Guide as PDF

Wall

Wall and facade lighting at night extends one's perception and defines spatial limits. Vertical illumination is significant in the visual surroundings for identifying areas in terms of their form, regardless of whether they are facades or walls covered with climbing plants. The objective may be to obtain a uniform wallwashing comparable to that in the indoor area, or to gently illuminate a building against the nocturnal environment. The arrangement of the luminaires is dependent on the desired uniformity and illuminance. In the outdoor area at night, a low brightness is often sufficient for making objects visible and for making contrasts.

Wall, 3m

Wall, 5m

Wall with texture

Wall, 3m

Observation

Wallwashers are noted for giving an even progression of brightness on the wall.
Wall 3m Conclusion

Vertical illumination emphasises the surfaces delineating the room in terms of their physical makeup.
The room is made to look bigger by brightening the wall faces.
Point-form light sources make the wall surface much more vivid. Wallwashing only acheives a uniform brightness on matt surfaces.

Lighting criteria for walls:
- uniformity of the lighting
- the choice of lamp determines the light colour and colour rendition

Arrangement

The offset from the wall should be at least one third of the wall height.
Alternatively, the light's angle of incident should be 20° to the vertical.
An optimum evenness is obtained when the luminaire spacing is the same as the offset from the wall, or at least does not exceed it by more than 1.5 times.
Wallwashers only develop their optimal evenness as of a minimum number of three luminaires.

Applications

Washlighting illumination for vertical surfaces of:
- wall lighting
- facades
- entrance areas

Preferred luminaire groups
- wallwashers

ERCO, Lüdenscheid

Benrath Castle, Düsseldorf

Berliner Tor Center, Hamburg

Concentration Camp memorial, Belzec

Wall, 5m

Observation

Given the same lighting, as the wall height increases the brightness of the wall decreases. Wallwashers are characterised by the even progression of brightness along the wall. Lens wallwashers have special lens reflector systems.

Vertical illumination emphasises the wall faces in terms of their physical makeup. The room is made to look bigger by brightening its walls and ceiling. Directed light makes the wall surface much more vivid. As the wall height increases the distance of the luminaire to the wall must be increased. The reduction of the mean illuminance on the wall can be compensated for by having a higher lamp power and by increasing the number of luminaires.

Lighting criteria for high walls:
- uniformity of lighting
- the choice of lamp determines the light colour and colour rendition

Arrangement

Whereas for normal wall heights the luminaire spacing is the same as the offset from the wall, for higher walls it must be reduced to compensate for the otherwise sinking illuminance. The offset from the wall is given where a 20° line projected down from the top of the wall meets the ground.

Applications

Washlighting illumination for vertical surfaces of:
- wall lighting
- facades
- entrance areas

Preferred luminaire groups
- wallwashers
- lens wallwashers

Regional government of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein in Berlin

Georg Schäfer Museum, Schweinfurt

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Sacred Heart church, Munich

Wall with texture

Observation

Point-form light sources at a short offset from the wall produce their own light pattern that, admittedly, does accentuate the texture, but does not permit an even wallwashing. Grazing light on walls can emphasise any surface irregularities.

Directed grazing light makes surface textures clearly visible.

Applications

The smaller the offset from the wall, the clearer the surface texture is enhanced. When using grazing light, the evenness of the wall illumination is greatly reduced.

Preferred luminaire groups
- downlights, narrow-beamed
- wallwasher
- recessed floor luminaires (uplights, lens wallwashers, directional luminaires)