Bridgelux Vesta Flex
Vesta Flex is a family of dual channel LED drivers and control modules designed to simplify and reduce the cost of connected tunable white luminaires. Compatible with industry standard wired and wireless lighting control protocols, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DALI and 0-10V, the Vesta Flex system enables simplified, future-ready design flexibility for OEM luminaire manufacturers to meet the needs of their end customers without requiring redesign or recertification. All Vesta Flex control options provide independent tuning of intensity and CCT.
Sonneman Ola
Ola is a modular system of softly flowing, linear elements that can be suspended individually or connected in multiple arrangements. Ola’s delicately-bowed LED luminaires can be suspended in multiple linear configurations of one, two, three or more connected luminaires. Additionally, an infinite variety of hexagon, honeycomb and abstract configurations can form incredibly interesting and scalable webs of flowing illumination across a plane of larger space.
Rosco Image Spot Mini
The newest member of the Rosco Image Spot family of LED gobo projectors, Image Spot Mini, is lightweight (2.2 lbs /1.0 kg) and has an ultra-compact form factor measuring 131.2mm x 89mm x 108.55mm, making it an ideal fixture for discreet spot lighting and vivid gobo projection. Image Spot Mini will be available to ship this autumn in three IP65 rated models: 3,000K, 5,500K and UV.
LensVector S2F Series
The LensVector S2F Series enables dynamic beam shaping between a 15° spot and a 35° flood. The new series complements LensVector’s first offering - the M2M Series. LensVector now offers all lenses in a smaller 35mm option that complements the current 48mm and 65mm lenses. With LensVector’s liquid crystal lens, luminaires can smoothly broaden beam size via wireless or wired control.
Lumileds Luxeon Fusion
Combining the needs of many tuning technologies, including dim to warm and dynamic tuning for human centric lighting, Luxeon Fusion addresses colour temperatures from 1,800-10,000K with high CRI (>90 over 95% of range) and high colour fidelity. Customers can now leverage the Luxeon Fusion platform technology, which unites white colour selection, dim to warm capability, SKU reduction and dynamically tunable white lighting - all designed for mass adoption, in one single solution.
Cree Cadiant
The Cadiant dynamic skylight recreates the experience of being under a natural sky with remarkable realism, creating the sensation of natural sunlight and a blue sky in interior spaces via a virtual skylight experience. Cadiant uses advanced lighting controls in combination with multi-dimensional LED panels and colour-changing technology to simulate the natural dawn to dusk, east to west arc of the sun, providing a valuable sensory connection to the outdoors for people working in spaces without access to natural daylight.
Acclaim Lighting Flood One EO
The Flood One EO is a high output, IP66 rated white LED floodlight in a very low-profile design, intended to fit into small spaces for façade lighting applications. Available in multiple colour temperatures (2,700K, 3,000K, 3,500K and 4,000K), it features a standard 10° beam angle with optional spread lenses of 20°, 40°, 60° and 10x60° for custom lighting applications. The Flood One EO performs at temperatures between -40°F to 125°F, and maintains 70% of its lumens for 150,000 hours.
Ecosense Lore
Lore from Ecosense won ‘Most Innovative Product of the Year’ at Lightfair International. With Lore, Ecosense debuts its latest technology, including auto sensing protocol, 0.1% standard dimming, low glare/high control optics, and Lingo, a plug and play digital bus. All developed to simplify specification and save time. Lore is a full array downlight family with two aperture sizes. Ecosense offers recessed housings, trims, and the Lore cylinders include wall, ceiling, and suspended luminaires.
lightsphere
arc caught up with Julia Hartmann and lightsphere to see how these women are dominating Switzerland.
Headed by Julia Hartmann, alongside Project Director Melanie Heilgeist and Lighting Designer Carla Sigillo, lightsphere is an all female run lighting design practice based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Hartmann established the young team five years ago, after a successful eighteen years in the industry.
Reflecting on her desire to pursue a career that allowed her to be creative and inventive, she said: “Working as an independent lighting designer is a dream come true. As a child, I was interested in the relationships between nature, design and technology and was fascinated by the influence of light on humans.
“After completing my college degree in design, the path led me to interior design studies. There, I took part in a light workshop in the first semester, which inspired my professional future. The fascination for light and the use of light in the built environment soon became my passion,” reflected Hartmann.
“I wanted to be an inventor and explorer when I was younger. At a later stage in life, this changed to product design with a focus on bionic structures. As life is not a straightforward path, things and situations change along the way. But, looking back and reflecting on my career, I am actually where I wanted to be. In lighting design, we have to be inventors and explorers and at some stage we also have to develop or modify products. As well as that, as lighting designers, we are very close to nature and need to understand the influence of light on us as humans.”
