Functional & Appropriate Site Lighting

by Edward Kramer, EE, IESNA (adapted by LASN)

The custom CHT luminaries (U.S. Architectural Lighting) at the Tennessee Aquarium are “Chattanooga Green” to match existing period-lighting fixtures. The architectural glass and steel apices point skyward, as do the reflectors that sit atop the modern, stylish polycarbonate globes. The luminaires have become a signature fixture for newly-restored areas in the city.

Arguably, the wide brimmed, large crowned hats created by John B. Stetson and popularized by frontiersmen such as Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill, the Texas Rangers and John Wayne, have become inextricably tied to “How The West Was Won.” The hat suited the men and the conditions. The wide brim and high crown protected the cowboy from the sun, inclement weather and low branches. The hat could scoop up water from a stream, whip a horse or cow and even be a sartorial accompaniment to courtship.

Commercial lighting, like the Stetson, should be functional. It must meet the public’s needs for proper area illumination, safety, security, maybe appropriate merchandising and, certainly, give the public space an identity and memorable appeal.

The palms, crete myrtles, and ligustrum on the property were lit using NITE-114 spot lights. The cast brass fixtures have an antique iron finish and lamped with 35-watt MR-16. The building was lit using the NITE-116 wash light. The brass fixture is lamped with 35W Bi Pin 10,000 hour xenon lamps. Key to lighting the building is to minimize the amount of light trespassing into the building. The wash lights kept the light low and the building reflected ample light to help light sidewalks that are adjacent to the building.
Photo courtesy of NiteLites Franchise Systems, Inc.

The unmistakably trend today when specifying a commercial project is to humanize the space. If it were not for the other elements and site considerations, a plain old pole-mounted cobra-head outdoor area luminaire would be the lighting fixture of default. But that’s not exactly memorable, nor the merchandising piece de resistance.

The master lighting and landscaping plan for a site may take several years to fully implement. Many different groups, public or private interests, may weight in with their desired goals for the project. Who has the vision to coordinate all the elements? Maybe the project needs a “signature” element to tie in the many components.

A decorative, colonial-style lantern, the LCJ (Sun Valley Lighting), is installed along Huntington Drive in Arcadia, Calif., east of Pasadena. The dual-mounted fixture has tool-less access to the lamp and ballast tray for easier servicing. LCJ can be pole-mounted with one to three fixtures or wall mounted. It handles up to 250 watts and is constructed from heavy-duty cast aluminum.

A closer look at the little cowboy reveals there is much more going on than the Stetson. The hat is integral, but the neckerchief, shirt, vest, chaps, boots and low-slung six-shooter make it work. Lighting is integral to the design of a commercial landscape, but it is about more than selecting and specifying proper lighting. After all, the landscape architect is creating that lifestyle experience for the space, and, if there is a retail element, bring a buzz to the area to keep the retailers happy.

“Some lighting manufacturers are offering more creative services to support landscape architects. Experience and knowledge of metal processing, structural design and paint finishes make the design staffs of such fixture manufacturers a practical, at-hand choice for design and project specification professionals to make signature projects unique.”—Ed Kramer, EE, IESNA

Cowboy outfits evolved out of functional needs, the same and always the first set of area lighting criterion for any city, municipality or private grounds. But looking beyond the merely functional aspect of outdoor area lighting, and of lighting in and of itself, maybe thinking of area lifestyles or growth provides some direction. When a site becomes a complete, integrated design, growth happens more quickly and happens the way it is wanted. And the city fathers are happy, as growth leads to increased revenue from an increasing tax base.

Over 50 E352 Monaco luminaries on Dorado poles illuminate, fittingly, El Dorado Hills Town Center in California. These stylized lanterns have cast aluminum fitters and cages, cast ballast housing assemblies and acrylic clear textured prismatic lenses.

The need to create a logo, look or identification for a municipality, campus, public or corporate park is a desire as basic as the cowboy outfit. “Light it and they will gather,’’ says Chris Bailey, the Beacon Products lighting project manager. And if they gather, they need more than a place to stand. Planters, often used in conjunction with the light poles, have become a basic way of incorporating foliage and seasonal color into a project without adding significantly to the footprint on the pedestrian area. Additional site design elements may include, but are not limited to, benches, tables, litter receptacles, signage, bicycle racks, way-finding symbols or markers, mailboxes, vehicular traffic control and direction markers, and pedestrian safety markers. Let us not forget information kiosks and newspaper organizers.

Some day LEDs will rule! These tempered-glass LEDs (LEDIA LL OD from HessAmerica) recessed into the concrete are available in four lengths. The lighting is bonded to stainless steel housings for a sealed enclosure. A remote 120 v AC or 10v DC power supply unit is required.

Many of these elements can be created from the same cast aluminum historic lamp post bases used for the lighting poles. We are even experiencing applications where sound systems are included in light poles or luminaires. Sound is one of the senses that can be used to enrich the total pedestrian/visitor/customer experience. [Editor’s note: We see Minneapolis was using light poles for another benefit—placing Wi-Fi relay nodes on them, which proved a problem.]

Seventy-two custom designed and fabricated bollards (NiteLites) illuminate the pool deck and surrounding sidewalks at the Marina Inn in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The bollards are brass bodied with cast brass caps and an antique iron finish. Two 20-watt 10,000 hour xenon lamps give the client the longest possible light. The fixtures are mounted to precast concrete anchors so they can be moved if the project dictates.

Who better than an experienced lighting fixture manufacturer to provide and coordinate all these elements in a cohesive site plan? Phil Graham, FASLA, a St. Petersburg, Florida-based landscape architect, has built a career partly on such total thinking. “Urban architecture must integrate landscape elements as well as lighting,” he says. “A total site design should provide a unique visual experience not only at night when lights are on, but also during the day when, for some projects, more people use the site for work, shopping or recreation. The goal of every lighting designer to create a rich architectural and aesthetic experience,” he continues. “If we are working on a city, municipality or other community, one approach for the design professional is to take the unique characteristics of the site and its existing architecture, incorporating the design elements into the projects.”

