looked at firstly. Views are of key importance here, and it is important that historic buildings and landmarks are prominent with unobstructed views. Quite often street lighting is designed without any thought as to how it coordinates with façade lighting leading the street lights dominating over city façade highlights. The key to a holistic approach is that these are harmonised to show off the city in its best light. The advantage at nighttime is that though coordinated lighting design, you can focus views, hiding unattractive aspects of the area and highlighting features.

The current lighting installations were then examined. All aspects of the current lighting installations encompassing both street and feature lighting were studied, including lighting colour, levels and current building facade presentation.

We submitted the final strategy to Waterford City Council last month and are very impressed with our own work. Apologies for the self praise!! The strategy is a consistent plan for the development of the area. One challenge in formulating this document was that a major thoroughfare into and through Waterford passed through part of the area in study. We used exposure to this thoroughfare to advertise the Viking Quarter through clever façade lighting. The aim was to strike interest in passers by encouraging them into the area. The façade lighting was also designed on this route to produce anticipation before the visitor enters the city centre, giving a stimulating and attractive appearance of Waterford for the visitor who may never enter the Viking Quarter. Other features of the strategy were to open up views within the city, to consolidate the street lighting pole and lantern types and to encourage use of the space and aid wayfinding again through prioritising façade lighting.

A key aspect of the strategy and topical issue in street lighting at the moment is the use of white light sources. We have proposed that the current SON installations (orange light) be changed to a white metal halide source.  This increase colour rendering (ability of the eye to make out colours correctly) combined with good levels and uniformity of illumination leads to better facial recognition which in turn leads to increased feelings of safety. Lighting can have a huge influence on reducing crime and increasing the use of spaces during the hours of darkness.

We feel confident through implementation of this strategy in coordination with public realm improvements and the many cultural attractions being constructed, the Viking Quarter will become an authentic tourist attraction of international standards, and a vibrant space for the people of Waterford.

With thanks, in part to W.Two Design!

Hi all,

Sorry I’ve been slow to update this blog….we’ve been snowed under down here in the South East of Ireland, so thats my excuse! Its feeling abit like Siberia here at them moment!

I was asked by Irish Homes and Interiors recently for some advice on lighting design for interior spaces.  It is often overlooked until later in a project but lighting is of key importance to interior spaces. The earlier it is considered the better. This article appeared in the April 2010 edition of Irish Homes and Interiors.

The importance of lighting to the appearance and feel of an interior cannot be overstated. Interior designers and architects spend considerable lengths of time choosing materials, colour schemes and designing in features to an interior, but unless these can be seen in the correct light the original design concept is compromised.

As a lighting designer I always emphasise the importance of considering the lighting as early as possible in any project. Lighting should run in parallel with the main design disciplines. Firstly, this ensures that maximum advantage is taken of daylight, which is of key importance to the interior, adding to the natural feel of the internal spaces during daylight hours. More and more recent research is emphasizing the benefits of natural daylight to the health of users of internal spaces.

Early consideration of lighting design increases the options available to artificial lighting within the interior also. Cove details along the edge of a room or dropped ceilings where the light can be incorporated into the design of the architectural plan of the building. These details provide recesses for location of light fittings, thus providing a wash of light to a wall or ceiling surface. Subtle lighting techniques such as these can be used to highlight a particular surface of interest, or mark out an area within an open plan space. There are also possibilities of incorporating lighting within shelving units, steplighting or recessed wall lighting for stairs, backlighting of glass units as well as many other lighting techniques.

The design of lighting for a particular interior space should reflect the use of the space. For example as the kitchen area is a functional space, cooler lighting can be used with specific thought being given to the task lighting on the kitchen surfaces. The use of fluorescent luminaries are ideal in these spaces as they provide a diffuse cool light, minimizing shadows and providing a good quality of light on the working surface. Contrast this however to how lighting for the bedroom spaces of the house should be approached. Here the emphasis should be on providing a warm low light, to produce a relaxing space in harmonization with the time of the day and the use of the space.

When looking to create a certain mood or atmosphere within a space, lighting of the room surfaces is important point to keep in mind. It is the light and lighting patterns across the surfaces of the room that ultimately lead to the creation of attractive and relaxing spaces. Key tools to a lighting designer are the use of light and shadow to increase interest within a space. Lighting of surfaces can also be used to draw attention to a particular surface of interest or increase the depth or perspective across a long space.

Technology within the lighting industry, like most sectors these days is moving at a rapid pace. The advent of LED technology gives us many more options in terms of lighting in colour  and colour changing whilst the time making light sources smaller and more efficient. In addition lighting control systems offer a myriad of options in the complexity of how a lighting system within a home is controlled. These allow for many light scenes to be preprogrammed, enabling the room lighting to change to the preference of the user or the particular use of the space at that time. Depending on your particular budget these advancements in lighting technology provide many more options in the lighting of your home. These should be chosen carefully, as LED technology does not as yet produce the quality of light of some more traditional light sources and certain lighting control systems can cause more problems than they solve!

Hi all,

Just getting around to starting up this blog, a bit behind the 8-ball with modern technology! It’ll be updated on a regular basis from here on in. The idea is that I’ll post items for those with an interest in lighting design.  There is such little information or understanding of lighting design out there, so the idea is that this blog will help keep you all up to date on the latest thinking. Hopefully you’ll find it a useful and interesting tool!

First up I was asked recently to aid with an Irish Times article. With the dark evenings upon us the importance of exterior facade lighting plays a much larger role in our experience of the urban environment. Urban lighting not only provides function but also provides emphasis and well thought through and balanced urban design will show a city off in its best light (pardon the pun!). The cover of darkness provides the perfect opportunity for a city to hide its not so pretty bits and emphasise its important, historic or aesthetically pleasing areas of buildings. With this in mind Emma Culinhane of the Irish Times approached me for some guidance for her article on facade lighting in Dublin. To view the article chick here

For most people lighting is something they only think about once in their lifetime when they are building their new house or renovating. The key is to get it right at the beginning as once your layout is agreed and installed by your electrician your options are substantially reduced for the future. Willie Duggan Lighting in conjunction with W.Two Lighting Design Consultants have to combined and are delighted to offer a unique lighting design service! Send in your plans and any other details you have for your new home and a consultation with a lighting designer will be arranged for you at Willie Duggan Lighting Showrooms. Full layouts and image documents will be produced and revised as necessary. Lighting design fee can be used against purchase of your lighting at Willie Duggan Lighting. Willie Duggan Lighting high quality sales support service will be available once the project goes to site.. For full list of fees click here.