Lighting in Design August-September 2017

Ed Space

I n spite of reports we have read in recent years about the possible demise of the traditional office and the move towards the virtual work- place, office development continues to thrive. In addition, employee wellbeing has become an increasingly important and welcome focus in office design. New office developments make it possible for employees not to be restricted to a single desk or office, standing desks are ‘in’, spaces are designed with the intention of encouraging collaboration and teamwork among personnel, and lighting is pivotal. Lighting briefs are increasingly centred on staff comfort: the lighting brief for the new Sasol headquarters in Sandton was for an efficient lighting system, designed with staff comfort in mind. Vigilant Global, a research, development and IT company redesigned its offices – interest- ingly, used only by employees – and they were required to be impressive and appealing to new recruits and support the health and productivity of the company’s staff contingent. One tends to think of office spaces being built to impress clients more than employees so it is refreshing to see that the focus is changing, especially as we spend so much of our day at work. It is also interesting that workspaces are often multi-functional and designed using move- able walls, moveable furniture, and sit-stand workstations, allowing reconfiguration for various open and closed spaces. The lighting design for these projects becomes more complex and a uniform distribution of consistent light levels does not support the diversity of tasks that the spaces allow for. Careful fixture selection is required and lighting control systems come into their own. Using a full light management system, each fixture can be controlled individually and the light levels can be tailored to support the function in each zone. Also in this issue of Lighting in Design , Gregg Cocking, in his article Light: the defining element , illustrates – by looking at three very different projects – the expertise that architects and lighting designers brought to the projects, each of which displays deftness in its design and an awareness of light and its ability to be the element that rounds off the development. This skill is evident too in the recently opened Springs Mall. The retail centre is designed by MDS Architecture, who used its location – alongside a wetland – as a catalyst for its design, which includes contemporary interpretations of tactile timber, stone and other natural materials. Natural lighting features prominently, but throughout the building there is a warm, inviting ambience, and accent lighting is used creatively to emphasise pockets of interest.

Enjoy the read!

Editor: Karen Grant (crownmag@crown.co.za) Advertising manager: Carin Hannay (carinh@crown.co.za)

Layout: Adel JvR Bothma Circulation: Karen Smith Cover: Springs Mall Photograph courtesy MDS Architecture Published by Crown Publications cc PO Box 140, Bedfordview, 2008 - Tel: +27 (0)11 622 4770 Fax: +27 (0)11 615 6108 - Website: www.crown.co.za

ABC 2 nd quarter: 3 678 Printed by: Tandym Print All issues of Lighting in Design can be viewed on our website. Visit www.lightingindesignmagazine.co.za

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LiD AUG/SEP 2017