Landscape Architect Articles

Perfecting the Demo: Single Evening Lighting Jobs03-27-06 | News

Perfecting the Demo: Single Evening Lighting Jobs

Experienced contractors can set and adjust an outdoor lighting system in one afternoon and evening. Final installation takes place the next day.

Text & Photos by Erik Skindrud, regional editor

Jeff Tolly makes fine adjustments to the direction and location of lamps during the lighting demo. ?EUR??,,????'??This isn?EUR??,,????'???t something you can do on a drafting board,?EUR??,,????'?? lighting designer Steve Wareham says.

Lighting is a specialized line of work that requires some training to perform accurately and profitably. While there?EUR??,,????'???s no way around this reality, the fact is that lighting work is not as demanding as it looks and once the skills are mastered, can open up whole new vistas for a business.

That?EUR??,,????'???s what Jeff Tolly of Huntington Beach, Calif. learned a few years ago when he started installing. Most of the work is completed in a single evening?EUR??,,????'??+a pressure-filled span of hours called a lighting demo.

For the demo, several things are required. Most important is that all plantings and architectural details are in place on the site. It?EUR??,,????'???s impossible to do final lighting design if all the elements aren?EUR??,,????'???t in place because the overall effect can be drastically altered if a tree or other element is added later. Also for the demo, it?EUR??,,????'???s essential that the homeowner or client can attend, because the overall design needs will depend on a number of decisions that will influence the overall effect.

?EUR??,,????'??You can?EUR??,,????'???t design a lighting portrait before you put all the plantings, all the architectural elements in place,?EUR??,,????'?? Tolly explained recently. ?EUR??,,????'??Right now, we?EUR??,,????'???re waiting to demo a home because it?EUR??,,????'???s missing three pots. We want everything to be there?EUR??,,????'??+not part of it or even 95 percent of it.?EUR??,,????'??

Lighting designer Steve Wareham places a path light before a dusk lighting demo at a Newport Beach, Calif. home. A crew of nine workers helped with hardware and final plantings before the critical test?EUR??,,????'??+which lets designers make adjustments to the on-paper lighting plan.

Each ceramic pot planter at the home is fitted with a 3-inch PVC connection that carries an electrical cord for a light fixture, a drainage line and an irrigation line through concrete or hardscape.

Preparation and Experience

While it might seem intimidating to a contractor who deals with lawnmowers and Bobcats, lighting involves mostly splicing, wire-pulling and fixture placement. Most landscape lighting these days is the low-voltage variety?EUR??,,????'??+12 volts versus the 110 volts in a household wall outlet?EUR??,,????'??+which means that handling wire is safe for the most part.

The exception, of course, is plugging the low-voltage system into the household (or municipal) power supply. This requires a transformer, which ?EUR??,,????'??steps down?EUR??,,????'?? voltage to the required level. For the demo, portable transformer units are used. For a special touch Jeff Tolly and lead lighting designer Steve Wareham have attached radio-frequency controlled switches?EUR??,,????'??+which let them turn on the lights at the press of a button. It?EUR??,,????'???s a touch that lets them impress clients with a little bit of magic.

Innovation pays off. Wareham improvised the temporary bracket that holds this bullet lamp for the demo event. The electrical cable will be hidden in the rain gutter for a permanent connection to the power source.

Fortnight lily (Dietes vegeta) serves as a backdrop for this bullet lamp, which uplights one of the wood columns that hold up the home?EUR??,,????'???s front patio. Color-coded flags help workers quickly place several types of lamp

The demo starts days or weeks in advance with a bit of research and a client meeting. For a recent job at the Newport Beach, Calif. home of Tom and Janet Marshall, Tolly and Wareham consulted plans drawn up by landscape architect Patrick Murphy of Dana Point, Calif. On the plans, Murphy indicated the position of about 15 lights (Tolly would place 59) understanding that the lighting designer would use his experience to create the final layout.

?EUR??,,????'??We trust them,?EUR??,,????'?? Murphy said. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s like irrigation or civil engineers?EUR??,,????'??+we understand that there?EUR??,,????'???s so much technical knowledge in these areas that there?EUR??,,????'???s a big advantage to working with the specialists.?EUR??,,????'??

At the Demo

The big outdoor lighting manufacturers want to help contractors get into the business and offer classes and multi-day seminars to train them to do it. Tolly and Wareham attended Unique Lighting?EUR??,,????'???s International Academy of Architectural Landscape Lighting. Most manufacturers have special phone numbers to assist contractors.

It?EUR??,,????'???s up to the contractor, in turn, to train a crew of workers who can accurately and reliably put their instructions into practice. For the recent Newport Beach demo, Tolly employed a crew of eight, with several lighting veterans among them able to splice and attach fixtures.

It?EUR??,,????'???s showtime. Note how the second-story is illuminated by uplighting?EUR??,,????'??+remember that architecture is an important part of the landscape. The juvenile liquidambar at the right of this view adds to the multi-textured effect.

For the job, the crew started the afternoon putting in shrubs and other final plantings. Low voltage lines were run from a source near the home?EUR??,,????'???s spa system controller to several points around the yard where they could be attached to individual fixtures. The electrical conduit is buried 12 to 18 inches below the surface. For the demo, connections to individual fixtures were made above ground. After final placement they were buried, or in the case of several lights on the roof, lines were secured out-of-sight in rain gutters.

Placement of the more than 50 lamps was speeded by the use of color-coded flags. Once the transformers were hooked up, lamps placed and wires connected it was showtime.

Tolly Landscape Inc. is Jeff Tolly (right), Steve Wareham (left) and this crew, which is willing to work odd hours. The reluctance of many contractors to work nights minimizes competition in the landscape lighting field, Tolly said.

As the sky faded from blue to gray Jeff Tolly hit the switch, and the lamps sprung to life. At first the tones were muted, but as the sky darkened the effect became more and more pronounced. Soon the front of the home was painted with a pleasing mix of layers and textures. Uplit trees (with leafless winter foliage) stood out and other lamps brought out columns and other architectural details on the redesigned home?EUR??,,????'???s front. Tolly and Wareham scurried to place and adjust lamp fixtures, always keeping the beams pointed away from the viewer.

Steve Wareham explained the crew?EUR??,,????'???s design philosophy.

?EUR??,,????'??Our style of lighting design is to place lamps so you don?EUR??,,????'???t see individual fixtures, but to arrange them for the overall effect.?EUR??,,????'??

By 7 p.m. (the demo was held in February) the crew headed home for the evening. It would return in the morning to install transformers and attach and bury the permanent electrical conduit lines.

Learn more about Unique Lighting and Tolly Landscape Inc.: www.tollylandscape.com and www.uniquelighting.com

The box here is a custom-made demo transformer connected to a Xenith RF control device that lets the contractors switch the show on at the press of a button.