Lighting Design: How Interior Design Consultancies Use Feature Lighting – Part II
Clients will often employ Interior Design Consultancies because they crave a touch of flair, and because they need some professional help with style and coordination. In this three-part series which I call “How Interior Design Consultancies Use Feature Lighting,” I draw on my experience working with some of London’s top lighting design experts to explain how feature lighting may be a critical part of giving clients the results they desire.
Interior design consultancies rely on three types of spotlight – surface-mounted, track-mounted or fully recessed into the ceiling. Spotlights ordinarily cast a narrow cone of light, but they can be muted or relaxed through the use of lenses. Interior design consultancies will specify speciality UV-blocker lenses to protect old paintings, valuable pictures or prized artwork purchased from London’s top auction houses. Some of London’s best interior design consultancies will deliberately use spotlights on thicker paintings that feature substantial texturing in order to make them look more dramatic. Any reflections from a glazed frame will be minimized when the interior design consultancy uses the spotlight specifically as an uplighter.
In some luxurious London residences, it may be appropriate for the interior design consultancy to recommend the most sophisticated type of feature lighting, namely the framing projector. This can be used to spectacular effect when illuminating paintings, prints and photographs. It can also be ideal for sculptures, especially in cases when direct lighting may be too aggressive due to its sharp shadows. The interior design consultancy will install the framing projector so as to focus only on the object itself, with no shadow appearing on the wall behind and no spill of light beyond the object. London interior design consultancies will employ a framing projector to create an effect whereby a picture seems to be illuminated as if by magic from within. Sculptures will appear suspended theatrically in thin air. One note of caution: the interior design consultancy must select a suitably skilled master craftsman who will cut the copper shield that masks the light to exactly the correct shape. Some of London’s top interior design consultancies have even been known to use this type of system in garden designs, with the projector housed in a waterproof securement.
Lily Candice is regular article writer for Interior Design London – Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.
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