The art, science — and magic power — of lighting
Robyn York started out as an interior designer, wanting to create that magical feeling people experience when they walk into a space and immediately love it. She assumed it was achieved through the choice of flooring, wall coverings and furniture, until she made a discovery that took her in a whole new direction.
“What I realized,” says York, “is really it’s the lighting when you walk into a room that evokes emotion. It creates a feeling, you either feel safe or scared or happy, it can make you feel uncomfortable — if you’ve ever walked into a really brightly lit space. So I started studying lighting with the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) and took courses and became lighting certified.”
The IES is a North American non-profit organization, which has been responsible for writing the basic lighting standards for the U.S., Canada and Mexico for over a century, and York is now a board member of the B.C. chapter: IESBC.
“Our organization is all about bringing awareness and education about the art of light and science, and the quality of lighting, because it’s such a vastly changing avenue at the moment, and so keeping on top of all the changes and technology is very important,” she says.
Lighting design is a major aspect of all projects, York says, in areas people don’t even think about, such as roadwork.
York says lighting design has changed quite dramatically over the past five to 10 years with the movement away from incandescent to LED, with electricians basically “having to go back to school” as “even the wiring is different.”
LED lighting has brought with it major technological and esthetic changes, York says. Incandescent lighting (such as halogen bulbs), although poor in energy efficiency, do “render colours at 100 per cent” and produce a nice, warm, candlelike glow that resonates with people, she says; however, great things can also be achieved artistically with LEDs if you know what you’re doing and are prepared to spend a little more.
“With LED, there’s so much more that goes into it,” she says. “You can pick and choose everything (colour and price) and sadly, pricing comes into it quite a bit. Because people don’t understand the technology behind it, they don’t know what the difference is between a $50 light bulb and a $100 light bulb and your builders come in and are like, ‘Oh well I can get that cheaper,’ but what you’re sacrificing is that nice, cosy, well-lit environment.”