A building’s façade is one of its most important elements and provides great structural as well as functional benefits. A well-designed façade is a reflection of your taste and personality and can lend a unique touch to your building’s look. Complimenting your stylish façade with thoughtful illumination gives it an edge over other buildings in the vicinity. When it comes to styling your façade, its lighting plays a crucial role. The façade lighting design has to be based on extensive research and should be something that effectively represents your building’s history and surroundings. Appropriate architectural lighting can breathe fresh life into any structure, regardless of how old or new it is, and will make it stand out from its surroundings.
Tasteful lighting arrangements on buildings will not only improve the look and feel of the surroundings but also contribute to a locality’s overall night-time aesthetic. Additionally, creating lively social spaces with beautiful, energy-efficient lighting can have a huge impact on a building’s overall appeal. A building’s façade image is influenced by light (including the direction of light) and colour in addition to the materials used and the shape of the façade itself. The building’s look changes throughout the day as the direction and strength of the sunlight are factored in when designing the façade lighting. Appropriate lighting when used in sync with your building’s look and environmental factors can give it a truly fresh appearance.
Selecting the Right Façade Lighting Products
The selection of lighting products is one of the most vital design decisions. It should be made only after taking the following factors into consideration.
- An appropriate lumen output, colour render index, and light temperature
- Low maintenance requirements and higher IP ratings
- Appropriate beam angle and fixtures alignment
- Lower blue light emission levels
- Sync with façade design
Façade lighting styles
Façade lighting is a dynamic approach and can be undertaken in a variety of styles and techniques. Here are some of the most popular styles used:
- Uniform Lighting
Uniform lighting is a method of spreading light with the same intensity across a façade. It is a basic façade lighting technique that can assist in producing ideal designs even on wide surface areas.
One of the best ways to achieve uniform lighting is through floodlights since it evenly distributes light across the building. Regardless of the type of lighting planned, designers must position these lights close to buildings. If the light is placed on top of the structure, it will evenly cover all surfaces, producing a uniform lighting effect. The distance between the light source and the surface you want to illuminate is a crucial factor and requires an expert’s involvement in the planning.
- Local Lighting
Local lighting concentrates on particular elements of the vertical façade structure, such as building plates, pillars, or elevation. Local lighting also enhances energy efficiency along with highlighting prominent features of your building. You can also use LED façade lighting and lights of various shades to improve the overall look of your façade.
- Hidden illumination
This is one of the most complex lighting techniques and if properly executed, it can produce flawless façade lighting designs. It lends a dramatic appearance, enhances the building’s structural beauty, and improves the building’s overall appearance. Designers can generate silhouettes, halo effects and other interesting patterns through strategically placed exterior façade lighting. Just like local lighting, hidden lighting can also draw attention to specific architectural components and create shapes with shadows. This technique is primarily used if you want to give the façade a unique glow and a dramatic pattern. A vast majority of architectural experts advise doing this with the effective use of LED strips.
There is no fixed way to illuminate your façade and the process depends entirely on understanding your building’s structure, look and requirements better. The lighting designer must first understand the corresponding effects, benefits, and drawbacks of various approaches before making a choice in accordance with the overarching creative design concept.
