User centred lighting design process

Paper in proceeding, 2012

This paper is concerned the user-centred lighting design process and the need of collaboration between the architect, the interior designer and the lighting designer, when working with the process. The user-centred lighting design process have when used, the possibility to fulfill light-related goals concerned visual comfort and light-related public health. A literature review was performed based on articles about man and light. The literature review was combined with research in the lighting design process performed within a Thesis project in Lighting Science at Department of Architecture at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the project was common knowledge in lighting design written down and three types of lighting design processes were described. The first was a general and visual approach to lighting design. The process is performed with computer calculation only and not related to daylight, the user´s senses or the colours of the surfaces in the space. The second process is a basic lighting design process of four steps. The steps are concerned the space, the user and the design of daylight and the complementary electric lighting, done in contact with the space and the users senses. The third process that was described was the user-centred lighting design process. The process is similar to the basic lighting design process but the user´s needs psychologically, physiologically and visually are met with an extended care in all four steps of the design process. It is concluded that the user-centred lighting design process, when performed in a professional way, lead when used to a higher fulfillment of goals according to visual comfort and to a positive impact for light-related health, when compared to when the two other types of lighting design processes are used. A cooperation between the architect, the interior designer and the lighting designer make sure that knowledge about the space, the user´s need of light, lighting analysis, lighting design and knowledge about lighting technique is present in the lighting design process.