Hotel lighting is a complex area, and has a huge impact on the finished project. Whether your hotel is an off-charts success or utter disaster can lay on the lighting scheme. You are really best off leaving it to the professionals but if you are determined to go it alone, here are the 12 most important points by hotel lighting expert.
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It&#;s really not about lux levels
Often you see recommended lux levels for certain areas &#; &#;Restaurant &#; 300 lux&#;, this sort of thing. You should not only rely on these. Nobody will come to your restaurant if it is lit to 300 lux, it would be like an office. Far more important is the atmosphere, the play of light and shadow, the intimacy. Light the artwork to 300 lux sure but the wall space next to it can be safely left darker.
Darker restaurants are more expensive
You actually don&#;t need a lot of light for some activities and eating is one of these. The bright lights in fast food restaurants wake you up and get you in and out quickly. As a general rule, the darker the restaurant the more luxurious it feels. Until you get to the very, very top (but that&#;s another story).
What is colour temperature?
All white lights are not created equal. Some are warm like candles, some are cold like ice. You need the right one and getting it wrong will make your lovely intimate space as welcoming as the Artic. Colour temperature is defined by a number measure in degrees Kelvin, for example K. Learn what these are and which is correct ( K is a good start for a hotel).
Not every downlight is the same
Just as there is a vast difference in car manufacturers on the market, there is a vast difference in downlights. You might want a Rolls Royce or you might want a Toyota. Both have their place in the world. Despite the fact that they both have four wheels and four seats, they are not identical. Choose yours carefully. For a typical new hotel, you will be spending almost £1 million on light fittings, and you don&#;t want to buy a million pounds worth of Lada, do you? The light fitting you have seen somewhere else might well be cheaper. Doesn&#;t mean it is appropriate for your project.
Beam angles (do NOT change them when re-lamping)
Many fittings come with a defined beam angle; a narrow spot down to a table or a wide flood to fill a room. When you change the lamps, you need to ensure you maintain the beam angles, or your entire look and feel will change, and you will be scratching your head wondering why.
If you move all the furniture, you will need to move the lighting
Restaurant table has a spot to it? If you move the table, move the spot. Some people make remote control fittings for this purpose but if it&#;s a permanent change, get a ladder out and move it yourself. Nobody wants to be the person at the end of the table with a downlight focussed onto their thinning hair because the spot is poorly aimed (I may be talking about myself here).
Quick fixes costsmore than the right solution
Lighting not quite right? Sort it out. Properly. If your chairs were uncomfortable you would not stitch a cushion on top, would you? So why think that adding filters is a satisfactory solution? Get some proper lighting, correct the beam angle, and smooth dimming. Yes, it&#;s an investment.
Choose the right control system
A dimming system is more than just a dimmer. It can set scenes. This means, it can create a pre-set scene or look for each time of day and then automatically switch between them. It also allows us to create multifunction spaces &#; bright classroom lighting in your ballroom, or glamorous wedding mood? Easy with the right control system, properly programmed and properly set up.
Neil Knowles is the director and principal of Elektra Lighting, an award-winning London independent lighting design consultancy. The practice specialises in hotels, retail, restaurants, bars, private houses and workplaces. www.elektralighting.co.uk
but don&#;t over complicate it
Nobody wants an app to turn their room lights on. Your guests may just have stepped off a long flight and they want to iron the shirt for tomorrow, drink a quick beer and fall asleep (or is that just me, again?). They do not want to be figuring out the touch screen by the bed, or logging on to the Wi-Fi, installing an app, connecting to the room and then turning next door&#;s lights on by mistake. With guest room lighting, remember the golden rule: KISS (keep it simple, stupid)
Lighting can make identical spaces look different
Particularly important with places like the all-day dining restaurant. Bright, airy and stimulating at breakfast time; then moody sexy and intimate at night. Lighting can do this for you. There is more to it than turning it all down on a big dimmer knob. See also &#; colour temperature, beam angles, lighting the features not the floor&#;
Don't light the floors!
Less lighting makes better ambience if located in the right place. DO NOT light the floors!!!! People don&#;t go walking always looking at the floors! We&#;ve done entire projects with not a single downlight and they are amongst our best work. Light the features, the interesting bits, the places that define your identity.
Learn when to delegate
I didn&#;t research this article, I just sat down and wrote it over lunch. Honestly, if I have to explain stuff like this to you, you don&#;t want to be designing your hotel lighting; you want to be getting a professional in. You could spend 10 years learning what I know, but at the end of it you&#;d be 10 years out of date, and a lighting designer not hotelier. And you don&#;t want to be a lighting designer &#; the the pay isn&#;t great.
Designing the lighting for hotels and restaurants can be very demanding. You have to consider aesthetics, functionality, costs, and even energy regulations. The things to think about can be overwhelming that it&#;s not unusual to make a few mistakes in designing the lighting for your hospitality business.
Here&#;s a guideline on how you can improve your hospitality lighting design, along with the dos and don&#;ts you must remember.
Use the time of the day as a guide
The operating hours of your restaurant can be used as a guide in setting up the lighting design of the establishment. Matching the intensity of the lights with the time of the day is one of the basic tricks in the book.
Fig. 1. Restaurant during daytime
In a restaurant setting, it&#;s best to keep the lights bright in the morning. You can supplement natural light with artificial lighting to promote a lively mood; the bright lights also help customers in reading the newspaper.
As lunch approaches, set the brightness to a moderate level. The sun is already high up there at noon, so you don&#;t want to blind customers with too much light when they enter your hotel or restaurant.
During dinner, use low-intensity lighting to create a warm, private, and intimate atmosphere. People wouldn&#;t want to dine in a place where people outside can see the food they&#;re having for supper.
