Light is a Value Multiplier

Christie’s Auction House London - lighting with RCL track heads

Very few design choices impact all other design choices as much as light. Light is a value multiplier. 

The way a space flows and its functionality is no doubt critical to great design, but the way the light guides our eyes will either make those design choices evident or obscure them. 

Your color palette is an expression of the goals of the space. Light can either make those colors vibrant or mute them. 

The furniture you choose can be incredibly luxurious and made from the finest materials but you’ll never notice it under the wrong light. 

Knoll Showroom in Chicago - recessed lighting by USAI

You get my point. The designers I support often work on projects with bold design decisions, stone-clad lobby walls or triple height atriums, palm trees driven in on flatbed trucks, but when it comes time to value engineer, it’s lighting that gets targeted. Why? 

Artwork lit by Litelab Track Heads - Lighting Design by Renfro Design Group (galleries)

Because most decision-makers don’t understand that light is one of the true universal value multipliers in a design scheme. What good is cladding your walls in rare and expensive stone if you can’t properly appreciate its color and richness? What good is hanging art in a vaulted double-height lobby only to light that art with a mediocre track head that will never reflect the beauty of the piece back to the viewers? Why choose beautiful reclaimed wooden furniture only to bathe it in shadowy, poorly placed light? 

This goes back to the “good enough” problem I’ve described before -  it’s the problematic way of thinking that lets end users think as long as they can see the feature at all that is good enough, instead of trusting their lighting designer’s opinion. Lighting both literally and figuratively reflects back every other choice made in a design to our eyes. From the fabric choice of the curtains to the wood grain of the cabinets, to the paint finish on the walls. Great light will amplify all of those choices, both in where your eye is drawn and in the quality of the light, making it more immersive. 

We recognize this in certain environments - remember live shows? (They’re coming back, BTW, go see one!) We expect them to have amazing lighting. Whether you’re watching a Hamilton on Broadway or the Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden, the lights visually amplify the scenes set before you and make them visually memorable. 

But there are more subtle versions of this effect. You don’t have to be at an amazing show to live with amazing light, if it’s well designed and high quality. We can and should live with it every day, but that can only happen if we invest in it.