Hartmann completed a degree in Interior Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg, Germany. She became a student assistant for the Department of Lighting Technology during her time studying, which involved being partly responsible for establishing the university’s own light laboratory and organising multiple light workshops in Coburg and the surrounding areas.
This interest in light led her to become a student member of the ELDA and later the PLDA, which gave her access to valuable contacts in the industry early on. She then went on to complete a scholarship earned internship at the prestigious Lighting Planners Associates (LPA) in Singapore. After graduating with honours, Hartmann followed work to one of Switzerland’s largest lighting design offices, reflexion, where she stayed for six years.
“During this time, as a project and team leader, I was able to pass on my passion for light to colleagues and customers and worked on exciting major national and international projects,” she explained.
“At the age of 32, I decided to establish my own office in 2014 called lightsphere. Promoting young professionals has always been close to my heart, therefore I allowed students from the University of Wismar and Aalborg internship positions.”
Heilgeist began her light journey whilst studying interior design at the University of Applied Sciences and Art in Hildesheim. “During my Bachelor degree thesis, where I designed the interior of a Kindergarden in a big industry hall, questions like How do you bring interiors alive? How do you get light in the space when there is no daylight or it is a cloudy day? How do you create ambience, atmosphere or serve the use of a space with light? came up and there I realised the importance of light, artificial light and daylight,” she explained.
During her time at Hildesheim, she also took part in an exhibition, together with the lighting design students, that revealed the practicality of lighting a space and sparked her interest in the profession. Heilgeist then went on to complete a masters in Architectural Lighting Design in the UK and was later offered a job as a lighting designer in the London office of dpa lighting consultants and later in its UAE Dubai office, where she gained the experience she took with her to lightsphere.
Sigillo adds a construction element to the team at lightsphere with her experience as an architectural building engineer. At the age of 30, after working as an engineer for three years, Sigillo realised she was missing an element of creativity in her daily routine. “I began to reflect deeply on my passions - architecture, photography, light and design - and how to combine these creatively without moving too far from the building engineering and the skills I had gained during my education. This is how I came across the magical world of lighting design,” she explained.
After completing her engineering masters, Sigillo went on to finish a masters in Lighting Design at Aalborg University in Denmark, and then a Daylighting intensive course at the Parsons School of Design.
Designing “for the people” is one of the main focuses lightsphere maintains through its lighting practice.
“We approach lighting design from a multidisciplinary standpoint. The effects on users and the biological effect of lighting means we now conduct more research within our workflow. We also follow other industries to see how innovations can cross over. We are always searching for new inventions from all over design, research and science, so we can create the best possible results. Therefore, our clients’ needs are the key factor for our concept approach.”
Heilgeist added: “I personally believe that great and harmonious lighting design can only be achieved in a team within the company and in cooperation with the project team. Designing a lighting scheme requires you to understand the user and requires experience and knowledge of special fields in lighting. lightsphere is a team of exactly that variety in personalities, experiences and knowledge.
“On a daily basis, we strive to provide the best customised lighting solutions for each client technically, economically, but more importantly, in harmony with the look and feel of the space.”
Hartmann became the Swiss Women in Lighting ambassador after a close working relationship with Light Collective formed during The Perfect Light project.
“The key goal for me is that at some point in the future, we no longer talk about gender issues, and instead we talk about individuals and their achievements. It is all about sharing ideas and experiences within the profession,” described Hartmann about her role as a Women in Lighting ambassador.
“My experience as a female in the industry is that sometimes a situation occurs where some project partners tend to have preconceptions about your understanding of technical matters in a project, which leads to an assumption where they won’t take you seriously when dealing with technical questions. But, it’s always a great moment when they realise that you do know your job well, including the technical and control aspects. For me, it is more important to treat each individual respectfully to be able to collaborate in the best way possible,” she added.
“Another great thing about the Women in Lighting project is to encourage more, especially younger females, in the lighting industry to speak up and improve their self-confidence.”
With technology and scientific advancements happening at a rapid rate in the lighting industry, Hartmann maintains it is important to hold onto the foundations of the importance of good lighting.
“With all the technical possibilities we have nowadays, lighting design has become more and more diverse and the freedom of creation seems endless. But, the core intention for lighting design is to play with emotions and let magic happen.
“Knowing your tools is one thing. More importantly, empathy and the sense of creating beautiful spaces with light for the people using the space is key. I believe we have to work towards the direction to keep regulations in mind but not to blindly trust those guidelines, instead to use our aesthetical common sense and demand in creating beautiful spaces with light and shadow to enable people to have a better life.”
The importance of lighting and biological life is one area of research the team has dedicated a lot of time and effort into. Whilst working on the Zurich Innovation Centre for Givaudan, a world leader in producing flavours and fragrances, the team were required to create multiple lighting schemes for humans and plant life.
