Lighting up your office

A good environment is sure to make for creativity. When you work you try to avoid nearly all distractions and concentrate all your thoughts on your craft. This craft will go well if the setup you work in is well built and maintained. An ideal work environment is more than just necessary for good productivity. Nowadays, a lot of thought is put into how to set up your work environment to suit you best and to get the best out of you.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)

Medical research has proved the complications produced by ill planned buildings and has dubbed a term for aliments caused due to various factors of such a structure known as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). SBS has many varying disadvantages including employee sickness, low job satisfaction, absenteeism etc. SBS has many causes ranging from poor air quality to poor lighting. To avoid such complications architectural engineering includes fields of study which are focused upon how to set up a healthy work environment using proper lighting. A lot of research goes into how the office should be lit in order to get the best of both worlds; aesthetic value of the place and better productivity.

Above: Indoor cafe restaurant - mood lighting, uplighters and ceiling lamps

Lighting and light design for work environment and offices

Proper lighting is very important for a work environment. People put in great effort to set up their offices and if the lighting is not good, all their work projects the words boring and colorless.

A brightly lit office might be good for doing paper work etc but it diminishes the beauty of the furniture and also hurts visibility through reflection if computer screens etc are involved.

Similarly, a dark office is just not acceptable as it would cause great strain on the eyes and also hinder the image of how a work environment should look. Therefore, a perfect blend between different light shades and intensities is required for achieving the perfection required for a workplace.

You should firstly consider the location of other ambient light sources like the natural lighting from the windows etc. This is important because in the daytime you want to make use of as much natural lighting as you can while maintaining the balance that it does not affect you.

This also helps in saving energy and cuts down cost. But always be sure to blend your indoor lighting with the natural lighting to give the effect of coolness. Also you may need to setup lights of different color temperature for the daytime and the evening. This helps in bringing different look to your furniture while keeping the stress of eyes and headaches at bay.

Above: Interior shop lighting - ambient uplighting - in an aquarium and pet shop

Lighting and equipment and obstacles

While planning lighting design for your office always make sure to take into account the positioning of your equipment like computer terminals, laptops, printers, projectors etc. Then position your lighting fixtures accordingly. This would prevent any glare on the computer screens and also any electrical disturbance.

The positioning of your lighting is also important for making your equipment look better under light. Task lighting should be placed appropriately. This can be done by adding adjustable reading lamps to your tables and also beside the visiting chairs.

Types of lighting

A single overhung light source can be ideal when used in collaboration with side lamps or LED strips. LED lights can also be used to highlight the bookshelves and showcases. Also tall lamps can be placed in corners while keeping the central lights dim which would give a slightly dark but comfortable look.

Wall uplighters can also be used in combination with paintings to give your office walls an artistic feel. The color of the office walls also plays a great factor in deciding the lighting design. You have to choose what color lighting would be best suitable with the color of the walls to give the best result.

Lighting and HR staff concerns

You can make an office look inviting with the use of proper lighting. Generally offices are considered to be boring work oriented places with dull environments. Through proper lighting and décor this can be changed. You have to utilize the space and lighting in such manner that it invites the person instead of bothering him and wanting him to run away as quickly as he can.

Many professional companies are paying great heed to proper light design to make the offices more comfortable thus enhancing the creativity of their employees. The science of interior design pays great deal of attention in detailing of these little things.

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