Rotating Exhibitions

Galleries and museums require highly flexible lighting because they are constantly evolving. The average gallery will rotate exhibitions every 4 months; some will rotate more frequently or cater to weekly and seasonal events on top of exhibitions.

There are many elements to consider when illuminating exhibition spaces:

• Wayfinding – Each time a gallery or museum exhibition changes, facilitators must consider anew how light will assist in guiding patrons through space. Many museums and galleries contain large blank spaces; light is one of the first ways that exhibitors can delineate space and suggest pathways or areas of focus.

• Display Cases – Flexible lighting allows for fine adjustment around display cases in order to illuminate objects for close study whilst avoiding reflection and glare on the glass. Lightmoves has been providing bespoke solutions to illuminate display cases for decades.

• Materiality – Lighting must be finely tuned to the materials in each new exhibition. Each artwork or artefact interacts with light in a different way – whether it be textile, oil paint, ancient ceramic or otherwise.

• Light & Shade – The manipulation of light and shade  is a powerful tool used by curators to realise their vision for display pieces. Done poorly, it can ‘wash out’ exhibitions, rendering sculptures and artefacts two-dimensional. Or worse, it can obscure visibility altogether. Done well, it can accentuate form, materiality and scale. It can make a 2D object “jump off the wall” or bring drama and dimension to a focal piece.

Adjusting exhibition lighting to account for all these factors doesn’t need to be a long and difficult process – with an intelligent lighting system in place, catering to changes in each space can be quick and easy.

An intelligent lighting system is more adaptable than a basic lighting system in a few key ways – lighting control, functional presets, track lighting and flexible fixtures.

Lighting Control

With a lighting control system, lighting can be adjusted in terms of:

• brightness levels
• correlated colour temperature (cool/warm – tunable white)
• colour (RGBW)
• according to occupancy and motion sensors
• according to daylight sensors
• pre-programmed lighting ‘scenes’
• according to time, season or even the weather

Lighting can also be integrated with other building management systems like security, HVAC & automatic blinds.

The adaptability afforded by intelligent lighting control is a necessity for museums and galleries. It allows curators to adjust each lighting fixture according to the requirements of each new exhibition, and gives staff added capacity to manage building efficiency, comfort and security.

Functional Presets

Lighting pre-sets, customised to suit the particular needs of a museum or gallery, help to:

• simplify lighting control for gallery and museum staff who may not have the technical expertise to easily understand a lighting system
• automate energy saving and security measures
• quickly and easily shift between lighting scenes in response to a change in exhibition set-up

Lightmoves’ commissioning engineers are experienced in programming lighting scenes for a variety of settings, so that anyone can take full advantage of an intelligent lighting system. We employ lighting specialists, so you don’t have to!

Lighting control interfaces from Dynalite, Pharos and Zencontrol are offered in a variety of styles and finishes.

We can also customise touchscreen interfaces to incorporate the branding or preferences of the museum or gallery setting.

Track Lighting

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Flexible Fixtures

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Directing Patrons

Facilitators must consider how light can assist in guiding patrons through space.

• Many museums and galleries contain large blank spaces; light is one of the first ways that exhibitors can delineate space and suggest pathways or areas of focus.
• Busy public spaces like museums and galleries also require a variety of lighting solutions to ensure that accessibility and safety requirements are met. A cafe kitchen, for example, requires different lighting to that of a corridor or outdoor pathway, as does an exhibition, and so on.
• Lightmoves has the expertise and experience to ensure that lighting is tailored to the needs of every space whilst maintaining aesthetic and technical consistency.

Emergency and security lighting are key considerations for building management.

• Prior to upgrading, many museums and galleries contain exit and emergency luminaires that consist of a single point non-addressable system with individual batteries. In addition they are often obtrusive, large and inefficient.
• Incorporating these fittings into an integrated lighting control system means that they can be monitored remotely for efficacy and repaired before there is a safety or insurance issue. Updating the fixture to an intelligently control LED also means they can be adjusted to achieve the most energy efficient and least obtrusive option possible.
• An intelligent lighting control system can also be set to change to ‘security lighting’ after-hours. For example, this may mean that lights dim to 20%, saving energy whilst maintaining a safe level of illumination for security and insurance purposes.

