Lighting Designers?    What do they do?

Most people aren't even aware of their existence. The truth is, lighting designers can influence your well being more than you may imagine. We don't tend to notice good design and that's the way it should be. It could be argued that we are all lighting designers. We use light in our homes every day. We use dimmers to make them brighter or dark. We choose the fittings we want. We can do it ourselves or call the local electrician.

Iain Henshaw designs from the heart. Many factors influence a design and are conceived around ideas that bring warmth, functionality and practicality into your life, light where it should be not where it wants to be. There are certain approaches to lighting design that are instrumental to the process. The use of a particular space, it's not uncommon to see kitchen lighting where the floors are beautifully lit and there's a token effort to light the work surface,   bedrooms should be subtle, soft and warm. The projects that are featured on this site all have explanations as to why a particular approach was taken.

Other reasons to use a lighting designer is that they could be classified as an energy saving device. Only using just the right amount of light, often electricians have a habit, particularly with down lights to install a 50W lamp when a 35 or 20 watt version would be more than adequate.
Now, how about the arsenal  of weapons available to the lighting designer in the form of lamps and fittings? As a lighting designer it is imperative to stay at the forefront of development and technology. Being able to advise why incandescent lamps are being phased out and the aesthetic as well as ecological reasons why compact fluorescent lamps are not the future. What about LEDs they are everywhere at the moment but, they have a long way to go and a good designer will take the time to learn about all this technology and know when to start to implement it. So next time you need good advice about lighting don't ask an electrician take the time to find a good lighting designer and stick with them.

Manhattan? No Lancaster

Colour and practical lighting was the brief for this kitchen.

Autumn Joinery is a company I enjoy working with and when Gary Broadley approached me with this showcase piece there was no hesitation! It had to be discreet, practical and beautiful. Obviously your going to be the final judges but we were highly delighted with the end results.