Date: 18.01.09

I seem to be advising on a number of dining rooms and catering areas currently. Certainly a romantic meal is a favorite of mine whilst we endure these long winter nights, So I thought I would share some thoughts on the eating experience for this weeks blog!

When you specify and light a dining area whether it be a commercial or residential space; the importance of illumination and its affect upon human experience is paramount. Beyond basic sustinance, eating is (intentionally) a pleasurable experience and the interior scheme requires the designer to maximise the dining ambience – particularly with a mind to the life blood of any successful restaurant or cafe – the favourable reaction of paying customers – both new and returning!

Naturally the environment needs to match the desired function of the dining area too and it may have a multitude of purposes . For instance a commercial dining space at lunchtime often requires a fresher brighter lighting scheme than a more intimate evening one. A residential dining room may be a place to do homework or study as well as have a diner party.

Control of our choices of light source is vital and a simple way to do this is to separate them into individual circuits by location and function. This allows us to individually dim or turn off layers of light, allowing us to balance and manipulate the light to suit it’s purpose.

Dining tables are intimate spaces of meeting and sharing. Focus the light over the table with a low glare low voltage downlight with a tight beam of light. The lamps that go into downlights can be chosen with degrees of spread – to cast the light widely or more tightly focussed. Glare comes from exposed lamps so minimise this uncomfortable experience by choosing a recessed downlight, and even consider the option of a honeycomb baffle to shield the source from the eye. Ideally the table should be the highlight – with darkness around it for an intimate mood.

A pendant over a table brings a visual focus and emphasises this place of meeting and sharing into something special. It’s can be an opportunity to make a real statement. This sophisticated black shaded pendant focuses the light down onto the table through the glass spheres and also acts as a form of uplight by restricting any other illumination. Sophisticated and sculptural.

Around the perimeter of the room, an accent light does help bring a balance to the illumination of the space so that not all the light is from the one source at the table – particularly in a residential dining room. Picture lights are a neat way of achieving this effect. However, be careful that fluorescent sources can be difficult to dim so choose an incandescant lamped picture light that will allow dimming or at least make sure you use a warm white T5 lamp.

My tip for this week – take one of the many restaurant meal and a bottle deals currently available and sit with some good company and wonder how you could improve the lighting and the interior – it works for me!