048
PROJECT / SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND Photograph: Andrew Lee
The double height space of the cafe meant a punchier luminaire was required so Mike Stoane Lighting developed the Fatty which is run at the full 1000mA giving 2000lm consuming 36W (55lm/W).
they were all about. I thought that if we could get that here it would be marvellous. Light is so important to pictures in so many ways. Many eighteenth century pictures were meant to be viewed by candlelight so that some of the detail would sparkle with the flickering of the naked frame. It’s that that I really wanted to see here with the help of LED lighting. PJ: The gallery lighting has many differ- ent layers. Can you explain the reasoning behind that? GF: All the tracks are very simply switched, there’s no remote dimming in the galler- ies. All the fittings are dimmed at source. There are situations where there are works on paper where you need 50 – 100 lux next to works that can cope with 200 – 300 lux. Therefore we had to be very careful to achieve that low light level but not dimin- ish the panorama as you move around the space. That’s been very challenging for us to make sure the light levels blend into each other without becoming too obvious for the public. At the same time we didn’t want it to look uniform. RS: That’s another important point about
the longevity of the system, if you’re not just aiming them precisely but also setting the light level according to the type of picture you are illuminating. This would be a very onerous process if they were halogen and you had to change the lamps regularly. GF: Also, the fittings are easily accessible so you can clean them with telescopic dusters - that answers the argument that you still need an expensive maintenance procedure to prevent dust build-up. All of the fittings are Allen key locked so it’s very easy to adjust the settings if something changes. PJ: You’ll be aware of the very vociferous debate amongst lighting designers about
the use of LED in museums. What is your opinion? GF: When approaching this project I did have my doubts about using LED. You have to be confident and assured as a designer because your name’s being put against it at the end of the day. This completed project is the result of a long process of investiga- tion and analysis. The fact that it changed from Tender 1 (when only 20% of the light- ing was LED) to Tender 2 (when it changed to 100%) is testament to how the technol- ogy has evolved. You live in your time and you have to ac- cept that not everything is ideal. I don’t agree with the banning of the tungsten bulb. It’s a knee-jerk, draconian response to politics. However, if politicians decide to change your playing field, despite industry not really having a perfect solution, you have to make the best of what is available. I think this project is testament to that. If anything, the solution we have here has exceeded expectations. We also have the benefit of the end sup- plier (Mike Stoane Lighting) being on our doorstep so we have a chain of local people
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164