Link to GREATON LIGHTING
Highlight specific areas with different lighting
Whether it&#;s a restaurant or a hotel, different sections of the establishment must have certain types of lighting. Using a monotonous lighting design tells customers that there&#;s nothing noteworthy that attracts their attention. Unless you&#;re running a hardware shop, a warehouse, or a convenience store, having one set of lighting throughout the place is unappealing.
Restaurants can be tricky to illuminate.
Dining areas should have enough lighting to make it easy for customers to read the menu. Too much brightness, though, can blind them and defeat the purpose of creating a private space for them.
Putting a spotlight over each table or installing sconces on the adjacent walls are the most common solutions used. But if the tables are moveable, a more versatile lighting component like table lamps can be a good alternative.
Reception areas must be lit a bit brighter to enhance the welcoming atmosphere of your establishment. This also makes it easier for your staff and customers to communicate face-to-face without hiding anything.
Ballroom and bar areas will require different sets of lighting designed for providing entertainment.
Outdoor lighting is as important indoor lighting. The exterior of your establishment is the first thing that customers will see. It can spell the difference between enticing a potential client to try your offers and shooing them away because of the unattractive vibe you&#;re giving.
Remember that first impression lasts, and this is applicable in the business setting too.
Include lighting in your budget or construction plan
Lighting should be part of the construction budget. Skimping on the lighting design will drag down the beauty of your space and furniture, no matter how expensive or exquisite they may be.
Collaborate with your architect and lighting designer when constructing or renovating your commercial space. This will ensure you&#;re all on the same page in the intended style and branding you want to establish with customers.
Allocate also a certain budget for maintenance since bulbs will eventually burn out. Failing to replace several faulty lighting fixtures can leave a bad impression on customers. It can be interpreted as negligence and poor quality control.
The kind of lighting you need will depend on how you want to present your brand to customers. Variety can capture customer curiosity, but too much contrast can cause confusion and defeat the goal of making your brand memorable.
Before you think about the design and aesthetic enhancement lighting can bring, it must accomplish its primary function first.
Is it suited to fulfill a specific task? Is it designed to enhance the ambiance of the space? Or is it intended to accentuate certain areas? Stunning hospitality lighting design is worth nothing if it doesn&#;t work as intended.
When you&#;re in the hospitality business, investing in aesthetics is a vital aspect. From furniture pieces to draperies, everything has to be perfect. But an underwhelming lighting design that poorly highlights your assets can drag down everything you&#;ve worked hard for.
Functionality must be the foremost consideration. However, in the hotel and restaurant settings, appearances matter, so there should be a balance between practicality and aesthetics.
Using LED light fixtures is a practical option to save on energy costs. But think about the quality of brightness it gives and decide whether it delivers the effect you want to achieve. Incandescent light fixtures may be the better option, but the tradeoff is higher energy costs.
Fig. 2. Natural light entering the room
Letting in natural light can also help in creating the desired mood for optimal customer experience. Not only can this help save on energy costs but also improve the welcoming and relaxing ambiance of your hotel or restaurant.
Variety is good as long as it conforms with your branding. A professional lighting designer like Baseline Lighting Design Studio can help you decide the best hospitality lighting fixtures suited for your establishment.
Don&#;t forget your employees
You might be too focused on pleasing customers that you forget about the comfort of your staff.
The cashier area should be well-lit to make sure transactions remain transparent and secure. Put a poor lighting design here and it won&#;t be a surprise if people miscount the payment or the change.
Fig. 3. Kitchen lighting
The kitchen area has to have the brightest lighting in your establishment. Food preparation is a meticulous task that needs every bit of focus the chefs can give. The list of orders, food quality, and kitchen hazards &#; everything has to be completely visible to avoid accidents and customer complaints.
Investing in the safety and comfortability of your employees is one of the keys to growing your business. Your staff will be able to perform their best in serving customers when they know that you prioritize their welfare.
Observe energy codes
In planning your hospitality lighting design, it&#;s critical to follow the energy codes established in your region. Most states use the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in determining the energy-efficiency of an establishment.
The code requirements will dictate the type and strength of lighting fixtures you can use. Exceeding the prescribed consumption can result in a redesign which is costly and time-consuming.
The call for the environmental responsibility of businesses continues to get louder, thus the need for greener lighting solutions for those in the hospitality industry. According to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 10% of the energy consumption cost in the commercial industry is dedicated to lighting only.
LED bulbs and other modern lighting systems offer better sustainability and efficiency. Consider upgrading or integrating these components into your hospitality lighting design. They&#;re both energy-efficient and available in a variety of aesthetically pleasing designs. Many of them also have smart features, allowing you to control their intensity and color for better versatility and convenience.
Hire an expert
Why suffer from the headache of deciding which lighting components to install in your hotel or restaurant when you can just hand over the reins to an expert?
Hiring a lighting designer like Baseline Lighting Design Studio will ensure you get the most out of your lighting resources. We understand the latest trends, technologies, techniques, and products necessary for bringing the best out of your brand through lighting design. We can transform your hotel or restaurant into a sought-after destination for customers.
Having a lighting designer will give you the confidence that your lighting installations fit your branding. You&#;ll also have more time on your hands to focus on developing better marketing campaigns since you don&#;t have to worry about the hospitality lighting design to use.
Conclusion
Hospitality lighting design helps create the desired drama or effect that will enhance the appeal of your establishment. Intrigue and interest are the elements lighting taps into to entice customers to give your business a try. Without a proper lighting plan, your business may not be able to fully achieve its potential.
Baseline Lighting Design Studio can help in the simulation, management, installation, operation, and maintenance of the lighting in your hospitality business. Drop us a message if you&#;re interested in knowing how our hospitality lighting design can help improve sales and customer experience.
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