— LuxLab / Designing with Light
Designing with Light.
A typological guide to architectural lighting. Every building type has its own discipline — its own contrast ratios, colour temperatures and its own reasons for restraint. This is how Luxitecture thinks about each of them.
01 — Culture
Museums & Galleries
Light for the object, not the room.
Museum light is a discipline of restraint. The room recedes, the artwork advances. Beam control, colour fidelity and conservation-safe exposure are non-negotiable.
- 01CRI ≥ 95 with R9 > 90 for pigment truth
- 02Aim 20°–30° from vertical to avoid glare on glass
- 03Tight beams — spill destroys the object-in-space effect
- 04Dim to conservation exposure limits (50–200 lux)
02 — Work
Offices & Administration
Visual comfort as productivity infrastructure.
The modern office is not a grid of task lights. It is a layered environment where ambient, task and accent light coexist — tuned for long screen hours and human circadian rhythm.
- 01UGR ≤ 19 at every workstation orientation
- 02300–500 lux on the task, softer on surroundings
- 034000 K core, tunable where possible
- 04Vertical illuminance for faces in meeting spaces
03 — Community
Public Buildings
Orientation, dignity, welcome.
Libraries, civic halls, transport interchanges. Light here works as wayfinding and as the material voice of a public institution.
- 01Hierarchy of vertical surfaces to guide movement
- 02Consistent CCT to signal a single building identity
- 03Glare control at every threshold and stair
- 04Emergency and normal lighting choreographed as one
04 — Public & Outdoor
Façades, Paths & Landscape
Reveal the architecture. Respect the night.
Exterior lighting is a civic responsibility. Every lumen must serve the building, the pedestrian, or the ecology — never the sky.
- 01Full cut-off optics, zero uplight where possible
- 02Warm CCT (2200–2700 K) for ecological restraint
- 03Graze and wash to reveal material, not to flood
- 04Curfew dimming and asymmetric distributions
05 — Contemplation
Sacred & Memorial Space
Light as silence.
Chapels, mosques, memorials, meditation rooms. Here light is not a service — it is the subject. Sources disappear; effects remain.
- 01Concealed sources, only the effect is visible
- 02Warm 2700 K or below, high CRI
- 03Slow, gentle dimming curves
- 04Preserve deep shadow — contrast is the ritual
06 — Living
Residential
Home is a lighting scene, not a switch.
Residential design is where restraint pays back most visibly. Layers of ambient, accent and task light — recallable as scenes — turn a house into a lived architecture.
- 012700 K throughout; 2200 K after sunset
- 02Three layers minimum: ambient, task, accent
- 03Dim-to-warm on every fixture
- 04No downlights over seating; wash the walls instead
07 — Shop
Retail
Light sells the product, not the ceiling.
Retail light is contrast engineering. The eye follows brightness ratios — 5:1 minimum between merchandise and surround for the object to read as desirable.
- 01Accent-to-ambient ratio 5:1 minimum, 15:1 for luxury
- 02CRI 95 with R9 > 90 for skin tones and fabric
- 03Warm 3000 K unless the brand demands cooler
- 04Track systems for merchandising flexibility
08 — Hospitality
Hotels & Restaurants
Guests should feel it before they see it.
Hospitality light is written for arrival, dwell, departure. It flatters faces, warms materials, and quietly stages every threshold between public and intimate.
- 012200–2700 K, dim-to-warm below 10%
- 02Vertical light on faces at every table
- 03Fixture invisibility — no visible lamps in sightlines
- 04Scene control zoned to time of day
Next
Every typology deserves a project. Bring us the brief and we will bring the light.