Four layers
of light
Rooms that feel wrong are usually lit with one layer. Adding fittings does not fix it; adding layers does. Here is the structure we specify against, from residential to hospitality.
Ambient: the base you almost never see
Indirect or wide-beam light that sets the room's brightness floor. It should be dimmable and it should not be the layer you notice — coves, wall washing, or a diffuse ceiling source.
Task: light where work happens
Worktops, desks, mirrors, reading positions. Task light needs a higher colour rendering index and a beam that lands on the surface rather than on the person's head.
- CRI 90+
- Anywhere colour matters: mirrors, kitchens, retail display.
- 2700-3000K
- Residential and hospitality warmth.
- 3500-4000K
- Offices, back-of-house, technical areas.
Accent: what the room is about
Art, stone, joinery, a facade detail. Accent light is the layer that photographs, and it works on contrast ratio: roughly three times the ambient level on the focal object.
Control: the layer that decides if the rest survives
Scenes for morning, service, evening and cleaning. Without control, staff default to everything on, and the scheme collapses into the flat look it was designed to avoid. We specify control at the same time as the fittings, not afterwards.
