While the development of exterior lighting products has come on in leaps and bounds, outside lighting designs don’t seem to be taking advantage of them, says Mervyn Carter

If someone asked you what your favourite lighting design was, what would you say? A cut-glass chandelier encrusted with diamonds?

A 2m-high glass pendant comprising thousands of glass tubes? Or something a bit more modern, such as a luminaire using coloured LEDs and fibre-optic sticks? Whatever your choice, my guess is that not many of you would say an exterior lighting product.

While specifiers may consider high-end fenestration and other intriguing building features as tools to enhance a building’s exterior, many do not consider the aesthetic possibilities of exterior light sources.

That’s because while we are spoilt for choice when it comes to interior lighting, the situation has been less favourable when it comes to its exterior counterparts. With a lack of design-led exterior lighting available, specifiers have quite simply not had the freedom to maximise the potential of exterior areas. But recent years have seen manufacturers placing an increasing emphasis on such products, and things have changed.

In the past, exterior lighting was seen purely for navigational purposes – a tool to make sure hazards were avoided, designated walkways were stuck to and signs were illuminated. The aesthetic capabilities of exterior lighting were left largely unexplored.

Exterior lighting can offer so much more than just functionality, from highlighting a building’s aesthetic capabilities to offering stand-out design pieces that convey the message that exterior lighting can really add a sense of opulence and creativity to a building’s exterior and surrounding spaces.

The latest designs reflect the growing trend for creative freedom, with light sources now allowing specifiers to inject additional personality into a building and put their own unique stamp on it.

But are designers deaf to invention? There’s no doubt that in recent years manufacturers have made significant steps in terms of exterior lighting’s aesthetics, yet many designers appear to have ignored such innovations.

Did you know, for example, that exterior lighting designs now range from the organic, smooth and free flowing, to contemporary, geometric forms? This should allow specifiers to select a light source that’s really in line with the building’s architectural style, as well as complementing a company’s corporate identity before visitors and staff have even entered the building.

Luminaires inspired by nature are another key trick designers simply cannot afford to miss. Such products easily lend themselves to exterior spaces, with manufacturers developing products in line with all things natural such as luminaires with bud-like aesthetics, which blend seamlessly into the outside environment.

In interior spaces, specifiers have long-favoured products that are part of a wider ‘family’, such as matching wall, ceiling and spot lights, which can provide a sense of continuity and achieve a uniform design scheme. Manufacturers are increasingly taking these demands on board for exterior spaces in order to exceed designers’ expectations, with full ranges now including floodlights, projectors (both surface and in-ground), bollards and column formats, to facilitate a high level of versatility for specifiers, yet all retaining the same design elements.

As we see more and more influence from interior lighting spilling into exterior lighting designs, the traditional boundaries of inside and outside spaces begin to blur.

Historically, exterior lighting has started and ended with the building facade. However, entrance lobbies, atria and conservatory spaces can all be considered for exterior lighting applications, seamlessly blending the outside and the inside.

With this in mind, reputable manufacturers are producing lighting products that are suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications, allowing specifiers real versatility and even greater design freedom.

While it’s undoubtedly great news that there’s been more emphasis placed on exterior lighting systems, architects and designers have a responsibility to ensure the eco credentials of the lighting in their schemes are not overlooked either.

In recent years, sustainable products and systems for the built environment has been a focus, not least by the lighting industry.

When it comes to sustainable light sources, specifiers are afforded a wealth of choice, which includes LEDs, energy efficient halogens and compact fluorescents. However, simply specifying an energy efficient light source is not always enough.

The manufacturing process, raw materials and life-time costs should all be considerations high on the agenda to ensure products have excellent environmental credentials.

Achieving this is not necessarily difficult, as the huge surge towards eco-friendly products means manufacturers have responded well. These issues, combined with good lighting control, are key to ensuring the exterior lighting product possesses favourable eco qualities.

There’s no doubt that the world of exterior lighting is changing dramatically, and it is important that architects and designers take heed of the latest solutions available to them.

That way they can ensure their projects achieve high-end aesthetics as well as attain the high eco standards now expected from contemporary schemes.

This article was first published in FX Magazine.