Architectural lighting of buildings is one of the most interesting areas of lighting design today. Using it, you can create a unique design of buildings.
What is used for
Illumination of building facades performs the following functions:
- Creating a spectacular building silhouette at night. Design development is carried out taking into account the design of other nearby buildings.
- Attracting the attention of potential customers. In this case, a fairly bright lighting design is used.
- The original lighting emphasizes the status of the building.
- Building Security - Lighting reduces the risk of outsiders entering the building.
Where used
Very often architectural lighting is used for decoration:
- Country private houses, as well as mini-hotels.
- City buildings. These can be administrative institutions, architectural monuments, offices of large companies, shops, etc.
- Mostov.
The lighting method is selected depending on the purpose of the building, its architectural features and location.
Local lighting
This type of lighting is carried out with the help of lamps that are located on the facade of the building or next to it. So you can focus on the most significant architectural elements of the building. These can be, for example, cornices, balconies, bas-reliefs, signs, window vaults, etc. Among other things, this type of lighting saves energy, but you should not abuse it, since a large number of lamps will certainly spoil the appearance of the building.
Flood lighting
In this case, lighting fixtures (spotlights of different power) are located at a rather considerable distance from the building. Trees, ornamental shrubs, small architectural forms are used to disguise them. The facade in this case is fully illuminated. A similar architectural lighting is used for large buildings closed at night. The use of directed beams of light allows you to favorably highlight the elements of the building. Very often, historical monuments of architecture, museums, administrative buildings and temples are decorated in this way.
Contour lighting
This architectural lighting of buildings involves the selection of contours. In this case, all the edges of the building or the edges of individual elements can be underlined: roofs, facades, etc. Linear LEDs can be used to organize this type of illumination.lamps, tubes, and neon lamps. The design in this case is soft and unobtrusive.
Background fill
This architectural lighting is mainly used for buildings of cultural or historical value. In this case, the background and side parts of the building stand out. Very often, buildings with columns are designed this way. This type of lighting makes the building stricter, more monumental and majestic. The lighting devices themselves are completely excluded from the field of view, and their installation does not spoil the structural elements of the building.
Light facades
Fully glazed building facades are not uncommon these days. It is almost impossible to illuminate such a building from the outside, since the glass simply absorbs light. Designers have found a very interesting solution for the design of such buildings. Architectural lighting of facades in this case is carried out not from the outside, but from the inside of the building. The equipment in this case is mounted on the walls or ceilings of the premises. The light beam is directed onto the glass from different angles, creating a stunning effect.
Dynamic Lighting
In this case, the decorative effect is achieved by periodically changing the intensity, color, mixing shades of light. In this case, LED architectural lighting is most often used. Modern equipment allows you to get amazingly beautiful dynamic effects. This can be, for example, broadcasting a video sequence or advertising.
What people pay attention towhen creating backlight
When creating backlight, experts are guided by a number of different factors:
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architectural facade lighting All architectural features of the building are taken into account without fail: exterior style, geometry of structural elements, etc.
- The location of the building itself is taken into account. How exactly it will look against the background of other houses is important. Among other things, a lighting project for the area adjacent to the building is being developed. This achieves a contrast between the facade of the building and the background.
- Equipment is carefully selected, with the help of which architectural lighting will be carried out. To create a spectacular design, you need to choose the right type of fixtures and correctly calculate their number. Which equipment will be used depends on the purpose of the building. For example, large shopping centers for advertising purposes should be brightly lit. For office buildings, a discreet, unobtrusive design is more suitable, emphasizing the status of the building. It is very difficult to implement architectural lighting of various kinds of monuments and historical buildings. In this case, the most important thing is to preserve the original compositional idea of the architects. When creating a project, all possible characteristics of the equipment must be taken into account: the level of light output, the power of the lamps, their color temperature, as well as the psychological characteristics of the color.
- When developing a project, they pay attention to what materials were used to finish the facade and otherstructural elements of the building. For example, glossy, mirrored, and metallic surfaces significantly reduce the quality of lighting, as they reflect the equipment used for decoration. Bright blinding spots appear on the facade and other structural elements of the building, disrupting the harmony of such an amazing design as the architectural lighting of buildings.
- The location of the equipment is also carefully chosen, because, like any other structures, lamps need maintenance and repair. They are mounted in such a way that, if necessary, they can be easily reached.
- Of course, the design must be drawn up in compliance with all applicable safety standards for passers-by, people working inside the building, as well as personnel servicing equipment.
- Determining the place of installation of fixtures, it is necessary to take into account the possibility of vandalism.
- Architectural illumination of the facade should be implemented in such a way that the light does not blind the eyes of drivers of cars passing by the building.
Steps of creating highlights
Design is carried out in several stages.
- The lighting concept is determined, lighting design modeling is carried out, taking into account all the architectural features of the building.
- A lighting project is being developed, the brightness of lamps, their power, etc. are being calculated.
- Electrical project under development.
- Procurement and installation of equipment.
Using architecturallighting, you can create an unusually spectacular design of the building. But only if the project was drawn up taking into account all the features of both the building itself and the territory adjacent to it.
