Week 5s first task was to measure the illuminance and luminance level in the portrait gallery. Our group chose two portraits in contrasting spaces to access the difference in illuminance and luminance levels.

(George Seton Portrait/Luminance Contrast – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

This room was painted with a blue matte paint. Blue Wall luminance 1.58, Glass Surface Portrait luminance 3.21, Gallery illuminance 27.5 lux, Surface mounted track lighting providing lighting close to portrait measuring at 65.1 lux. Natural Light was minimal in this gallery preserving portraits. Darker space with track lighting on portraits made them stand out. These portraits have minimal light to preserve them.

( Portrait/Luminance Contrast – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Green room with matte paint. Green wall luminance 2.89, Portrait canvas luminance 10.15, Gallery illuminance 17.4 lux, Close to portrait 66.6 lux. This gallery had some natural light but the lux levels in the overall gallery were a lot lower than the blue room but the room was a lot brighter, this was partially due to natural light within this space. Higher luminance and illuminance levels closer to portraits and no glass on the portraits.

( Portrait Library/Library Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

The library had no windows and no natural light within the space. Down lighting in the form of pendants, and recessed in shelving. Lighting was cool white in this space. Mini spotlights lighting objects in cabinets from specific angles with narrow beams. Space felt cold.

 

(Portrait Play Area/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Natural light from windows, diffused with coverings. Track lighting on celling with warm directional light. Lighting highlighted material textures making the room feel warm.

(Zara/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Cool blue lighting throughout store. Featured down  lighting in curved spaces, spot lights on celling. Overall space is brightly lit but feels minimalistic.  Products were all equally highlighted, no focus on specific products. Lighting temperature is intentional to create a bright minimalist feel to the space, making it feel light and airy. 3002 lux.

(Super Dry/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Warm yellow lighting throughout store. Directional track Spotlights, Tracks with pendants hanging lower to highlight specific areas.  Bit overkill with the lights but space felt warm and cosy.  Did not feel intentionally lit, although spotlights were purposely directed at mannequins which was intentional. Superdry sign was neon lit behind counter which is intentionally highlighting the brand which aligns with their products that are all highly branded. 826.1 lux.

(Lane 7/Lighting Sketch – Image Credit Josie Lancaster)

Warm light. Low pendant lights over tables creating intimate spaces. Spotlight purposefully pointing to service areas. Lots of depth, drama, shadows created within the space from the lighting creating multiple points of interest within the interior. 20.5 lux (general areas) 118 lux (at tables).

Feb 16, 2025

Week 4 the tasks were to explore the museum noting the different lighting and analysing the lighting temperature, location, ambiance, appropriateness for the materials and objects displayed.

Kingdom Of Scots:

Material Stone 12.3lux (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Elevation Sketch Illuminance On Stone (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Directional lighting from above natural light appearing warmer on materiality of stone. Creating lots of depth, shadow and texture.

Material Metal 45.1lux (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Sketch Illuminance On Metal (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Warm light from small spot lights covering all angles. Highlighting shine of metal. No Shadows created. Brightly Illuminated makes material feel expensive.

Material Wood (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Sketch Illuminance On Wood (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Warm illumination one spotlight, specific direction creating shadow and highlighting harp details.

Fashion & Style:

This room was dimly illuminated, Light boxes under garments and small spotlights with low UV lighting garments. Intentionally lit to look like runway/show.

Court Mantua 19.4lux (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Sketch Court Mantua (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: This garment contained a lot of detail in the fabric and had no lighting below. Small directional spotlights with a soft warm illuminance highlights the centre of the dress.

Kids/Imagine Zone:

Kids/Imagine Space (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Kids/Imagine Space Light Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Initially the lights felt bright, fun, playful and exciting. After time the illuminance felt overstimulating causing a strain to the luminance on the eye, making it hard to adjust to the room. Use of different coloured lights to signify different areas within the space. Mostly matt surfaces/materials (to reduce glare??)

Traditions In Sculpture:

Cain & Able (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Cain & Able Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Brightly Illuminated, 630-670lux. Lots of natural Illuminance creating shadow of bust on walls. Illuminance fluctuates as sunlight alters. Material texture and form easily visible. I thought space was to brightly Illuminated, a darker space with direct Illumination of objects could create more drama or distinction of objects making them stand out from neutral surroundings.

Animal World:

Hedgehog (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Hedgehog Illuminance Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: 20.3lux this was poorly Illuminated with warm muted illuminance above object. Lighting was behind frosted plastic light coverings dimming our luminance. I think this was intentionally lit in this manor to mimic the natural habitat of this nocturnal creature.

Dinosaur Illuminance (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Dinosaur Illuminance Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: This object was extremely well Illuminated with multiple directional spotlights from every angle. Warm Illumination. Created interesting, fun shadows of the object as pictured below.

Dinosaur Shadows (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Shadows:

Bell Object (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Bell Shadow Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: This object was successfully lit to enhance the form and materiality of the object. Directional, warm spotlights from above cast a soft warm illuminance on the object. The lefthand side had two spotlights closer together and the righthand side had two spotlights place further apart, this created unique shadows underneath the bell and down the metal of the bell the created an intensity and mystery to the object.

Feb 3, 2025

Week 3 we visited St Alberts Chaplaincy to analyse the lux levels of natural light within the interior space. The building interior was a striking mix of natural materials highlighted by the lighting to create an atmospheric space.

