Lighting Design
Light in human environments: illuminance, glare, daylight, spectral quality and — in its biological branch — light's non-visual effects on alertness and circadian timing. It spans firm engineering (task lighting, glare control) and an evolving biological literature (circadian-effective light).
Daylight access is among the most consistently valued workplace attributes in occupant research, and task-appropriate lighting is basic visual ergonomics. The circadian dimension adds a genuine but frequently oversold layer: light demonstrably affects alertness and circadian timing, while workplace-specific outcome claims (productivity percentages, health guarantees) typically outrun the field evidence.
- What lighting does each setting's task profile require?
- How should daylight access distribute across the floorplate and its populations?
- What does circadian-effective lighting evidence actually support in workplace application?
- Where do glare and screen-work conflicts arise?
- Lighting standards (EN 12464-1) and visual ergonomics research
- Daylighting research and occupant preference studies
- Circadian photobiology (strong on mechanism, developing on workplace outcomes)
- WELL and similar frameworks (read as consensus guidance, not primary evidence)
Daylight distributed as an equity question, not a seniority perk; task lighting specified per setting class; glare control designed for screen-dominant work; circadian-informed specification where adopted, stated at the strength the evidence bears.
Architectural Guidance
The translation of the concept and kit into design-governing guidance: spatial, environmental, acoustic, lighting, thermal, biophilic, accessibility, technology and identity requirements the design team must satisfy.
Kit of Parts
The definition of the complete workplace setting system — every setting type, its purpose, quantity, requirements and behavioural logic — from focus and team settings to hospitality, wellbeing and specialist environments.
Stacking and Blocking
The allocation of teams, functions and zones across floors and buildings — converting adjacency evidence, capacity models and building constraints into a spatial distribution.
Workplace Experience Pulse
A light, recurring measurement of reported workplace experience — tracking movement against the sentiment baseline without the fatigue of repeated full assessments.
Circadian inflation: laboratory photobiology converted into workplace productivity guarantees. The honest position — light matters, daylight is valued, biological effects are real, precise workplace outcome claims are premature — sells worse and holds up better.
Field studies of circadian lighting interventions in real workplaces are the missing evidence layer; most current guidance extrapolates from controlled settings.