Site Visit – Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh

                                                                    Central lobby with atrium

We went to the National Portrait Gallery this week. We were asked to observe both sunlight and

artificial light used in the gallery to highlight the exhibits. The following image is taken in the central

lobby. While standing in the middle of the lobby, we can see that the track lights are positioned

suitably so that we cannot see the luminaires, but the angle of the lighting is regulated such

that it illuminates the display.

We can still see the presence of sunlight in the gallery. Nonetheless, much of the direct sunshine

is found in stairwells or in big, empty halls. The stairwells were lit with stained glass windows

creating a beautiful work of art on the walls. A wall mount lamp and a pendant light were the only

artificial lights present. The lighting in this area is kept to a minimum to emphasize the room’s

architectural intricacies.

Only the arched-windows in the room that were higher than the displays allowed the daylight to

enter. Black shading screens in the exhibition hall prevented the natural light from entering the

space where oil paintings and photographs are displayed.

It was observed that the indoor light was weaker with cube occlusion and stronger without

occlusion. It was perhaps provided to create an ambient lighting effect with the sunlight rather

than completely blocking them out. I felt the box surrounding the skylight was a pretty clever

design.  It was crucial that sunlight wasn’t hitting directly on the artworks in the room, thus this

design and shades were installed on some windows to block the sunshine without totally

eliminating the daylight and using the skylight.

This image compares the contrast levels in the lighting and the colours used in the

space. Dark colours are used in the walls to create a focus on the paintings by

creating a contrast. Here, blue is used for the walls and gold (orange) frames for

the paintings both of which are complementary colours.

Track Lighting was the most common use of lighting design. The lights are placed

at such a heigh that no shadows are created when looking at a piece of artwork.

Multiple lights from different sides and angles focus on a single display to avoid

the shadows. We can find this by looking at the number of shadows under a picture.

Week 3 / Jasmitha Sivasankaran / Lighting Design for Spaces (2022-2023)[SEM2] by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0