FAÇADE LIGHTING

Definition of facade lighting is a lighting technique and design to expose the beauty of the facade of a building, house or structure. There are 2 (two) types of facade lighting, natural lighting and artificial lighting. Today, architectural designs have turned into accentuating great lighting fixtures. In broad daylight, architectural landscapes are impressive. But, facade lighting gives more emphasis at night. Façade lighting has been gaining increased preference and popularity over the few years   since the concept has been introduced.

Façade lighting highlights the core feature of a  building. Without a proper lighting system in place, the structure can look dull and unattractive.

• Façade lighting comes into play to provide pleasing aesthetic to the construction and is one of the most important elements that largely represents the impression of a building
• Lighting has a very important role in transmittance and usage of natural light, energy efficiency and acoustic performance of the structure. It somehow also has a role to play in noise transmission
• A well-lit and illuminating façade structure can make any boring or simple architecture eye catching by highlighting and enhancing it key features.
• Also when visiting during night the lighting is crucial for creating a great first impression of the building.
• The Colour of the building plays a critical role in enhancing the appeal and influencing the image of the lighting  that is being installed.
• The effects of the natural light or daylight specifically can be altered by employing a bottom up lighting approach.
• Night lighting of the façade in a way showcases architectural culture.
• Façade lighting also enhances building’s commercial worth by making it aesthetically pleasing and attractive.

    An Example of how façade lighting can enhance a structure

• Many architectural marvels use amazing lighting technologies on principal front for a great overall impression to attract more tourist.
• For example, PARIS is mentioned as the “City of Lights” and it has over 296  illuminated lights. One of the most prolific examples of the importance of exterior lighting is the Eiffel Tower. Every evening, the Eiffel Tower is adorned with its golden covering and sparkle for 5 minutes every hour on the hour      

    

• To obtain its sparkle effect, each side of the tower has a total of 20,000 lamps and 120Kw of electricity. It has 40 kilometers of string lights and electrical cords, 230 enclosed lighting fixtures and electrical boxes.

      

    Another example of façade lighting would be Safdarjung Tomb.

     

    The arches and minarets of the 18-century Mughal-era monument, the Safdarjung Tomb, stood awashed in the light of 213 technologically advanced LEDs by Signify which have Color .

    Kinetics LED lighting proves that the efficient and adequate  façade illumination designs of these historical monuments can give rebirth to their glorified pasts.

     Types of Facade Lighting

• Solid Facade: Walls with a smooth surface with no texture refers to a solid facade…. This type of facade is  generally influenced by the use of natural lighting conditions available. The facade lighting can be positioned on the ground, on a mast or on the building. Long shadows are avoided by positioning wall washers a third to half the height of the facade.
• Vertically Divided Facade: This includes the buildings where the facades are divided by narrow vertical beams to magnify the vertical divisions of the building. Floodlights produce a uniform illumination on the  facade. Wash-lighting with point-shaped light sources makes the surface texture and structure clearly visible.
• Horizontally Divided Façade: In this type of façade there needs to be a reduction of the shadow by increasing offset created by the divisions on the building front structure. Installing these lights can be a little difficult because of the tricky installation areas in horizontal divisions.
• Perforated Façade: This system allows the light manufacturers to be more innovative with their techniques. Under daylight conditions the window surfaces appear dark. At night, illuminated interiors provide a strong contrast between the dark facade surface and bright windows. These types of lighting require additional planning because blending different varieties of lights is challenging.

Façade Lighting Techniques

It is necessary to get the best lighting effects on projects along with saving resources which creates a façade design. It’s always wise to consider the overall function of the building. For instance, if you’re lighting a commercial building, you want to ensure that there’s harmony in the illumination of the facade. If you’re lighting educational buildings like libraries or teaching facilities, the approach is different. Apart from the general function of the building, the facade lighting should also consider different areas.

