Top Five Things to Consider When Lighting Public Spaces

1. Design on paper, but validate after dark

Photometric software is invaluable, but a calculation is not the finished experience. Glare, contrast, shielding, reflections and visual adaptation are best judged on site. Fittings should be aimed and commissioned after dark, not simply installed during daylight.

2. Create hierarchy, not uniform brightness

Good lighting helps people understand a space intuitively. Entrances, routes, level changes and key landscape elements should have different visual priorities. Lighting everything equally can flatten a scene. The eye responds to contrast, not simply measured light levels, so darkness has an important role.

3. Control glare before adding more light

More light does not automatically mean better visibility. Poorly shielded or badly aimed luminaires can create discomfort and disability glare, reducing contrast and making surrounding detail harder to see. In public spaces, particularly for older or visually impaired people, careful shielding and aiming are essential.

4. Consider light from above

Mature trees and suitable structures can provide excellent positions for controlled downlighting. It can illuminate routes naturally, reveal texture and planting, and keep the source out of the normal field of view, reducing the need for numerous ground-level fittings.

5. Design for a landscape that will change

Trees grow, canopies thicken, and planting moves into beam paths. A landscape lighting scheme should allow access, adjustment and recommissioning over time. The landscape you commission today will not be the landscape you are lighting five years from now.