Office lighting has to meet a wide range of requirements: in every project, designers face the challenge of uniting regulatory specifications, economic goals, structural conditions, and design ambitions within a single concept. To avoid assessing the quality of the lighting purely by quantitative criteria such as illuminance or energy efficiency figures, a conceptual model based on lighting functions is helpful. It frees the lighting from static room dimensions and shifts the focus to how a spatial situation is used - indoors, on the facade, and also in the outdoor areas.
In this way the function becomes clear: should an area of the space represent, guide, enable concentrated work, support open communication, or offer inspiration and variety? The model of lighting functions enables designers to respond flexibly to the most diverse architectural conditions and working methods in an increasingly dynamic working world, to assemble lighting tasks in a modular fashion, and to scale areas of a space as required. It is perfectly suited as a basis for qualitative, perception-oriented lighting design. At the start of every lighting project, it makes sense for designers to ask themselves the following three questions for each functional area required:
- Why are we lighting? What strategic, architectural, and functional significance does the space or spatial zone hold for the company?
- What can light achieve? Which tasks in the office can be supported through lighting in order to perfect the use of the space?
- What does the ideal lighting solution look like? Which individual lighting strategy and which types of lighting are suitable as a basis for the lighting design?