The space was divided into laboratory workspaces and a main atrium, used for recreation and communication. “The architects, from Bauart Architects and Planners, wanted to set a comparison between the laboratories where people need to work with high precision and high quality standards. In contrast, the atrium space is used for communication, recreation and exhibitions,” explained Hartmann.
“In addition to this remarkable building’s shape and use, the landscape architects from Schrämmli Landschaftsarchitektur wanted to integrate seven columns, twelve metres high, with living ornamental plants to enhance the atrium space and incorporate nature into the building.”
To solve the challenge of finding a light source that would enable the plants to not only survive, but thrive indoors, the team carried out numerous in-house experiments to find the ideal luminaire solution. At the time, Sigillo was completing her internship in the office and used this project as her Masters’ thesis research paper.
“After the successful integration of the bespoke luminaire, we - myself and Carla – joined forces with Dr. Karolina Zielinska Dabkovska to complete a research paper that was published in the online research magazine Sustainability. We wanted to share the results and experiences we gained over the years with the lighting design community to create better awareness and understanding on the complexity and processes necessary for using indoor plants, as it’s a highly complex setup,” elaborated Hartmann.
“Humans relate to light on an emotional and biological level. This happens individually in different ways; therefore it is important to understand the person or people using the space, building or environment. We, as humans react to light, it is important to carefully design the right light for the right time of day and task. We need to fulfil these requirements and demands but we also need to keep the magic and create a little sense of wonder.”
Over the short amount of time lightsphere has been practicing, the trio has achieved a lot of recognition in the industry and won numerous awards for their contribution to lighting design, including an IES Award of Merit for Energy and Environmental Lighting Design in 2017, the Lighting Design Studio of the Year 2019 Switzerland and Award for Excellence in Customised Luminaire Development 2019 by Lux Designer Awards , to name a few.
Championing a sentiment many aspire to achieve in the lighting industry today, Sigillo added: “I hope that my genuine passion for light, coupled with my technical skills, will contribute to push the world towards new visions and new sustainable lighting solutions, where natural and artificial lighting can work together seamlessly, guided by environmentally friendly principles.”
Furthering its journey, Hartmann described how she sees lightsphere moving forward and growing further: “We will keep going with our curiosity and love for light, and try to keep up to date with technology and design as well as science. We conduct our own research about various topics like biophilic design and LED light for indoor ornamental plants, which we want to foster and improve. With this mix and the magnificence of my team, which we will hopefully increase in the future, it motivates me and keeps me going. We will keep on exploring and inventing.”
Sarah Gaventa
As phase one of the Illuminated River project is set to be unveiled, we met up with Sarah Gaventa, Director of the Illuminated River Foundation, to chat about the project, and the importance of quality public realm lighting.
After more than two years of planning, the first phase of the Illuminated River project - an initiative that will see up to fifteen bridges along the River Thames adorned with new light installations - will be unveiled this summer.
Featuring artwork by renowned artist Leo Villareal, the project will become the longest public art installation in the world once complete, with the aim to “use light art to reconnect people to the bridges and their histories, and to celebrate their role in London”.
Leading the project is Sarah Gaventa, Director of the Illuminated River Foundation. Before joining Illuminated River, Gaventa was previously the UK government’s advisor on public space at the Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment (CABE), working as Director of CABE Space - the public realm element of the commission - for four years.
Prior to this, she was trained as an art design historian, getting her Masters at London’s Royal College of Art, and has a background curating shows and exhibitions on public art.
Having experience in both the art world and the public realm means that Gaventa is ideally placed for the Illuminated River project, as she says: “This job seemed right for me, in that its about trying to do something that is about bringing that marriage of art and architecture, and it’s something that is for the public benefit as well.”
Despite not coming from a lighting background, Gaventa is readily aware of the importance that light plays in creating a pleasant public space, thanks to her work with CABE. “I’m no expert, but I’ve always had an appreciation for it,” she said.
“CABE gives a lot of advice for how one were to design a public realm, and obviously lighting is a key part of that. We used to produce research and guidance, and light obviously has a massive impact on how people feel about a place.
“So there was always an element about finding the right kind of light that encourages people to use a space. Understanding how light is a psychological aspect in terms of how it makes people feel, understanding the role and significance of light, which is so important, was always an element within the wider scope of what we did when trying to improve our streets and public spaces and making them people-friendly.”
Taking a similar approach for Illuminated River, Gaventa was keen to ensure that the project did more than just illuminate the bridges, but to improve the surrounding areas as well.
“I knew that when we did this project, there was absolutely no point in just concentrating on where the light went on the bridges and not thinking about the quality of the lighting environment along the river,” she said.
