Office lighting is more than just choosing light fixture types. Most of the office staff spend almost 8-10 hours of their day in the office. Office lighting can make or break an employee’s zest for working. So having a pleasant, habitual, and comfortable work environment for them is very important.
Here is an office lighting design guide to help you in your office interior in the most efficient way.
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Ergonomics of lighting
Ergonomics is concerned with designing and arranging lights in such a way that light and people interact with each other in the most efficient and safe way.
Ergonomics is a very important part of every office lighting design. Ensuring sufficient lighting around your workspace is the most important part of good ergonomic lighting. Inadequate lighting forces your eyes to work overtime to make sense of the task, creating eyestrain and headaches.
Impact of Office Lighting Design on productivity and quality of work
It’s proved that more exposure to natural light helps employees to be more productive, creative, and healthy. Workers deprived of natural light are more tired, have headaches due to eye-straining, and are less active.
Well-designed office lighting can help in keeping the workers healthy, productive, and motivated at the same time.
Suitable Light for an office
The lighting in any office should provide a wide spread of illuminance of light. The layout should be planned in such a way that there are a smaller number of shadows cast in any of the spaces.
The most ideal choice for office lighting is LED.
Benefits of LED Lighting
- LED can be dimmed as per the daylight and eyestrain.
- It is an energy efficient alternative because of its longer shelf life.
- LEDs don’t use energy in the form of infrared radiation.
- They can last for up to 50,000 hours.
- LED panels help to eliminate glare, which can improve comfort and workability.
Use Maximum Natural Light
Natural Light is the best source of lighting for any space. In an ideal situation, natural light should act as primary lighting and all the artificial lighting should be secondary. The work environment feels welcoming and brighter in the daylight.
Positioning the workstations or cubicles such that they face north or south can also help. By this, you can avoid direct sunlight as it can create glares.
Using more natural lighting sources is also very cost-efficient as we save on a lot of energy. With new technologies like daylight harvesting systems, we can now have automated dimmable lights in accordance with the natural light present.
Use Different Light Sources
Office lighting is not just limited to overhead or desk lighting. Lighting is also used for visual appeal, particularly in corporate offices where companies would like people who visit to get a good first impression, much of which can be achieved by good lighting.
Indirect lighting can help in subtly illuminating the workspace and relieve eyestrain.
Non-reflective background surfaces, like a matte finish or muted colour furniture, can positively influence a work environment.
Colour temperature for an office
There is no set thumb rule for light colours of any office.
Having said that, cooler bluish and white lights are ideal for spaces where more concentration on work is required.
Warm, yellowish-toned lights work well in spaces where people come for relaxing.
Save Energy
The best way to save energy in an office is by using LEDs and setting up motion-censored lights.
Dimmers are also an efficient way of energy saving.
Install Lighting Control Systems
- This system helps in utilizing lighting sources more optimally, saving power and thus saving money.
- With this technology, lights fixed in the office will be included in that one system and will make the entire process of monitoring and using the lighting much simpler.
- This system makes the most out of natural daylight by regulating the lighting in different areas of your office.
- Areas that aren’t in constant use, such as corridors, toilets and meeting rooms, can benefit from this as the system will ensure these areas are only lit when they are in use.
- Dimmable switches can be installed to control light levels in meeting rooms where projectors are used.
Office Lighting Design Guide for Each Room
Ergonomics is involved in not just the lighting design of a workstation but the whole office that is, from the reception to the communal spaces. Here is a guide for you to help you have a clear idea of the requirements of each room in an office.
Entrance and Reception
First impressions matter a lot so the entrance lighting has to be impactful. Lights in this area can give a dramatic and soothing effect. So, choose wisely.
Use downlight for accent lighting and glare control.
Light fixture types like pendant lights can be used in a group of 2-3 lights to enhance the ambiance.
Corridor and Stairway
These are challenging areas to light as most of the time they don’t have any natural light. These are also low-traffic areas so you have to find the balance between over lighting and making the space so dark that people feel unsafe when in that area.
Ceiling or wall-mounted lights and recessed lights are the perfect fit for stairways and corridor spaces.
Use of strip lighting on the floor or along the walls to serve as a guide for people passing through the office.
Office Lighting in Open Plan Workspace
It requires high illuminance of light to maintain a workable, positive atmosphere. Daylight harvesting is the most efficient solution for an open floor plan.
Recessed ceiling-mounted lights help to light up the workspace homogeneously.
Add spotlights or downlights to avoid any dark spots.
Ergonomic is an integral parameter for any office lighting and it should not be neglected under any circumstances.
Desk
Even if you have ceiling lights for the workplace, having a fully adjustable task light on the desk can never go wrong. Desk lamps at individual workstations provide both direct, task-oriented, and indirect background lighting which helps reduce glare.
Ensure that the task lights are placed on the opposite side of the writing hand to avoid casting shadows.
Executive Office
The executive office has to be a very elegant space. It requires high illumination.
Accent lights can focus on special areas and artistic elements.
Install smart light control.
Use suspended luminaire and track lights for accent lighting.
Meeting Room
Meeting rooms are spaces where presentations, important work-related discussions, and workshops take place.
The lighting here should ideally combine warm and cool light to balance the atmosphere of the space.
Accent light and ambient light, when used in collaboration give an aesthetic effect to the meeting room.
Kitchen Area
The light above the cooking counter should be sharp and shadow-free.
Whereas the serving island can have warm lighting.
Communal Space
The atmosphere in this area has to be very relaxed.
Dimmable lights and tabletop lights work best in such spaces.
Along with this, make sure that the communal space is in an area with a good amount of natural light as it helps in reducing stress.
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