Today, urban jogging trails and bicycle paths—MURTs (mixed use recreational trails)—incorporate iconic lighting features, logos, litter receptacles, directional, and historic information. These projects contain both the safety and project identity elements integral with lighting for the benefit of joggers, bicycle enthusiasts or casual pedestrians.

The full-cutoff lighting (PROV-DIRS, Architectural Area Lighting) in this retail space is rather subdued, creating an amiable nighttime atmosphere, contrasted by the glaring interior spaces of the clothing store. The lighting is modern, yet has traditional aesthetics that blend well with the tan tones of the colored concrete, the rustic, decorative benches and such elements as the sundial urn, slotted between the bench and the shrubbery.

Downtown main streets have become themed centers, and shopping malls “lifestyle” centers. Entertainment has become an additional design element for such venues. The design needs to meet the needs of the people living, working and otherwise functioning within the space. Lighting is a central, often thematic, element, but requires companion elements to fully bring the site plan together and satisfy people’s expectations.

Some lighting manufacturers are offering more creative services to support landscape architects. Experience and knowledge of metal processing, structural design and paint finishes make the design staffs of such fixture manufacturers a practical, at-hand choice for design and project specification professionals to make signature projects unique.

This large, open area benefits greatly from full-cutoff fixtures (LSI Greenlee). The bell-shaped shades, mounted with classic hooks, direct the light for safe walking, but are high enough and the light spread wide enough to accent the trees, benches and bring out the red tones of the paver strip. The poles are a chocolate brown, which match the benches and receptacles.

Implementing the design and coordinating the lighting with the benches, planters, litter receptacles, signage, traffic control and graphics can get complicated when multiple manufacturers are involved. The project champion should insist the “look” be unified, not a piecemeal assortment of hardware from different catalogues. Therein lie some of the challenges for the specifier. Site materials vary, of course. Steel has the tendency to rust, and this natural characteristic could leave an unwanted “telltale” signature on expensive pavers or surface treatments. Is aluminum the desired material because of its natural ability to resist corrosion? Specifiers know there are different grades of aluminum and varying corrosion-resistant characteristics. But how does the landscape architect specify this and still be assured the contractor will furnish a material that meets the specification?

The Dacu G9 downlight (Solavanti Lighting) is fashionable for outdoor wall-mounted applications. The fixture uses a G9 capsule lamp—clear or frosted (40 watt max.), but can be changed out for color LEDs to complement the hardscape tones.

What about the finishes and colors? How will the site amenities look compared to the lighting several years out? Will they weather at the same rate? Will the client/owner be buying a future maintenance headache? How can an owner be assured that the products he receives from different manufacturers, with different processes and sources for the supplies, demonstrate the same design unity and lasting construction?

Only a few outdoor area or site-lighting manufacturers are also capable and experienced at producing their own site furnishing designs and shipping complete, finished products. Most subcontract the work. Some won’t even touch it, making total site design and its uniform coordination and execution more problematic.

Tall, yoke-mounted Beacon Ischia (ISC20) luminaires with frosted acrylic lenses proliferate and broadcast lumens o’er the pathways, trees, planters and banners at Southlands Mall in Aurora, Colo. The bold lighting seems in keeping with the bustle of shoppers, foragers and moviegoers, as contrasted to the subdued lighting at the smaller retail area picture at the top of p. 58. Lighted bollards, color coordinated with the towering pole lighting, protect the pedestrians from the traffic.

What about environmental elements—heat, ultra-violet rays, high winds, salt air or blowing beach sand? Will the site elements stand the test of time in the elements? This might be easy for outdoor area and landscape light-fixture manufacturers, but what about the signage, litter receptacles and benches?

Lighting is often the driving product on site because of safety and security issues. But lighting is often the most difficult of the engineering tasks when trying to incorporate the existing infrastructure and codes for minimum/ maxim lighting levels, let alone meeting the aesthetic and visual design considerations.

The pedestrian lighting in Branson Landing, Mo. is the Esplanade (Holophane), styled to replicate the teardrop luminaries that lighted boulevards in the first half of the 1900s.

So how does selecting lighting of a public space and selection of site furnishings compare? In the early 1980s a trend began for lighting manufacturers to provide site amenities and accessory items to projects they were lighting. It was and still stems from the designers’ needs to present a uniform theme that supports the hardscapes. Beacon, for one, began to use its high-quality metal casting, bending and finishing processes to create durable and highly serviceable standard and custom site furniture of many kinds.

It is an increasing trend to incorporate an icon into light poles, bases or luminaries. A city or corporate logo or medallion often assumes a special place in the design of benches and other site elements, as it may incorporate a theme of the community, of a corporation, or their respective histories.

The Quadro H2 (se’lux) is a 28-inch diameter pedestrian-scale, full-cutoff luminaire for HID lamping. Its modern, architectural look seems appropriate for the building’s style. At a distance, the luminaire has the appearance of an alien face. The luminaire, rated Dark-Sky friendly, is appropriate for parking lots, entrance roadways, pathways and building courtyards.

The complexity of every site project demands a “champion” to integrate the lighting and the host of site elements. Fashion trends come and go, but the place of the cowboy hat will forever be etched in history. Will your project endure the test of time, with coordinated lighting elements and site furnishings of lasting design that match?

About the author: Edward Kramer is an electrical engineer with more than 30 years of public utility experience, product development and applications expertise. He is a longtime active committee member and section leader in the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.

The author, age six.