“We’ve walked both the south and north bank with the lighting teams of both Southwark and City of London, who have both been very supportive, and just looked at the light levels, the light temperatures - which are quite interestingly much higher than the light levels of our artwork - to try and get some kind of continuity, not in colour terms, but so that there’s a quality environment for the public, and that they’re not going from light to dark to over-bright spaces.”
To back up this approach, Gaventa and the Illuminated River team conducted the first illuminance study of Central London along the river, analysing and looking at where all the light is coming from that is not needed. “I suppose in a way our project is focusing people’s attention,” she said. “Walking with the lighting team of Southwark, we realised that every third lamp was out, or it was a different colour temperature.
“So when you take the time to look, you realise what a patchwork it is and that really, it needs a bit more coordination, which local authorities are now trying to do, and there hasn’t been much coordination for example between the north and south bank. They are separate local authorities all the way along, and they don’t talk to each other about their lighting strategies. If you’re in the middle of a bridge and you look north, then you look south, the environment you’ll see in terms of the way it is lit will be completely uncoordinated and disparate.”
However, while the Illuminated River project will no doubt create a more unified lighting scheme across the Thames, Gaventa says that this was not a direct aim for the project, but instead a happy by-product of it. “It’s one of those things that once you start getting into this project, you realise that if you’re going to do one thing, you need to do the other, and this seemed like the most intelligent, thorough way of doing it,” she said.
“There’s nothing worse than when you go and see one project, and there’s another next to it and you think ‘well they didn’t talk to each other’, so a lot of it is about the dialogue, about discovering what’s possible.
“The only local authority with a public lighting strategy in London is the City of London, nobody else has one. And I do hope that as a result of Illuminated River, there will be more thought about that, and that there is a more coherent lighting strategy along the Thames.”
In her role as Director of the Illuminated River Foundation, Gaventa is responsible for coordinating the team, from the consultants and the support staff to the winning design team - Leo Villareal and architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands - as well as putting in place a timeline, budgets, and everything else needed to make the project a reality.
This also included the extensive planning and consultation process - something made all the more difficult because of the number of local authorities involved. “Last year we received 30 planning applications and eighteen listed building consents, delivered a programme of community consultation, which has been an incredibly important part of it, making sure that we’re not doing anything that’s bad for the environment, trying to reduce all the light spill that there currently is, reduce the light levels and energy consumption - it’s been quite a slog!
“And then we’ve been working with seven different local authorities - apparently we did the biggest single planning application outside of Crossrail and Tideway, and they both had acts of parliament. I think I must have had 24 pre-app meetings too. So it’s quite hard to do a pan-London project when there are so many different boroughs because you have to approach each separately.”
A huge boost in this process was the support of the Mayor of London’s office, something Gaventa believed was “crucial” for its acceptance with local authorities.
The idea for the project, Gaventa said, came from the Lord Rothschild, and was supported by the Greater London Authority (GLA) as they sought a cultural legacy project following on from the 2012 Olympics that spread across the city.
“An art-based project that would be seen by a lot of Londoners is quite a big ask, but the idea of lighting the bridges had been floating around for some time,” she said. “Nearly 20 years ago, when Lord Rothschild was Chair at Somerset House, he asked James Turrell to come up with a scheme for Waterloo Bridge. So this idea that had been floating around for a long time suddenly found its moment with the Mayor was looking for something, and it came from that.”
The designs for the project see Villareal and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands create a unified, consistent scheme across the fifteen bridges, something that Gaventa was very keen on: “They’ve put together a very compelling proposal, which has a continuity between each of the bridges, whereas some of the other entries had completely different schemes with no coherence,” she said.
“We wanted something that felt curated, that there was a synergy between because currently, all of the bridges that are lit have no relationship with each other, in terms of the way that they’re lit, how they’re used or the approach that they’ve taken.”
The winning designs were chosen by a jury after more than 100 entries were submitted. However, while Mark Major was involved in the technical panel, the project came under criticism from some in the lighting community due to a lack of lighting professionals on the jury, something that Gaventa puts down to the fact that “every lighting designer in Britain went in for the competition, so it wouldn’t have worked very well if they were on the jury!”
Following the selection of Villareal and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, Illuminated River has been working closely with the ILP, getting young graduates involved with the project, while Atelier Ten are also on board, providing lighting engineering and design expertise.
The project has also collaborated with official connected lighting supplier Signify to create the Illuminated River apprenticeship - an initiative that will invite students to work with both Signify and the Illuminated Rivers team over the course of two years.
Indeed Gaventa was full of praise for the role that Signify has played in the project, stating that it is “more than just a supplier, they’re a partner. They’ve gone above and beyond”.
“They’ve been really good partners for us, and they’ve worked with us from day one. We have fortnightly project team meetings and they’re always at those as well, with whole day planning meetings. They’re more than a supplier, they’re on site with us because it’s their responsibility, and it’s obviously a high profile project for them as well.”
