This post is prompted by an "smart lighting" article I read recently. It was written by a well-respected member of the Custom Installation community and someone for whom I have a huge regard. The article eulogises a variety of “Smart Lighting” benefits: security, scheduling, occupancy sensing and simulation. Custom scenes can shift from work mode to relax mode. There are apps and remote control; you can do it all from the beach if you want (we know no-one wants to do that, but technology companies still seem to think it's a thing). It all sounds really smart. Is it? Really?
There’s no mention anywhere in the article about the quality of the lighting itself. That’s not good enough. If you’re a homeowner making a significant investment in what you hope is going to be a transformational development for your house, you want it to be fantastic. Let’s make smart lighting truly smart by making it beautiful as well. Great lighting schemes don't just happen. Let's put lighting design front and centre of any smart lighting project.
Great lighting design means working with the architecture, the interior design and our clients' personal preferences to create something that is truly bespoke to the space we are lighting. When we are looking at a lighting design we are considering what features we are looking to accentuate, how we are going to work within the architectural framework we have. We're evaluating which fittings and which particular performance characteristics (output, colour temperature, beam width) we need to deliver the light we want. We're looking at how the fittings might be dimmed - there are a number of routes - and how they are going to be controlled. We spend a lot of time on kyepad configuration; we strongly believe that well-designed, intuitively engraved keypads are the gateway to a great client experience.
The control element is important in all of this but it's the enabler. On its own, divorced from the lighting element it's just a layer of technology. A lighting design that simply focuses on the control element is not going to give you inspirational lighting. Employing a lighting controls specialist to design your lighting is a bit like employing a chef who knows a lot about knives, pots and pans but doesn't really care about food...
The market is changing. Lutron in particular has woken up to the importance of light as well as control in their offering. Their Ketra offering in the States is a range of light fittings with intelligence built in. They introduced Lumaris to the Europeran and African markets at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) in 2025. In 2026 they've accelerated the process; Ketra is coming to Europe and they're introducing Orluna fittings with a tunable white light engine, again with the technology built into the fittings. A control company embracing light is going to shift the dialogue. These are going to be interesting times. For us it's another tool in our armoury and we're keen to get our hands on it to see what we can do and how it might fit into our wider design offering.
We started this article bemoaning how lighting control gets panned when the lighting design isn't up to scratch. Let's flip that on its head. If you've got great lighting, a lighting control system makes it truly smart. Our clients love their lighting and the control that goes with it. The quote below is from one of our earliest finished large projects. Julia catches it just right; "painting with light" is such a beautiful way of expressing what great lighting and control can do when they're designed together.
“Lutron is an absolute must. It’s easy to work with – it is like painting with light giving a third dimension and enhancing all the features we worked hard to create. I am delighted with the results.”
Julia Schwarzmann
