DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
Issue link: https://www.southbaydiggs.com/i/226629
[ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING] Lighting designers should stay away from popular trends, says Dave McCarroll, and instead focuses on each project's unique design and potential, as they did with this private residence. Photo courtesy of KGM Lighting. BY HEIDI WALTER When asked about the use of lighting to enhance an interior space, Dave McCarroll of and with the initial cost of LED fixtures, we would recommend a control system over Kaplan Gehring McCarroll Architectural Lighting, Inc. (KGM) says that architectural LED fixtures in a residential project," says McCarroll. lighting designers stay away from "trends," preferring to create timeless yet  provocative spaces. "You may feel good in the space and not know why. In other Controlling natural daylight is the most efficient way to create balance. "Competing words, the lighting has a synergy with the architecture and really reinforces the bigger with the sun is a losing battle," states McCarroll. "Architects are masters at developing architectural idea." fenestration and shading devices that allow soft bounced light in, yet control direct glare." Interior window treatments and roller shades that are on automated control Sustainable lighting design is more than a buzzword or simply selecting sustainable system can be programmed to raise and lower automatically, depending on the angle light sources. "One must balance qualitative principles along with quantitative of the sun. The net result of such a system, McCarroll says, "is that the light level principles in order to create exceptional energy-efficient spaces, says McCarroll, an remains the same whether the day is cloudy or sunny." advocate of LED lighting because of the energy savings and reduced maintenance. "You have to be careful not to compromise the aesthetics of a space in the spirit of As for color, incorporating it into a project is a tricky thing; it can become passé very sustainability. LED lighting has finally advanced to the point that it has proper warm quickly if it's not carefully orchestrated. "We utilize color when appropriate and often color, dims easily and produces adequate light." the colored lighting may even have the ability to show imagery and video content," explains McCarroll. "Color is very powerful experientially; we just like to integrate the Most residential projects McCarroll's firm works on have lighting control systems that clipped to the architecture. We have done several projects in China and their culture light down to 60 percent, resulting in a 40 percent energy savings. "For the moment, lighting sources into the architecture and not have color changing theatrical fixtures generate significant energy savings from something as simple as dimming a halogen mandates color. In the United States we use color more sparingly and with more grace." ARCHITECT | DESIGN | BUILD 12.13.2013 133