The collaboration with Signify extends beyond the provision of lighting products too. Illuminated Rivers is working with Signify on an app that allows them to look across social media and find out not only what people are saying about the installations, but also to see where viewers are taking photos. “This helps us to see where people are standing, and whether these spaces are appropriate in terms of how well they’re lit and whether they’re accessible,” Gaventa explained.
“Leo [Villareal] did something similar for his Bay Lights scheme in San Francisco. They collected similar data and found that the favourite place to take the best photograph of the artwork was actually a car park, so that eventually got transformed into a piece of public realm with a café.”
Throughout her career, Gaventa has shown a strong passion for public realm regeneration, for improving the quality of our living environment and creating spaces for the public to enjoy, and this passion has been further strengthened with the Illuminated Rivers project.
“For me, public spaces are the only democratic spaces we have left,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what income you have, what background you’re from, we’re all equal in a public space and they’re also vital for our mental wellbeing and health.
“I always think of a Ruskin quote that says ‘The measure of any great civilisation is its cities and a measure of a city’s greatness is to be found in the quality of its public spaces, its parks and squares’, and I think doing a project like this is another way of saying that we’re investing in people and giving something to the many rather than to the few.
“I’m also very keen on public art. The exhibition that I curated at Historic England looked at post-war public art. This was in the days when they’d build social housing estates and put a Henry Moore in it because it was felt that every person deserved to have the best quality experience of art, so for me this is another way of saying so.”
Gaventa added that she is hopeful that the new installations will attract more visitors of all ages to the Thames, while it might make some locals see the beautiful architecture that is already on their doorsteps in a whole new light.
“We have some data that says that younger people don’t see the Thames as an attraction or as a place to go. And we think that by bringing something as interesting as these artworks and light sculptures to the river, that would encourage younger people to use it.
“This is one of the wonderful things about light, if it encourages people to come, and if it encourages people to walk across bridges that they might have otherwise got a taxi or a bus over.
“When you walk across London Bridge, everyone has their heads down. They’re looking at their screens or they’re looking at the ground. If this makes a few people stop on their evening commute and just look at this amazing public space and look at the light sculptures - if it gives people this pause, that’s one of the things that light can do, it can give you a moment out of your busy day.
“I think with light we can reclaim the bridges, and if we can encourage people to enjoy them, then they have some of the best views of the city.
“This was one of the things that attracted me to the project. As soon as I realised it was more than just an art project, that it had some public benefits, I was much more interested in it.
“Because of the project’s longevity, it felt like something that could be worthwile, that could be of benefit to Londoners. It’s about using light to reveal the beauty of what’s already there, but it’s also nice to have something that’s a bit joyful in these times, and that’s the power of light really, it can do that.”
While the first four bridges are scheduled to be illuminated this summer, the work doesn’t stop for Gaventa and her team, with preparations already well underway for the next five bridges, due to be illuminated next year.
And she’s hopeful that the work of the Illuminated River Foundation will inspire other cities to follow suit and create similar installations: “I hope other people will then look at their own lighting plans, and we’re happy to share what we’ve learned,” she said. “I’m hoping that this will be seen as an example of how to do it well, and how you need the best lighting professional expertise to create a project like this.”
The Vessel, Gambia
Lighting designer, artist and Dark Source founder Kerem Asfuroglu tells us about his recent trip to Gambia for a charity venture, in collaboration with The Vessel UK and Daughters of Africa.
Long-time readers of arc will already be well aware of the work of Kerem Asfuroglu, as the lighting designer and artist regularly graces the pages of this magazine with his hard hitting Dark Source stories.
Since the turn of the year, the Hochschule Wismar graduate has founded his own independent lighting design and visual arts studio, Dark Source, following his departure from Speirs + Major - where he worked for almost eight years - in October of last year.
Passionately driven by its “social conscience and creative vision”, Asfuroglu’s aims for Dark Source are to work collaboratively to add value to public, architecture and design projects of various scales, with social-impact and community projects ranking very high on the studio’s agenda.
As part of this agenda, Asfuroglu recently teamed up with the Daughters of Africa Foundation and The Vessel UK for a charity project in Gambia, focused on training 30 local electricians about lighting design and solar energy to increase their employment potential, while also providing a new source of light for their local community. More than just another lighting design project, The Vessel is an innovative approach to target projects around the world to promote the universality and importance of lighting design.
The project came out of Asfuroglu’s charity work closer to home, as he explained: “In 2014, I volunteered at KORI, a community centre in North London that was focused on youth development.
“The community centre was founded and managed by a wonderful lady called Odiri Ighamre, who taught me a lot about youth-mentoring. The Vessel was a product of KORI that focused on empowering people to deliver projects in Africa through teamwork and sharing knowledge. They worked in various African countries before, but Gambia proved to be one of their most consistent partners.
