Lit Environment

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The Lit Environment

Derek Phillips, Architectural Press 2002

The is a good primer on the techniques of illuminating buildings and open spaces. From the outset Phillips, who founded his own architectural lighting practice back in 1958, points out that it is still unusual for architects and lighting designers to be asked to design an entire lit environment. Instead, the collection of roads, buildings, squares and landmarks such as statues that make up urban areas are - if lit at all - usually treated separately. 'It is only when these are coordinated into a whole that a satisfying night environment or 'nightscape' is likely to be achieved,' argues Phillips.

The first of its four sections defines the role of exterior lighting, exploring the natures of different building types and, importantly, the spaces between them. 'No two towns or cities are alike, and what is right for Athens would differ widely from what was appropriate in Durham,' Phillips writes, 'but what is right for all is that ideally there should be a visual masterplan.' He recognises that a lack of political cohesion and the dynamic nature of urban areas means that masterplans can never be finalised, but guidelines are essential to create a vibrant night time environment.

The French city of Lyon is cited as an example of a partnership of planning and design professionals working together with local business to create revitalised nightscape of well lit streets, piazzas and fountains which attract people and work against the trend of so many towns to have a 'dead heart' in the evening. While on a much smaller scale than Lyon's Place de Terreaux, the Bond Court Gardens in Leeds illustrates how attractive modern mast lighting, paving and the provision of a boules court and chess tables transformed a surface car parking into what Phillips calls 'an oasis for office workers'.

Phillips is an advocate of the notion that night time lighting can give expression to the 'Second Aspect of Architecture', which is to say that artificial lighting can totally transform how a building feels and appears. For example, glass curtain walled buildings which reflect light and so appear impenetrable during the day can become open, beacon-like cubes in the darkness. However, there is too much similarity in the methods of exterior lighting used for very different types of building, Phillips argues. A stone medieval church and a glazed contemporary cinema have very different textures and masses, so require different approaches.

The book's second section tackles the aesthetic and functional issues arising from illuminating roads, paths, cycle tracks, car parks, sports grounds and rivers. It also deals with what Phillips calls 'incidents', that is focal points such as bridges, fountains, statues and trees, as well as one-off ephemera such as the 'son et lumiere' projections associated with concerts and celebrations. Lighting solutions for statues and fountains can be complex, including self-lit statues such as The Beacon at Fenchurch Street, London, a 27 metre tall pole supporting eight laminated glass disks. However, lighting for statues can also be simple: The Little Dancer, a statue of a seated ballerina in London's Covent Garden, is illuminated by a single spotlight placed on a nearby streetlighting column. Phillips also draws attention to occasions when decisions not to light a sculpture is the correct one, as was the case in Anthony Gormley's massive Angel of the North near Gateshead.

The third part of the book, Tactics, gets to grips with the technical side of lighting night time environments, with text and tables describing the various types of lamp fittings available and explaining their differing light qualities, efficiency, rates life and wattages. Other useful tables in this section describe suggested levels of floodlighting on different building materials and recommended exterior lighting (lux) levels for a range of open spaces.This section also examines issues relating to capital and running costs, and the maintenance of lamps.

In a career which has seen him being a RIBA Council member and president of the Chartered Institute of Building Services's predecessor, Phillips has been vice-president of the International Association of Lighting Engineers and a consultant to UNESCO concerning ancient monuments in Sri Lanka. Not surprisingly, The Lit Environment can thus draw on an impressive array of international projects, travelling to Europe, the Middle East and the United States in search of innovative yet instructive schemes.

The final section is a sequence of 30 case studies, illustrating a range of lighting schemes for city centre, university campus, office, shopping, hotel and leisure, marine, residential and industrial environments. There are plenty of examples from projects closer to home. In London he examines the re-lighting of Victoria and Albert Museum, Somerset House and Trafalgar Square. There are, amongst others, also accounts of lighting Arundel town centre, the Rows in Chester, Bristol's Millennium Square, Bluewater shopping centre in Kent and regenerated dockside area and Nottingham University's Jubilee campus.

Throughout the book Phillips underlines that the purpose of lighting night time environments is for the enjoyment of the public who will use them, whether they are shopping, dining, working, driving or simply out for a walk.

Mark Moran