• Uniform Lighting – It spreads an equal intensity of light throughout a façade and creates perfect design in large surface areas. For this technique Floodlights are the most preferred choice. Though regardless of any light that is being used, it is needed to be placed close to the building. The light range is directly proportional to its intensity and thus the light should be placed at a distance accordingly.
• Local lighting – They are more energy efficient and focus on elevation and pillars. Using local lighting, you won’t just highlight the masterpiece in the details of the structure. 
• Hidden Illumination – This is the most complex method of lighting which offers a dramatic look and uplifts the collective appearance of the building structure. There are different ways to do this. One is to use the silhouette technique. You create shapes through the right angle of the lights without focusing on individual elements. Another technique is contour. This gives the structure a certain glow that projects a dramatic effect or mood. To apply this, you use LED strips. Other techniques allow you to give the structure a backlight effect that creates light shadows that look beautiful from upfront.

 

        There are some other techniques one can follow for better results, which include the following:

• Direct Lights or lights falling directly on the facade itself.
• Grazing or placing a facade light near a vertical surface. One can find these lights on the bottom, which  fade as they reach the top. This method helps highlight textured surfaces correctly. Wall grazing helps to make textures vertical surfaces more noticeable or prominent by enhancing the shadows. This effect can be achieved by the providing the light fixtures closer to the wall in such a way that lux level depreciates as distance from the light fixtures. 
• Washing Lights or Wall Washing can light flat facades and add more life is you place them far from the surface.  This can be achieved by uniform distribution of lumen on all over the surface of the wall from top to bottom, without creating any patches of overcast lumens. With the selection of suitable fixtures, helps in accurate wall washing. Wall washing with uniform illumination result the appearance of wall much clearer and brighter. It also helps in better enhancement of the architecture of the wall surface.
• Accentuating lights is the complete opposite of washing lights as this technique places the lights close to the facade and creates instant dramatic effects with features like columns, opening, and building details.

 

     There are three Ways to illuminate a Façade as mentioned below

• Floor spots – Thus can illuminate the façade from bottom to top which means the light is softer at the center of        the wall rather than at the bottom.
• Wall Lights – The Wall lights are popular option because of their straight forward designs. These are usually placed at the center of the façade. Two types of wall lights can be installed on one hand there are luminaries that shine light in one direct and on the other there are lights that come with a lamp at the top and bottom.
• Ceiling Spots – Ceiling lights includes fixtures that fit into the deli for quick access and easy maintenance.This works best for the constructions that possesses a rainwater drainage system that is built against the façade. The base serves as a support for the lighting by providing a room for ceiling spots at the bottom. These lights are best during the night because they develop symmetrical design when viewed from a distance.

 

     LED Floodlights for façade lighting

• All LED Façade lighting is used to highly the architectural beauty of buildings. In this, several conventional technologies are combined to produce colorful lights in different shapes and sizes. These light patterns can also be customized as per the structure of the building or the requirement. LED fixtures are energy efficient as well as have longer life in comparison to the conventional fixtures. LED fixtures provide flexibility in control of beam angle and its spread with much higher accuracy in comparison to the conventional light fixtures.
• This kind of lighting not only lights up the façade (the front portion of a building) but also accentuates its visual appeal. These may include the entrance areas and certain signs that are made informative so as to help the visitors. It also helps in promoting the business of the company and spreading the words for a particular event.
• Apart from the building area façade lighting also includes lighting up the areas like parking, entrance, pathways, parks, etc. In such cases, the purpose of lighting is manifold. It caters to the security of that particular area, increases visibility in a large area, helps the passersby, and renders different aspects of lighting solutions.
• buildings like offices and home have LEDs because of high energy efficiency. They are echo friendly, have higher power beam and good quality light emission.
• Led bulbs consume less energy than halogen or fluorescent light.
• They are cheaper to use and comparatively environment friendly
• Emits more light and also provides larger projection range.
• Has a larger lifespan and less maintenance efforts.

 

     Tips to follow for Setting up façade lighting

• Knowing the best areas to illuminate is necessary to create a perfect design while using cost and energy efficiency methods.
• There is no requirement to imitate natural lighting throughout the façade, instead implementing few natural elements will make the façade lights stand out.
• Designers need to assess significant viewing points by taking into consideration the perception and angles from which the viewer will see the façade.
• Ensure all façade lights are visible to the eyes.
• Consider water body designs as fountains and ponds and make sure the light focuses on the water than the body to brighten and make in visible at night.