“We always talked about doing something, but I never got around to it due to my professional commitments. When I left my job towards the end of 2018, I finally ran out of excuses.”
Electricity is an unreliable and very expensive resource in Gambia; apart from the main highways, the majority of the streets do not have any lighting. On top of this, approximately 600 million people in Africa cannot access or afford electricity, which forces people to consider oil-based lamps or candles for illumination, which can cause issues such as air pollution, fire, smoke poisoning and bad sight. The aim for The Vessel, therefore, was to demonstrate how designed light could improve lives - not only by replacing the incendiary illuminants, but also by offering an alternative to their blatantly utilitarian successors.
Following technical training at St. Peter’s High School in Lamin, the project was finalised with the practical installation of a solar power-based lighting scheme at a 24/7 accessible community library. “Alagie Ndow, the most charitable young man, offered the Inspiring Young Stars Library, which he set up to serve his community in Abuko,” said Asfurloglu.
“Our mission was to deliver a holistic training, which involved design concept, project management, site-work and even preparing portfolios for getting new jobs.”
Due to the lack of electricity and economic circumstances, some children travel up to six kilometres to attend the library, so Asfuroglu and The Vessel wanted to improve their studying experience through lighting design, while eliminating the power cuts and costs indefinitely.
The new design for the library consisted of multiple layers of light, with custom-designed pendant luminaires providing task lighting, spotlights for creating vertical emphasis and bespoke lanterns for flexibility.
A local artist produced the hand-woven pendant shades, as Asfuroglu explained: “All we did was identify that we needed pendants as a functional layer of light. It was important that the design felt local to create a sense of character familiar to the surrounding context and its users.
“We got in touch with a local artist named Tijan and coordinated the process through WhatsApp until we met in person. We only gave him a guideline idea about the scale and transmission, the rest is his magic. We are delighted that we can take no credit on that front.”
The spotlights focused on the walls revealed the colour and texture of the books, while creating a legible and well-lit space. Old-school kerosene lanterns found in second-hand shops were retrofitted with LED lamps. The transportable nature of these lanterns provided flexibility as they could be relocated based on need; for instance, two of these were hung outside the entrance to signal that the library is open, with a warm welcome.
Due to the very tight budget for the project, Asfuroglu said that they had “no funds for fancy equipment”. “It is a real eye opener,” he said. “It makes you appreciate the kit that you normally get to use over in this part of the world.
“We allocated more funds for the lamps to ensure a certain level of quality and longevity. We also brought enough spares to minimise the maintenance costs for the community.”
As well as the quality of light, mounting standards played an important role on the luminaire selection criteria. “Whether it is B22 or GU10, it was important to ensure that the right products can be found in the local market. Therefore all selected luminaires had to utilise interchangeable lamps for future-proofing.”
Asfuroglu also added that, owing to the difficulty in sourcing specific materials in Gambia, as the majority of electrical equipment is outsourced, most of the materials used - such as the solar panels, light fittings and cabling - had to be brought in from abroad.
However, he revealed that the overall equipment cost was less than £1,000 - and was completely financed through fundraising. The new scheme also provides a solar system capable of storing up to 1.2KW per day. “With five hours charge, the system provided more than eight hours of illumination, and enough additional power for other applications.”
The newly illuminated library features a complete 2700K LED scheme, something that is uncommon for Africa. “Due to the efficiency concerns, manufacturers don’t tend to provide LED lights in warmer colours,” Asfuroglu explained. “The popularity of the scheme busts the myth that warmer climates always opt for cool colour temperatures.”
Indeed, Asfuroglu said that he was “over the moon” to see how much the local community embraced and valued the scheme, particularly when considering the lasting social impact that the project will have on the area.
“Our biggest design question was ‘what will be left for the community once the project is over?’” he said. “Its social impact was meant to create sustainability and growth through training, evoking business ideas, connecting communities and improving social circumstances. As much as delivering a design project, it’s also about teaching how to sustain and spread the culture of design.
“True self-sufficiency relies on the knowledge to be sustainable, as well as the energy. Rather than importing a design, the project focused on local culture, issues and experience to generate its own workforce through sharing knowledge.
“I heard that one of our trainees, Pabi, wants to design lighting for his neighbourhood now. He’s trying to get households to join together and contribute. We cannot think of any better outcome than this.”
Having spent a month in Gambia for The Vessel project, Asfuroglu described his time there as “a profound experience”.
“Within the massive African continent, Gambia is a tiny country that is full of life and ambition,” he said. “The growing economy has not yet reached its full potential, therefore it is difficult for people to sustain themselves with a single job. This is why the lighting design course was timely for our 30 young electrician friends, helping them to broaden their approach and seek other opportunities.”
