A building’s façade is an expressive feature. Perhaps the only visible design element to the non-inhabitants is the façade. Creatively illuminated building façades convey messages, communicate emotions, create attention and facilitate orientation. Moreover, modern lighting solutions for building façades add value to the architectural or economic merit by making a location more prominent, beautiful and safer. Achieving the status of ‘iconic and attractive nightscapes’ demands great aesthetic design sensibility.
Lighting solutions also need to be sustainable, save resources and prevent unnecessary light pollution. A building is in constant dialogue with its ecosystem, and for it to be sustainable, an efficient system of façade lighting is imperative. Saving energy is an omnipresent challenge. Façade lighting must, therefore, get to grips with ecological compatibility issues.
The façade lighting not only helps to localize buildings and provide security, but it also plays a key role in the architectural expression. The elements of the building, where an architect and structural engineers have put up a lot of efforts to make it a benchmark has to be highlighted as one of the most prominent elements of the structure, thus appropriate lighting can complement its exterior.
For solid façades, generally, the approach is to wash the building uniformly, whereas on perforated façade, illuminating the window accentuates the frame of the façade opening, whereas narrow-beam uplights emphasize the façade‘s grid pattern.
However, good design practices need to be followed to avoid any glare or discomfort to the functioning indoors. Varying light intensities, distribution patterns and colors are a great way to light façades with projections or recesses. Façades with vertical breaks can be augmented by using narrow beams of light while adding lines of light on every floor-ceiling breaks the monotony.
Illuminated façades facilitate orientation, convey messages, communicate emotions and create attention. Contemporary lighting solutions for building façades need to create added value for clients/owners/builders/ local authorities and it should deliver architectural and economic merit by making a location more beautiful and safer, showing a building off in the right light or getting a positive image across. Nowadays, lighting solutions also need to be sustainable, energy/ resource conserving and prevent unnecessary light pollution.
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