Façade Lighting

Façade lighting contributes significantly to a museum or gallery’s first impressions. Done well, it can attract new visitors and make a building feel more approachable to the general public. It is one of the most efficient ways to ‘re-invent’ an established building, making it stand out as an artistic or modern space, or it can highlight unique architectural features in interesting ways.

It also serves a public messaging purpose – intelligently controlled facade lighting can be used to communicate new exhibitions or commemorate public events. In this way, it can bring museums and galleries into the ‘town square’ of public conversation.

Outdoor Lighting

Lightmoves has the expertise and product range to deliver an outdoor lighting perfectly tailored to the outdoor spaces of galleries and museums.

• Environmental sensitivity – lighting control can empower venue managers to adjust lighting levels according to time, season and environmental requirements. Our team of specialists can adjust the angle, correlated colour temperature and level of outdoor luminaries to minimise disruption to local wildlife and maximise the functionality of an outdoor area.

• Integration – Lightmoves can integrate your outdoor and indoor lighting control systems so that every luminaire can be easily managed from one place.

• IP Rated Fixtures – Lightmoves has a wide range of reliable outdoor-rated fixtures that will stand the test of time. We also have experience creating bespoke IP-rated fixtures for unique outdoor projects.

• Lightmoves has solutions for pathway & garden illumination, fountains & moats, sculptures and outdoor artworks, interactive exhibitions, ponds and waterways, and outdoor architectural/façade lighting.

It is important that lighting in galleries and museums is updated to LED.

Non-LED light sources emit UV and IR radiation, which damages artworks and artefacts over time.

LED lighting does not emit UV or IR radiation like other light sources do.

Lightmoves has updated and upgraded many galleries and museums to reflect these concerns. We have every LED solution available and we are highly skilled at transitioning old systems into new LED-based and intelligent lighting systems.

Illuminating Artwork

Colour Rendering

Colour rendering is an important factor to consider when design lighting for galleries and museums. It provides an indication of how authentically an object’s colour are represented under a particular light source.

Colour Rendering Index (CRI)

The industry standard for colour rendering is measured via the Colour Rendering Index (CRI).  The CRI is an accepted standard for assessing the colour rendering ability of a light source, where a CRI of 100 is ‘best or true’ – akin to daylight.

LEDs with a CRI below 90 can wash out artworks, particularly red pigments and skin tones. To avoid this, LEDs in galleries and museums must have a CRI over 90 to ensure authentic colour representation.

Whilst many lighting professionals will continue to work with CRI, Lightmoves now prefers the most modern approach to colour rendering – TM-30.

Colour Rendering with TM-30

As a company of lighting specialists, Lightmoves is moving towards the voluntary colour rendering standard, TM-30.

This leading-edge approach to achieving perfect colour representation was released by the Illuminating Engineering Society in 2015.

The CRI metric has been used since 1974, and many lighting specialists feel it is no longer keeping pace with advancements in lighting technology.

Where CRI measures against 8 colours (with the addition of a few extras over the decades), the TM-30 measures against 99 unique colours and includes deep reds in the spectrum.

The use of 99 color samples versus just eight allows for  a more statistically representative and reliable metric.

CRI Colour Samples

TM-30 Colour Samples

Also, CRI is measured using a light fidelity metric only, where as the TM-30 uses a more comprehensive range of three color metrics:

• Color Fidelity (Rf )
• Color Gamut (Rg)
• Gamut Shape

Aligning Focus with Intent

At Lightmoves we understand that building a functional museum or gallery involves directing focus and contextualising space.

We are also aware that museums and galleries serve a variety of functions with varying light requirements, including:

• warehousing
• conservation activities
• close reading and artefact study
• educational displays and children’s activities
• cafes and amenities
• short and long term exhibitions
• ticketed and private events
• outdoor areas and gardens
• facades
• carparks
• interactive and multi-sensory works
• shops

We have the knowledge, experience and product range to help you achieve your vision using a range of lighting techniques.

