SCIENCE | ART | APPLICATION
Good lighting holds the promise to support our health, improve our activities, inspire and create a sense of community. With about 70% of our perception being visual and nearly 100 body functions tied to our light entrained circadian rhythm, it’s no wonder that lighting has such a powerful impact on all aspect of our lives. Our relationship with light is as old as our evolution. It has always been an intrinsic part of us in every way, even though not always understood for its power and importance.
Lighting, and more specifically quality lighting, is what we are obsessed with. From daylight to artificial light, we are endlessly fascinated, surprised and humbled by all the possibilities with light. It’s with an intense passion that we pursue our mission to harness light to benefit your needs. As industry research and experience improves our knowledge we constantly evaluate the nexus of science, art and application. We see the light by obsessing over the details to ensure each project maximizes its potential.
Interest and excitement are an important part of the personality of every space. From the seemingly mundane to the overtly theatrical, understanding and reinforcing each spaces personality is at the core of placemaking. It’s this visual interest that engages our brain to inform, create context, reveal importance, guide and organize.
Neuroscience and vision research have shown us that lighting plays a direct role in our health. Light entering the eye influences a range of neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral responses that include the circadian system. These responses impact sleep, hormone secretion, pain perception, focus, mood, memory, executive functions, blood pressure and many more. As it turns out, good lighting can make us not only feel good but help us stay healthy.
No matter the task, the quality of light plays a substantial role in our ability to achieve success. This can be about reducing errors in the office, improving safe and efficient wayfinding, properly displaying and protecting art work, or providing a conducive environment for social interactions. The right light in the right location with the right controls makes it work.
As we age our eyes are constantly changing. Natural age related changes along with compounding diseases impact both our visual and non-visual responses. This in turn has great impact on our performance, health and overall wellbeing. Generally, as we get older we need more light and a better quality of light. Unfortunately this is a complex subject matter to unpack and distill into actionable design criteria. However, as each generation lives a longer more productive life there is no longer many distinctions in the demographics of those participating in most activities or environments. Therefore it’s important to approach every project with an understanding of how to leverage current technology and design theory to be as supportive as possible to all. Quality lighting will benefit everyone.