“Let there be light!”: How architectural illumination changes the city
It helps designers and architects create a unique style for towns and cities. But how do you properly place illumination so it doesn’t turn into “light pollution”? We’ve got the answers. Creating a unified urban environment through architectural illumination is becoming increasingly popular. And we’re not just talking about megacities, small towns are catching on too. Because lighting has a huge impact on our mood: what might look boring during the day can be transformed at night thanks to illumination. However, it’s important to understand that such design isn’t just about aesthetics but is a very important tool for addressing various challenges. For one, it’s a matter of safety. Dark nights are fun in theory. “Illumination helps create nighttime tourist routes where everyone feels comfortable and, most importantly, safe,” says the General Director of Svet Expert. Secondly, every locality is unique. And illumination helps to emphasize this uniqueness, architectural features, reflect important milestones in history, and tie together different details that are unavailable to the usual look during the day. It must also be remembered that lighting is an effective tool used to promote tourism and increase the commercial attractiveness of a particular object.
When working with facades, especially when dealing with cultural and architectural heritage sites, a maximally delicate approach is required. “In 2018, our company implemented a project for the facade lighting of the former distillery in Ryazan, built before the revolution. We used static accent lighting to emphasize the architectural features of the building with light strokes. At the request of the customer, the lighting equipment was painted in the color of red brick to match the historical facades, so as not to “pollute” them in the daytime,” said the General Director of the Svet Expert company.
It must be remembered that implementing a concept is not just creating a project and agreeing with the customer. Next, the papers go to the approval of Moskomarkhitektura, Glavgosekspertiza, and MOESK. Equipment is selected, documentation is developed, and a lighting calculation is made. Light as a commercial technique Lighting is not only beauty and safety, but also a sales tool. Russian developers have begun to increasingly order unusual architectural lighting for their residential complexes. “In 2016, the owner of the Upper Trading Residence multifunctional complex contacted us. This is premium real estate in Ufa, located in the historical center of the city. In the finished building, consisting of three high-rise buildings with premium-class apartments, a retail area, and offices, only 20% of the total area was sold. The main task set by the customer was to increase the commercial appeal of the facility and stimulate sales,” said the General Director of the Svet Expert company. For this project, an unusual approach was devised – to synchronize the building’s lighting with the broadcast of one of the popular radio stations.
Approximately 10 thousand LED modules were required for the implementation of this project, located vertically along the entire facade and capable of changing color and luminance. “The emotions we, as well as all the citizens, experienced when the complex began to play with light to the beat of music, cannot be conveyed in words. Within half a year, all the premises were sold out, and at the moment it is one of the most prominent objects in nighttime Ufa and a popular place for selfie lovers and social media users,” said the General Director of Svet Expert.
Overall, it all depends on what object we are talking about, on its architectural features that need to be emphasized with the help of light. We have a huge country, but, unfortunately, for the most part it is dark. The potential of architectural lighting has not yet been fully revealed and understood. By our work, we strive to instill in people a culture of night lighting of buildings. Often, we set trends, consult, share expert opinion, are not afraid to experiment. Foreign projects Working with foreign companies is always a serious challenge for us - we need to take into account local culture, architecture, mentality.
We have long collaborated with the largest developer in Bulgaria, who is engaged in the construction of residential and commercial premium objects.
For example, we developed lighting for the Plovdiv City II residential complex. Our company also “highlighted” the Sofia Drama Theatre building, the oldest municipal theatre in the Bulgarian capital. For it, we developed a floodlighting concept and carefully integrated the building into the existing light environment.
At the moment, more than 200 projects have been implemented in nine countries of the world, including Russia.
Source - Moscow’s Construction Complex
Where to start?
For creating a unique image of the object, preliminary work and individual approach are important. First, specialists need to study the location of the object and the existing light environment. This will help to understand what kind of illumination should be used in order not to disrupt the integrity and harmony with the surrounding space. “When developing a lighting concept, the location of the object and its environment are taken into account: climatic conditions, seismic activity, and wind load. In January 2018, we received an order from the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network” for the architectural illumination of the TV tower in Yakutsk, which was celebrating its 55th anniversary. The tower, with a height of 226 meters, is the tallest structure on permafrost in the world. Of course, light equipment for such objects is custom-made. In addition, it is necessary to correctly calculate the load on the structure and take into account the installation of the lighting system at different heights. At the same time, it is important not to damage the tele-radio broadcasting equipment and sensors installed here,” said the general director of the Svet Expert company. When working with facades, especially when dealing with cultural and architectural heritage sites, a maximally delicate approach is required. “In 2018, our company implemented a project for the facade lighting of the former distillery in Ryazan, built before the revolution. We used static accent lighting to emphasize the architectural features of the building with light strokes. At the request of the customer, the lighting equipment was painted in the color of red brick to match the historical facades, so as not to “pollute” them in the daytime,” said the General Director of the Svet Expert company.