On his return to the UK, Asfuroglu has said that he is already looking for the next venture to get involved with, whether that be in Gambia, or elsewhere in Africa. He said: “Social impact and community projects rank very high in Dark Source’s agenda. We’d be happy to see ourselves going back soon, but it would need to be with the right people, and the right time.
“Charity projects demand considerable amounts of time and resources, therefore the coordinating partners play a very important role on bringing the project to life. With that said, we want to give a big shout out to The Vessel UK and Daughters of Africa. They have done an amazing job with coordinating the project and accommodating us. It would not have been the same without their personal care and involvement.”
And he has encouraged more lighting designers to get involved in initiatives such as these. “The Vessel was a design project that sought success in social impact, not excellence in visual aesthetic. It’s part of a movement that encourages lighting designers to take social responsibility in parts of the world where their skills may not be profitable, but certainly life changing.
“If you want to get involved, you should first scout for like-minded organisations and project managers who operate in the area of interest and consult them. Start a conversation. Think of what you can offer and make sure that it has deeper roots than just a two-dimensional lighting project. We would be happy to share our experience and point people in the right direction if we can, so feel free to give us a shout!”
Looking back on his time in Africa, while he feels that the whole experience was incredibly rewarding, there was one moment that stands out as a highlight.
“On our last working night, seeing the children comfortably study under the new light was our biggest reward,” he said. “Lots of parents showed up asking about the place, because the new lighting got their attention.
“As we stepped outside, we noticed that the power had gone out in town again, but the best part was that the children at the library did not even notice. This is how imminent design enhanced the quality of life.
“This project has been a profound experience for everyone who has taken part in it. As designers, we rarely get opportunities to improve lives in such an essential and straightforward way. We are forever in debt to our donors. This project would not have touched so many lives without their kindness.”
Following his return to the UK, Asfuroglu has received a great deal of recognition for his work in Gambia, notably receiving a special mention at the Lamp Awards. Noted as a “commendable piece of charity and social work...concerned with making a long lasting, sustainable difference within the community” by the judges, Asfuroglu received a donation of €1,000 in lighting material for Dark Source’s next social light project.
Dark Source would like to give special thanks to: Speirs + Major, Ben, Kay & Lisa Fitzsimons, Lionel M. & Margaret F. Harrold, Anne Moldenhauer, Roland Block, Hasan Gozlugol, Jonas Godehardt, Michael Dooney, Resat Bekflavioglu, Emre Gunes, Howard Lawrence, Irmgard, Rainer, Lucie, Satu Streatfield, Helga Iselin Waseth, Nassif Josef Nassig, Johannes Stahl, Carolina Marquezim-Emanuel, Enzo Mercedes, Clementine Fletcher-Smith, Dorit Bagehorn, Yasin Caliskan, Jack Wates, Cem Bektas, Ben Krueger, Frederik Friederichs, Hakan Kose, Katia Kolovea, Melody Culanah, Rosie Morgan & Bojana Nicolic.
Calgary Central Library, Canada
The new public library in the centre of Calgary, Alberta, is an educational and physical bridge for the community and provides extensive spaces to be utilised by the everyone. The lighting scheme by SMP Engineering merges daylight and LED harmoniously in the nature influenced architecture.
The library covers an expanse of 240,000 sqft in the heart of the cultural district of the city, was completed in November 2018.
Construction commenced in 2013 for the striking modern structure, which was an award winning design derived from collaboration between Snøhetta and Dilaog, and captures the city’s desires for a technologically advanced public space.
The $146 million project is the largest public investment for Calgary since the 1988 Olympics and marked the beginning of a new chapter to develop its creativity, innovation, knowledge and technology in the rapidly growing city.
The lighting scheme was designed and implemented by SMP Engineering. Bradly Trufen, Electrical Designer at SMP Engineering, described to arc how they became involved with the project at the beginning: “SMP is the largest company of its kind in Western Canada and has been around for more than 42 years. I think our services and portfolio of past projects played a key role in us being awarded this job.
“We were approached with an initial concept, which is pretty typical. It’s our job to push the limits and try to get as close to the conceptual idea as possible. But the project lighting design is dynamic, it’s constantly changing until the project is complete – we only get one shot to get it right. You can’t go back to the client and ask for a redo,” he added.
The building is located on the Light Rail Transit Line and acts as a bridge between the previously divided Downtown and East Village areas. Acting as a space for social interaction, studying, learning and community activities, the library is a hub for celebrating inclusivity.
“Doubling as a portal and a bridge, the entry plaza heals the previously split seam between the two neighbourhoods and re-establishes visual and pedestrian connections across the site,” claimed Snøhetta.
