How Architects Use Smart Lighting to Elevate Their Projects

Lighting has become an essential design feature, as important to a home's overall aesthetics as the choice in color, furnishings, and style. As architects embrace these changing dynamics, they've recognized how beautiful lighting fixtures can transform a space, not only by the layers of light they add but by their shape, material, and radiance. 

When carefully selected and installed, the right lighting fixtures define a space, integrating seamlessly into Cape Cod, Colonial, Tudor, or Greek Revival architecture. As Frank Lloyd Wright said, "More and more, so it seems to me, light is the beautifier of the building." 

Here, we'll explore how today's lighting fixtures complement architectural designs. 

SEE ALSO: Designing with Light: Lutron Light Fixtures

Statement Fixtures

When we think of lighting design, our minds often turn to lighting’s effects, including how it illuminates a space and the mood it evokes. However, with today's advanced designs, the fixtures themselves become the focal point, providing stunning illumination from unique pendant lights, lamps, and chandeliers. 

These fixtures set the tone and ambiance while creating depth, dimension, and visual interest. 

Advanced Illumination as an Art Form

One of the most advanced lighting systems in the world is Lutron's Ketra. With 70 patents, it's redefining how homeowners illuminate interior and exterior spaces. 

Ketra Ready Solutions offer designer fixtures that integrate with high-performance lamps. The possibilities are endless, from fixtures inspired by nature to those with a unique artistic touch and modern design. Some incorporate blown glass for clean lines and timeless beauty, while others add layers of elegance with opaque glass.

These lights can adjust in color temperature and intensity to create the ideal light for every occasion.

Today's Ambient Light

One of the leading trends in lighting design is the quiet ceiling. Instead of drawing attention to themselves as focal centerpieces, fixtures quietly illuminate a home in soft brilliance. 

Two of the leading manufacturers in this field are DMF and Lutron. Both manufacturers create two-inch aperture recessed downlights that blend in with an architect's design while filling a home with powerful ambient light. This light evenly fills a space, reducing shadows while providing a welcoming environment. 

These systems also incorporate the in-demand natural light technology that delivers a warm, near-amber glow in the evening for a relaxing atmosphere. 

Hidden Fixtures

Along the same lines as the quiet ceiling is today's hidden light fixtures. This concealed lighting provides an ambient glow that seems to fill a space from an unseen source. Architects can achieve this almost otherworldly sensation by integrating LED tape lighting. 

Contro4 offers one of the most advanced systems with its Vibrant Linear Lighting solution. These LED light strips provide a premium light diffusion experience, enabling homeowners to personalize their lighting throughout the day by changing the color, temperature, and brightness.

Ketra's LSO Lightbar Slim is also designed to be tucked away while leaving stunning illumination in its wake.  

Endless Possibilities

Whether aiming for a sleek, minimalist look or an opulent and elegant aesthetic, lighting fixtures can elevate the overall feel of your luxury home. Personalized expressions of style can become the centerpiece of a home's design. In their beauty, functional objects become works of art.

At SmartHome Solutions, Inc., we work with architects to help bring out the best in their designs and structures through the power of light. To learn more about our process, sign up for our newsletters and receive information on the latest industry innovations and trends.