Insights into lighting design with London Lightworks 

London Lightworks has technical lighting expertise and a complete understanding of all aspects of lighting and lighting control.  RHA has had the pleasure of working with London Lightworks on many private residential and development projects and we were delighted to speak with Mike Kazer, Design Director of the company who shared his valuable insights into lighting designs for the home.

Q: Where do you start when considering lighting designs for your home?

Light as an entity is all around us, it influences our mood and behaviour in everything we do yet so often goes unnoticed. It’s so hard to put a reason to why we feel a certain way or act in a particular fashion, but it is very often down to the lighting of a space that has subconsciously made us do so. This is why we find lighting design so interesting.

Our mood is so important to our well-being, this is always the starting point of a successful lighting design. How do we want the user to feel, react or be influenced by the light we create?

Are we creating a cosy reading corner where we want the light to embrace the user and make them feel relaxed and at home or are we designing a restaurant where the aim is to not make you too comfortable so the table can be cleared for the next customer.

Every project we design takes a different approach based on our brief and listening to the client to understand their aspirations and requirements.

Q: How do you work with architects on private residential projects?

A well-considered lighting design can be the most powerful tool to best accentuate a beautifully considered sculptural building. As LED technology now lasts longer than ever, this puts even more emphasis on good lighting. This all means that a lighting consultant should be appointed earlier in the project as we consider light – both natural and artificial – and how we can manipulate it to accentuate architectural features or particular areas of interior design.

From an early stage we can consider the lighting and its layering, and might there be any details we can incorporate to add extra “wow”! As a design team we can then all collaborate to deliver amazing results.

Q: Tell us about your approach to lighting design

London Lightworks was formed off the back of a love for creativity, knowledge and service.  Every scheme we produce is different, there is no formula to our design. The key to this is listening, understanding our client’s needs, aspirations and style. After all, we are all different. We can then use our extensive design knowledge and a worldwide list of manufactures to best deliver this brief.

Importantly each one of our schemes then goes through a thorough checking process to ensure it can actually be delivered and realised to our high expectations. This is what sets us apart from the rest, our technical knowledge of electrical engineering and construction ensures our schemes can be realised in the real world.

 Q: How do you manipulate and control natural light in the home?

Natural light is so important to us, especially when living in the UK where the weather can be somewhat unpredictable. We find our clients want the maximum amount of natural light and architects then work their magic to deliver this. This is great during the day, however at night you can be left with huge sheets of black glass that need softening. As lighting designers, we like to try and make this disappear by lighting beyond to incorporate the externals into our scheme. This creates a beautiful ‘inside-out’ style of living in the summer months and in the winter extends the living space by using light.

Q: What has been your most ambitious project to date?

Covid-19 has pulled many away from the office and some businesses have given up their work spaces. This is what has led us to two of our most ambitious projects to date. One was an office in the city, and the other was a private residence with a home office. Both wanting the same vibe, a home from home. A feeling of warmth and comfort, however, stimulating at the same time so as not to be falling asleep at the desk!

We have carried out extensive research as well as developed some exciting new products to deliver a lighting scheme and control package that is completely tuneable to a time of day, mood or activity at the push of a button or even totally independently if no user interaction is wanted. This means your lights will turn on automatically at the start of the day, set to a cooler colour temperature to wake your body slowly and stimulate you for a productive day. Throughout the day the system is then monitoring light levels, only turning lights on within a space when they are below a certain lux level. Then moving to the evening, the system creates beautiful scenes for a relaxing dinner or entertaining, slowly dimming the lights and creating a cosy environment to wind you down and get ready for a restful sleep.