The façade of the structure is cladded with hexagonal modular pieces of fritted glass and occasional iridescent aluminium that form an aesthetically pleasing pattern across the curved surface and allow natural light to gently filter through. The entire surface of the building is covered in this geometric pattern, which suggests there is no one particular front entrance, again reinforcing the goal of the architecture to be unifying and all-inclusive.
When approaching the entrance to the library, visitors are welcomed by one of the largest freeform timber shells in the world referencing the Chinook cloud arches that are common to the area, formed from local western red cedar.
Explaining the layout of the building further, Snøhetta described how the wooden archway “spirals upward over 85 feet to a view of the sky through the oculus. Wood slats line the perimeter of the open atrium, shaped in plan like a pointed ellipse, serving as an orientation device for people to quickly grasp the circulation and organisational logic of the library. The rhythm of the beams and columns are reminiscent of a stoa, the public, open-air colonnades of ancient Greek architecture that doubled as spaces of gathering and intellectual exchange”.
The six floors of the library have designated spaces with varying uses, including a 350-seat theatre and performance hall. A programme of lively events, public activities and the children’s library, with play areas, occupy the lower floors, which then gradually transition into quieter study areas moving upwards until reaching the Great Reading Room on the uppermost level. Visitors enter this inspiring workplace through a transitional space of softened light and acoustics. Natural light plays a key role in illuminating this room, peeping through wooden slats that provide glancing sightlines between the atrium and the western façade.
“Emphasising the interplay between daylight and architecture, the design approach was to embrace the ever-changing Southern Alberta sky. Lighting should be discreet: enhancing and supporting daylight, maintaining Calgary’s dynamic natural light as key lighting,” explained SMP Engineering.
“Linear LED luminaires suspended amongst acoustic baffles provide ambient lighting, ensuring illuminance targets are met. Sloping walkways are lit asymmetrically with lines of recessed LED lighting tracing exterior walls. LED spotlights and downlights illuminate public art and areas that are out of reach by the aforementioned techniques. Elsewhere, luminaires are placed directly above areas requiring illumination: shelving-integrated lighting for the stacks; stairways lit by LED-integrated handrails. Feature lighting denotes distinctive spaces – areas requiring lighting as unique as the spaces themselves.”
“Throughout the design, we sat down and discussed integration of lighting into the architecture,” reflected Trufen. “Our role is to always be creative and to provide options for discussion. I don’t think our creativity was ever stifled in any way. It is a bit depressing when you come up with an idea you consider brilliant and they are shot down in a moment! But I am an optimist and I don’t like to dwell; I focus on the ideas that stick. We need to look at the bigger picture and any place that we can help the team in this regard is a win.”
The addition of dimming and daylight harvesting throughout the space helps to maintain the illuminance levels, regardless of the time or weather conditions outside. End-user digital controls allow for control over the entire design, which also ensures the awareness of luminaire usage and energy consumption. The library was built to be one of the most energy efficient structures of its kind, which played a vital factor in the designing and fixture choices made by SMP Engineering. “We needed one of the most adaptable lighting control systems on the market,” explained Trufen.
“That meant no proprietary control hardware; reprogramming with remote access and user interface and a long warranty and support from the manufacturer”.
In terms of designing a scheme for the Calgary Library, the SMP Engineering team stepped out of the box and, in some areas, did the opposite of what many designers would attempt.
“There is a current stigma in the architectural world for having visible fixtures. They want the light to appear out of cracks in the architecture. To make this a reality requires a bit of juggling of the wants of the client and the architect and the needs of the relative codes. We managed by approaching lighting in all the different methods available and narrow them down until we have the best solution. It is a lot of work but it pays off in the end,” explained Trufen.
“The entry vestibule was a new design to me. Typically, we try to hide LED sources, but the limited space in the vestibule didn’t allow enough room for a proper dispersion of light. Having even illumination is a trend. Going with a trend doesn’t give you any attention as you’re just in the pack. So, instead of fighting the design, we embraced it. The end result was like one of those old-time Vegas casino signs. It makes the entrance stand out, inviting and above all else interesting. I’m sure any lighting designer will scoff at it, but I’m not designing this space for them. This is for the public.”
The team also came across other challenges along the way, such as the installation of lighting under the sprinkler lines. “The architect wanted the open ceilings simplified so as to avoid clutter,” Trufen elaborated. “This meant varying lengths in the fixture, which was a nightmare to organise.
“Another challenge was the suspended fixtures in the enclosed public spaces. The doors were full height, so the fixture needed to be stepped back to avoid the door swing. Sounds easy enough, but coordinating the length of each piece was anything but”.
Upon reflection, Trufen comments the challenges and failures are opportunities for learning experiences and claims they are the highlights of the project. “I’m excited about the result. Some areas turned out better than I originally anticipated and others I look back on and consider what I would do different. The stuff that keeps you up at night is the most exciting and rewarding,” he concluded.