Day and night, we sometimes spend hours at our desks without stopping to work. That’s why artificial light is so important to our ability to stay focused.
According to Actineo (Observatory of the quality of life in the office): “Inadequate lighting in the workspace can lead to fatigue and eye irritation as well as headaches. But with the right level of lighting, the number of errors and accidents is reduced and visual fatigue is reduced.
Here are our tips for good lighting that will help you to be efficient at work.
As well as achieving an aesthetic result, it is important to adapt office lighting to each moment of the day, so it is advisable to use three types of lighting:
1. General lighting :
General lighting provides uniform light throughout the workspace and serves primarily to avoid shadows and strong contrasts. Depending on the project, this general lighting can be provided by ceiling or wall lights.
Avoid spotlights and prefer lighting with uniform light distribution.
2. Focal lighting :
Focal lighting is one of the most commonly used types of office lighting. It is important to have a slightly brighter and more direct light in each workstation to allow you to work comfortably and with sufficient visibility in each work area. Do you work on a computer? If so, a low-intensity lamp should be installed nearby, on the side or back of the machine, to avoid tiring your eyes.
Beware of direct glare and do not direct any light beam into your line of vision. Luminance glare can also be annoying, so avoid lacquered office surfaces such as shiny work mats and choose matt surfaces instead.
The screens should be placed slightly away from natural or artificial light and at right angles to it.
3. Decorative Lighting :
Decorative lighting aims to create a warm and pleasant atmosphere and make a space more attractive by highlighting its shapes, colours and textures. This type of lighting in offices is used in areas such as the reception area, where we also try to highlight specific elements or colours to emphasise the corporate aspect of these spaces.
4. Colour temperature :
According to the Observatory of the quality of life in the office: “For office activities, bulbs with a colour temperature of between 3000 and 4000°K are recommended. Generally speaking, powerful lighting (over 500lux) should have cool tones, while weak lighting (under 300lux) should have warm tones.
5. Light that adapts :
While it is important to choose office lighting to suit your needs, it is also important that it is scalable and can be adjusted to suit all situations. If it is not effective, it will cause fatigue, requiring the eyes to adapt.
Dimmers, beam tilting, articulated arm, it is up to the light to adapt to you, not the other way around!
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LM5P – Le Mouton à 5 Pattes can provide you with many other valuable tips for lighting design and show you how to illuminate different types of plants in a spectacular way. We also offer lighting studies and night renderings for a better visualisation of the lighting principles.