LIGHTING
considered if and how it could be used to complement his design.
“On any project, residential or commercial, I try to
incorporate the lights that are already installed on the building into the landscape lighting design,” he says. “Tey often have a mixture of 120-volt canned lights or floodlights and I try to match up the color temperatures and complement the existing lighting with low voltage lighting, so it all blends together well.” Sometimes it requires modification. For example,
the front porch featured countless can lights in loca- tions that he could not use, so he made them inoperable.
PREPLANNING AND RECORD-KEEPING
Most commercial projects are typically designed from plans and bids before construction begins. Tat means Tomas skips property walk-throughs, demos and one- on-one meetings with the property owner that are typ- ical with residential projects. “On commercial projects, you might not even have the chance to meet with the project owners up front,” Tomas says. “Tis process is typically done through construction and landscape plans and emails. It is still important to determine the goal of the project and how the spaces will be used to provide a lighting plan that best serves all the goals.”
Meeting with the owners might be limited for com- When he got into the taller areas, he chose fixtures to As with anything,
practice makes perfect. If
someone is used to one style of lighting, the best way to learn the other is to learn by doing.”
– Ken Simons, FX Luminaire
project the light further and surface-mounted directional lighting on the steeple. Te front of the church featured marble shelving, which he put to work by mounting lights on top of as well. “You want to bring your attention to the entries, espe-
cially in commercial projects,” he says. Jimmy Kidd, owner of Tranquility Lighting Design
in Utica, Kentucky, was also challenged with lighting a church. His design won the 2023 Best of Show Award: Commercial Lighting from the Association of Lighting Professionals for his design on Te First Presbyterian Church. Like Pletcher, Kidd is fascinated with the architectur- al aspects of the building, and Kidd first considers those features when designing a job. Te landscape is important, but secondary, he says. A towering steeple — 70-80 feet tall in his estimation — had to be lit. He found powerful low-voltage lights and mount them on the gutters, he says. “I had to lay on my belly on the roof to mount them. I learned a lot about linear lighting, dimming and tunable fixtures so I didn’t have to change or fumble around with lamps and could focus on being up on the steeple.” Before he even thought about climbing up the steeple, he first looked at the existing lighting on the building and
26 Irrigation & Lighting November 2023
mercial projects but coordinating with other contractors throughout the job is essential. Tomas’s team is cur- rently working on a new Char Bar restaurant and beer garden. Te outdoor space includes a patio, artificial turf and landscaping. “We got the opportunity to work with the electri- cian to coordinate where each of our lights would be installed,” he says. “I was pushing to have all the lights match, and by working with the electrician, I was able to switch some of his lights over to low voltage because it made more sense. And in this case it was less expensive.” Many commercial construction projects are under
development for a year or more before lights go in the ground. Tomas stresses the importance of visiting the project regularly and preplanning each step. “Everything is under concrete or artificial turf, so
we’ve been installing sleeving throughout the summer even though we haven’t been doing any lighting work,” he says. “If we don’t have sleeving in place, then we’re out of luck. It’s expensive to cut concrete or hire a bor- ing company.” On any job, it’s also inevitable that design changes
will occur. Since the lifespan of commercial projects is so long, it’s critical to take good notes and update your proposals regularly. “If you’re not organized and you have three or four sets of plans because of changes, it becomes difficult for crews to know what is the most current and which one they should work off,” he added. “Spend extra time to do good record-keeping making sure your crews are working off the same set of plans, and that your con- tracts are up to date so you can bill them correctly for changes.”
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Photos: AP Imagery
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