Southwest Serenity From Every Angle

By Paul Leon, CLVLT/Night Art

A combination of uplighting and downlighting give the landscape and architecture a whole new dimension. The plant material takes on an entirely different life.

Like the majority of my projects the opportunity for this one came as a result of a referral. The client had outgrown what they had and wanted to have something that enhanced their landscape. Upon scheduling the initial meeting the client opted for an evening demonstration, as opposed to a daytime consultation. Since the landscape was existing, no outside architects or designers were involved. The lighting design was provided in-house by Night Art and achieved with the nighttime demonstration allowing the client to visually experience the different effects.

In this instance we laid out our equipment above grade and, with the assistance of their existing low end kit lighting, were able to have a ?EUR??,,????'??here?EUR??,,????'???s what you have?EUR??,,????'?? and ?EUR??,,????'??here?EUR??,,????'???s what we can do?EUR??,,????'?? comparison. It gave the client the wow response. Of course knowing the client?EUR??,,????'???s wants and needs was essential to the design plan, and was discussed just before the demonstration. After that came the fun part ?EUR??,,????'??? creating art with light. With our expertise, creative eye and the client?EUR??,,????'???s trust, their expectations were exceeded and the project was sold on the spot.

Uplighting on the columns used 20-watt 12-degree beam spread MR-16 lamps to elevate the front entry while the 12.3-watt incandescent pathlights provided warmth and safe passage to the front door.

First, the design consideration was to accentuate as well as elevate the front entry to the house. We did so by uplighting the two columns on either side of the door and catching the roofline above them. In conjunction with that, traverse lighting along the walk from the street to the entry door was essential to safely lead foot traffic to the house. Next, various focal points were defined as a Mexican Fan Palm, a Palo Brea, two Italian Cypress trees and several cacti within the front yard. These were up-lit using various fixtures and different lamp wattages and beam spreads. Several color shrubs against the house (Bougainvillea) were softly lit to bring out their flowers as well as cast interesting silhouettes on the walls. Because of an adjacent street light in front of the property higher wattage lamps were used in many instances to overcome the intrusion of this light source. To the naked eye this technique worked well, although the effect of photographing the project produced glare.

For the rear yard, the client desired special control over sections of the yard for various moods and functions. The seating area by the fireplace has downlit from tall Tiki style fixtures for eating or reading but could also be lit as a true Tiki-torch. A separate manual switch was provided for these fixtures so the client could override the automatic function if desired. The remaining lighting in that area is subtle but provides great ambience without interfering with star gazing. However, the client also has the option of shutting these off completely should the torches and fireplace be desired, creating a romantic setting.

A variety of succulent plants result from the client?EUR??,,????'???s affinity towards a xeriscape look. The Palo Brea on the left, Mexican Fan Palm, center right and Italian Cypress, right give the otherwise flat terrain some elevation.

The opposite end of the rear yard has two tall Mexican Fan Palms which were up-lit with 50 watt lamps to hit the fronds as well as graze the trunks along their length. A shielded fixture was also used to eliminate stray light. Again, some color shrubs adjacent to these palms were highlighted for depth and texture.

Along the back wall during the warm season, Red Bird of Paradise are in full bloom and highlighted with subtle accent lighting. During the cold months these shrubs are dormant and cut back to mere sticks about 12-inches above grade. Then the lighting picks up the metal art on the fence wall. A bonus feature of this area is the mirror lighting provided by the pool when the pool light is off. The reflections are superb in any season.

A closer look at the rear east seating area shows the tall downlights used for eating and reading. The tops of these all copper fixtures are reservoirs with wicks to become true Tiki-torches with or without the downlights on.

A final area is an enclosed atrium outside the master bath which has a large window. The atrium has tropical plant material and small statuary. With only two fixtures, a dynamic scene is set for anyone taking a relaxing bath.

Nightscaping products were used entirely with this particular project. The fixtures were copper, brass and marine grade aluminum with an earthtone powdercoat. A variety of lamps were used to achieve the desired effects, mainly MR-16?EUR??,,????'???s, G3 bi-pin halogens and incandescent single contact bayonets. The transformer for the front is controlled by a digital timer/photocell combination. The digital timer is more accurate and flexible than an analog and has a battery back-up in the event of power outages. Using the timer and photocell allows the system on time to be set at 4 p.m. and never seasonally adjusted as the photocell will take care of that obviously by reacting to the sunset. The system can also then be programmed to shut off any time prior to dawn, which is usually the case, most often around 1 a.m. by client?EUR??,,????'???s request. During the long winter nights, the system can also be reprogrammed to come on again should leaving for a work happen prior to dawn.

As a rule Night Art sets transformers at user friendly heights and hardwires the 120V primary for safety. Field wires are in conduit for safety as well as a professional clean look.

Handy and simple switches for seating lights created a combination of scenes and changing moods. The client needed only take a few steps to utilize this option as the switches are located nearby.

There are three transformers in the rear yard to facilitate the flexibility previously described. However, only one unit has the digital timer/photocell combination. The other two have relays which get their command from the other transformer. This eliminates multiple photocells which cannot be calibrated to come on at the exact same time. A single photocell has everything illuminating at once.

Our work was validated by a phone call from the client who, when returning from out of town, couldn?EUR??,,????'???t wait to let us know their pleasure. So much so, that they drove up and down the street multiple times enjoying every angle. In fact, the two tall palms in the rear can be seen several blocks away and provide a great feeling of coming home.

These 40-foot tall Mexican Fan Palms can be seen from several blocks away and serve as a welcoming beacon to the client after a long business trip out of town. MR-16 3540 and 5012 lamps provided the punch needed.