Task A: Find the locations where you could no longer see the sky.

Analysis: It was possible to see the sky from all seated locations within the interior space. The only space where you could not see the sky was standing in the back passageway of the space as demonstrated in the below images.

Daylight Coming Through (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Outward View Of  Chaplaincy (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Daylight From Above (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Task B: Draw light and shadow in the space.

Analysis: The spot marked below was the place within the interior where you could see the most sky. Shading on plan reflects shadow and light within the interior. Light above and in the windows to the right hand side of the building create natural light on the edges of the space creating a darker pathway in the centre of the interior leading you towards the large windows/alter at the front of the interior.

This led us onto calculating the real daylight factor inside the interior which we measured at different points within the space. At the time of measuring it was 11am and the outside indirect light was measuring at 12000 lux. The real daylight factors read as follows:

Alter-18.8

Rear Left Seating-0.7

Narthex-0.04

Foyer- 18.6

How Daylight Affects The Interior Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Analysis: Sketching how the afternoon light creates shadow on the right hand wall within the space. The deep set windows create direct beams of natural light into the interior creating bright openings and shadowed walls.

Daylight/Shadow Affects Sketch (Image Credit: Josie Lancaster)

Feb 3, 2025

Week 2 started with testing the suns path using the sundial method, this process began by tracking how the sun moved throughout the day at different times of the year. This task was useful first step for developing a clearer understanding of the suns position in the sky and how this might affect an interior space throughout the day as the sun moves.

Sun Direction: 0700 August/April 2021 (Image: Josie Lancaster)

Observation: 0700 hours in April/August. First test to understand how the sun affects houses during the months of April and August (spring/summer). During this time of year the sun is higher creating less shadow behind the houses.

Sun Direction: 1100 February/October 2021 (Image: Josie Lancaster)

Observation: 1100 hours in February/October. Second test to determine the contrast of the sun during the months of February and October (winter/autumn). The sun during these seasons is much lower in the sky creating greater shadow. Houses were grouped to understand how this would impact neighbouring properties, the green house  received minimal sunlight at this time.

Sun Direction: 1500 March/September 2021 (Image: Josie Lancaster)

Observation: 1500 hours in March and September. Houses were arranged in a horizontal line to determine if this provided an equal share of sunlight to the houses. This formation of housing provided mostly equal sunlight throughout the day. The green house was slightly overshadowed by the yellow house during the early morning sunlight but at 1500 hours the houses had equal sunlight/shade and approximately 75% of the houses had light at this time.

Sun Direction: 1200 January/November 2021 (Image: Josie Lancaster)

Observation: 1200 hours during January and November when the sun is extremely low in the sky. The houses in this formation received approximately 50% light at midday during these months. This task lead me to think more about the patterns houses and buildings are laid out in the cities we inhabit and how they might be effected by the sunlight. Was the suns path considered during the construction and planning of the buildings we see on a daily basis?

Sun Direction: (Image: Josie Lancaster)

During this lighting test I observed the effects of the sunlight on the interior space during March and September 1600, Azimuth 245, 20 degrees North. The sun light shone through the slit and reflected onto the wall adjacent to the opening creating a pattern as pictured above.

Coloured Light: (Image Josie Lancaster)

Observation: December 1400 hours, 208 Azimuth, 11 degrees North.  The colour transformed the interior space providing a soft hue to the space. The sun was very low in the sky at this time and most of the interior space still remained quiet dark but the effects of the colour were still extremely prominent.

I really enjoyed this task, it took some time to understand in the beginning but it was a useful way to develop my knowledge of how light can impact the internal design of a space.

Jan 26, 2025

Welcome to week 1 of my lighting design blog, this is week one of the course and I am really looking forward to learning more about the way light can create atmosphere within a space, enhancing desired aesthetics by creating depth that alters the mood or feeling of a space transforming an interior from daytime to night.

(Image Credit: Pintrest – Station Steps)

The above image I found interesting as it appears to be a standard concrete structure but the light really changes the colour of the concrete within the image. The blue/green colour appears to be affected by the natural light coming in from above. But I am curious as to what is causing the red/pink colours. I was wondering if it was a red bulb or a warmer light, but after further discussion in class I was informed that the effects in this image are down to the way it was photographed. This is interesting the way the light can change the colours through the lens though.

(Image Credit: Josie Lancaster – Thermal Baths)

The main words that came to mind when I saw this image of the baths were atmospheric, depth, shadow, translucent, heavenly, natural, mysterious, rippled. The multiple shades of light or darkness (depending on which way you look at it) within the image add shades of depth and atmosphere to the space creating interest and mystery, this combine with the steam creates a natural calmness and tranquility to the design of the space. The natural light combined with the natural materials of stone create a certain serenity.

(Image Credit: Josie Lancaster – Negative Sketch Of Baths)

Using the negative space I tried sketching the space with the intention of conveying the multiple shades of light within the interior using chalk on black paper. I feel that I achieved the light within the space but it was difficult to convey the depths of the shadows within the space, so I attempted the task in the reverse using grey scale markers on white paper. This was a much more successful way of conveying the multiple depths of shadow and light within the design. I found this task difficult at first but after progressing I found it a useful way to convey the light within the space and understand how this changes different parts of an interior.

(Image Credit Josie Lancaster – Sketch of Baths)

Jan 17, 2025