Exterior Lighting
Every landscape master plan includes exterior lighting.
This is to see to it that all aspects of the design are clearly visible and appreciable at night. Major points of interest, transit areas, vegetation, and special features are all illuminated to appropriate degrees with a variety of lighting equipment.
One of the most important things this accomplishes is to bring out the details in hardscape design.
Hardscape is the key to linking the aesthetic of the house to the natural elements of the yard. Hardscape can cover up to 80 percent of the landscape and is normally built using very high-grade materials. They can be lit with down lighting fixtures that are carefully positioned to provide glare free illumination on the surface below.
Large trees, if present nearby, can be used to mount special mercury vapor lights that create the equivalent of artificial moonlight. Vertical surfaces like the front-ends of retaining walls and brick garden walls can be lit with wall lights.
Transit areas are lit with low-voltage lighting equipment.
The human eye does not need a great deal of light to see. Low-level lighting produced by energy-saving fixtures will perform very well for this purpose. It also saves money.
Exterior lighting places a very special emphasis on garden design.
Gardens design is integral to landscape design because gardens represent the beauty of nature, carefully sculpted and pointed back to home architecture. Exterior lighting fixtures must be carefully chosen and placed so that all the many shades of green that comprise the garden are clearly distinguishable.
Flowers often require special lights to bring out their colors. Lighting experts are consulted with to find the best color temperatures to render the natural hues of flowers when necessary. Sunlight has a naturally yellow quality to it because of the yellow nature of the sun itself. Artificial light, being either white or blue-white in nature, renders color differently.
Working with the right specialists assures we can find equipment that will preserve the natural hues of your flowers long after the sun goes down.
Exterior lighting also highlights unique landscaping features.
Whenever we build a special structure like a mosquito-proof pergola near a garden pond, or wooden arbor toward the back of the estate, we will install basic lighting and climate controls in that structure.
Furthermore, we make certain that all water features are illuminated as well.
Custom fountains require uplighting to show off their form. They also need underwater lights to show off the flowing water with a prism of light. Ponds, swimming pools, and reflecting pools also require lighting in order to be fully appreciated after dark.
All of these many types of fixtures create multiple layers of exterior light.
The magic of lighting a landscape ultimately results from many different levels of light superimposed on each other like layers. This makes the presentation of the scene more robust and three dimensional. It emphasizes both form and design when appropriate, and it provides support for activity in places where it is needed the most.