It must be remembered that implementing a concept is not just creating a project and agreeing with the customer. Next, the papers go to the approval of Moskomarkhitektura, Glavgosekspertiza, and MOESK. Equipment is selected, documentation is developed, and a lighting calculation is made. Light as a commercial technique Lighting is not only beauty and safety, but also a sales tool. Russian developers have begun to increasingly order unusual architectural lighting for their residential complexes. “In 2016, the owner of the Upper Trading Residence multifunctional complex contacted us. This is premium real estate in Ufa, located in the historical center of the city. In the finished building, consisting of three high-rise buildings with premium-class apartments, a retail area, and offices, only 20% of the total area was sold. The main task set by the customer was to increase the commercial appeal of the facility and stimulate sales,” said the General Director of the Svet Expert company. For this project, an unusual approach was devised – to synchronize the building’s lighting with the broadcast of one of the popular radio stations.
Approximately 10 thousand LED modules were required for the implementation of this project, located vertically along the entire facade and capable of changing color and luminance. “The emotions we, as well as all the citizens, experienced when the complex began to play with light to the beat of music, cannot be conveyed in words. Within half a year, all the premises were sold out, and at the moment it is one of the most prominent objects in nighttime Ufa and a popular place for selfie lovers and social media users,” said the General Director of Svet Expert.
Beautiful architectural lighting or “light noise”?
Cities have been illuminated more and more every year. Because of this, along with the positive effect, a negative one can also arise. It is called variously - parasitic lighting, light pollution, light noise. But the conclusion of this situation is the same - this should not be. It is necessary to avoid lighting windows in residential premises, glare and brightness. As a rule, this is a problem of old lamps. The streams of light are distributed unevenly and in different directions. “Analysis of light pollution is an important point in the implementation of any project. Modern LED lighting allows you to concentrate the stream in the right plane. LEDs are durable and more economical in terms of energy consumption. If we take the object in Ufa as an example: energy consumption here is about 10 kWh, an ordinary electric kettle consumes 1-2 kWh,” said the General Director of Svet Expert company.What trends currently prevail in the field of architectural lighting?
The main trend is energy efficiency, so conscious “light” architects tend to use LED equipment - high quality and durable, with the necessary angle of color illumination. Import substitution played into our hands and contributed to the rapid development of local production. After 6 years, the quality of lighting equipment produced in our country is almost on a par with foreign. At the same time, the guarantee for such equipment is 3-5 years. Modern technologies allow working remotely - changing lighting scenarios at the request of the customer, controlling the dynamism, conducting remote diagnostics, calculating the load-bearing capacity, simulating the installation of equipment and wind load. For example, at the Alcon Tower apart-complex on Leningradka in Moscow, the brightness of the light is controlled by a control system transmitting a signal according to the DALI protocol. The control of lamps flooding the building spire with light is based on a control system according to the DMX512 protocol. Lighting fixtures that flood the building spire with light are based on a control system using the DMX512 protocol. This allows you to control light dynamics, play different scenarios. Powerful spotlights with special Wall Washer optics will create floodlighting of the entire structure. They will be installed on each tier. A detailed lighting engineering calculation helps to correctly install the fixtures and select the required power. The average electricity consumption will be about 4 kWh. Overall, it all depends on what object we are talking about, on its architectural features that need to be emphasized with the help of light. We have a huge country, but, unfortunately, for the most part it is dark. The potential of architectural lighting has not yet been fully revealed and understood. By our work, we strive to instill in people a culture of night lighting of buildings. Often, we set trends, consult, share expert opinion, are not afraid to experiment. Foreign projects Working with foreign companies is always a serious challenge for us - we need to take into account local culture, architecture, mentality.
We have long collaborated with the largest developer in Bulgaria, who is engaged in the construction of residential and commercial premium objects.
For example, we developed lighting for the Plovdiv City II residential complex. Our company also “highlighted” the Sofia Drama Theatre building, the oldest municipal theatre in the Bulgarian capital. For it, we developed a floodlighting concept and carefully integrated the building into the existing light environment.
Our reference
В 2004, the General Director of the Svet Expert company founded the VeRosso company in Bulgaria. In 2012, a decision was made to expand the territory of presence, and the Svet Expert company was founded in Moscow. Today, Svet Expert is one of the leaders in the market of architectural and artistic lighting in Russia and Europe.At the moment, more than 200 projects have been implemented in nine countries of the world, including Russia.
Source - Moscow’s Construction Complex
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