Sounds like too many fixtures- I don’t want Disneyland !

Sounds like too many fixtures- I don’t want Disneyland !

by Mike Gambino

This has probably got to be the single most common objection I hear during a design consultation other than cost which are hand in hand as far as objections to going ahead with a lighting project go.

It comes as a surprise to some the quantity of fixtures and equipment that is essential and required to create beautiful garden lighting. And just to be clear we cannot really create beauty at night with light. Although we can highlight and dramatize the beauty that is already there with the proper selection and use of quality light sources.

Landscape garden lighting is not about aiming big flood lights mounted from overhead locations and blasting them all over the place to create daytime. Oh no it is not that at all.

It is about the selective use of multiple concealed low level relatively lower brightness lamps located throughout the space to create aesthetically pleasing results which also have the benefit of providing a feeling of safety and security for the properties owners or occupants.

It is not the case of the more pieces of equipment the more light. It is like the weaving of a beautiful tapestry, with lights for threads. The lights weave the subtle and artistic effects which you see and appreciate.

It is a mistake to remove lights from a space for budgetary purposes. Each light has a mission to perform, each is needed to complete the picture. There should not be too few or too many. This is where trust in your designer comes in.

Both vision and experience will be needed when working with lights during the day.

The past performance is a designers only clue as to where fixtures should be placed and how many. All light coming from other sources at night also need to be considered.

Ultimately the property owner has the final say with their check book. However if there are any doubts about the quantity of fixtures required to effectively light a space. And trust in the designer’s judgment and capabilities are in question. Then that designer should not have been hired in the first place.

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