Our uniquely wide product range means we can find the perfect products for you – or custom-manufacture them ourselves – whilst our experienced team delivers lighting control solutions which add flexibility, precision and longevity to your selection.

Tunable White

Colour tunable LEDs are another important tool that curators can use to influence the mood and feel of a space.

A single tunable white light source can be dimmed from bright, energising midday light levels (7000K) to the warmer, softer tones of evening light (1600K), whilst still maintaining superior light quality and beam control.

With access to the latest DALI Device type 8 products and controls, Lightmoves can cater to any project that requires tuneable white lighting.

Remote Building Monitoring

Gallery and museums stand to benefit considerably from remote building monitoring systems which incorporate intelligent lighting control.

• In large venues containing several diverse spaces, integrated lighting control systems can configure and control all lights from any point on the network as well as create reports on the status of all luminaires in the system.
• Security & insurance risk can be minimised. When valuable pieces are rotated, lighting scenes in several areas can be changed instantaneously to assist gallery staff in the process.
• Intelligent lighting can interface with security systems. For example, an intelligent lighting control system can be set to change to ‘security lighting’ after-hours. This may mean that lights dim to 20%, saving energy whilst maintaining a safe level of illumination for security and insurance purposes.
• Incorporating emergency and ‘exit’ luminaires into an integrated lighting control system means they can be monitored remotely for efficacy and repaired before there is a safety or insurance issue. Updating these luminaires to an intelligently controlled LED also means they can be adjusted to achieve the most energy efficient outcome possible.

Energy Efficiency

Lighting Control 

Installing a lighting control solution can save up to 40% of energy costs.

Lighting control solutions utilising occupancy detecting sensors, scheduling and daylight harvesting can greatly increase cost savings.

LED Technology

Installing high-quality LED lights is one of the fastest ways to increase energy efficiency.

Not only do LEDs offer better light quality and more flexibility, they use approximately 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. LEDs also last 3 to 5 times longer than fluorescent bulbs and 30 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

While the cost of LED is higher initially, the up-front cost generally has a payback time of less than 1 year.

Extending the Life of Luminaires

Philips Dynalite’s ’soft start’ and surge limiting voltage regulation technologies protect lamps from high inrush currents and power surges, thus dramatically increasing lamp life.

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DALI Longevity

Lightmoves provides DALI-certified lighting control systems to our clients.

The Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) protocol is an established global standard which ensures that lighting systems are enduring and future-ready.

DALI-certified systems provide longevity in the following ways: 

• DALI is a universally adoptable, industry-wide standard that is not endorsed or owned by any particular manufacturer.
• The DALI-2 certification program, developed and maintained by the DALI Alliance, has created an ecosystem of interoperable products from multiple vendors. This ensures the long-term availability of compatible components, and avoids issues associated with vendor lock-in and reliance on proprietary solutions that may not be supported in the future.
• DALI is inherently flexible and lends itself to future-proof designs that extend the useful life of a lighting control system.

• Future-proofing is enabled at the luminaire level by the Zhaga-D4i connector system, which facilitates plug- and-play replacement of luminaire-mounted sensors and communication nodes.
• New extensions and certification programs (such as DALI-2, D4i and DALI+) are forward-looking and – crucially – standardised.
• Zhaga-D4i certification has enabled an ecosystem of interoperable luminaires and control devices. This allows luminaire owners to easily update their fixtures, protect their investment, sustainably extend the life of the luminaire, and keep pace with fast-moving developments in digital networking and sensing technologies.
• DALI-2 also provides backwards compatibility with earlier product generations.

• Two approaches have been developed that combine the DALI protocol with wireless technology:

1. Standardised gateways approach: Enables wired DALI networks or D4i/DALI-2 luminaires to be incorporated into certain wireless ecosystems, such as Zigbee and Bluetooth Mesh.
2. DALI+ approach: enables DALI to be used over wireless and IP-based networks.

• There are scenarios where a wired solution or hybrid wired/wireless solution is preferred or mandated. DALI provides choice and keeps future options open by enabling wired and wireless networks to operate together.