Lighting in Design Q2 2023

Office lighting revisited In the Q1 issue of Lighting in Design , we ran an article on office lighting best practices courtesy of www.opensourcedworkplace.com. Local senior electrical engineer and lighting designer, Bjorn Smidt-Hart reached out to the magazine after the publication of the article with some concerns.

W hile overall, the information was perti nent, he was concerned that some of the guidelines presented in the article, without the application of the fundamental core principles of lighting in place, might be endanger ing the public unknowingly and lead to dissatisfied clients. Smidt-Hart was invited to comment on the article, and offer his advice to those tasked with providing office lighting: 1: Before picking lighting sources and finalising on them, it is necessary for those in charge to study the office layout and plan carefully. Otherwise, it could lead to haphazard placement of lights which would then cause more disruption in office activities – poor positioning of lighting sources is as bad as poor lighting itself. Smidt-Hart says: To elaborate on the placement of lights, one needs to consider what activities and tasks are being undertaken within the workplace, the office. The activities of an advertising agency

vary greatly from those of an accounting office. Thus, these varying activities would require varying lighting conditions in order for the activities to be undertaken safely and preformed efficiently. Table 1 of SANS 10114 Part 1: Artificial lighting of interiors prescribes the minimum maintained illuminance values for various interiors, areas, tasks, or activities. Additional compliances to national building regulations and emergency conditions must be complied with. Thus, the activities and tasks within a space are to be complemented equally with quality lighting to allow employees to perform these safely and productively. 2: Ceiling lighting is one of the first concerns when it comes to choosing office lights, as these will be fixed in maximum quantity all over the office space. It is important to ensure that the overhead lights don’t have glare to them, that is, they are not overly bright. Furthermore, the positioning of the ceiling light should not be directly over the

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LiD Q2 - 2023