028 REPORTER
For someone in charge of a team of people dedicated to lighting, a move to a building for better lighting is probably what you expect. But as an industry that has now grown in demand, but also recognition, Traynor’s journey through and into the world of lighting design is timely for reflection. How is the profession and the building design industry changing from when he started out and what does the future look like for someone looking to enter the profession? ‘I don’t think the profession has peaked.
I think it’s now very well established, so it’s not in its infancy in the UK,’ Traynor says. ‘But markets develop at different rates. So, for instance, the market in North America was well established before it really got going in the UK. But then you look at the UK market now, and the profession is big.’ When just a little-known profession in the
1980s, Traynor recalls a time when few people understood what an architectural lighting designer was; himself included. On the cusp of becoming a professional photographer, he changed tracks to explore his ‘geekier’ side of making gadgets, electronics and growing fascination with lighting. He opted for engineering instead, believing this was the route needed to get into something he really wanted to do. ‘I really wanted to get into it,’ he recalls. ‘I thought it looked like engineers basically did all the lighting, so I took an engineering route into the business [because] nobody was really looking [to hire lighting designers] since it wasn’t a growing market. So, I basically decided to work within different companies and develop my skills myself, so I’m self-taught actually. But [when asked] what is it about lighting design that encapsulates you, I think a lot of people say the same thing; it’s something that you need to have quite a lot of imagination and experience to be able to manipulate well. And you also need quite a technical footing.’ With further and higher education routes
now easily accessed into lighting design, which can include architectural lighting, interior and theatre lighting design avenues, Traynor emphasises the need for industry-based experience as a crucial element to any lighting design profession route, describing it as a ‘complex and involved business’. Nevertheless, while being complex, clients understand that to get a better result for their project, they need to involve a lighting designer. So, what was once a project discretionary spend has become a more expected spend. ‘You know, it’s like, “well, why wouldn’t you
have a designer, a light designer, as part of the team?”’ Traynor highlights as the need for someone with specialist lighting design skills as part of the design team. ‘Traditionally, you’d go to speak to an architect and say, “I would like a new building, and I’d like it to be like this, and I need these requirements. Can you sort it out?” And they would say, “yes”, but there seems to be more knowledge and more experience to say, “well, actually, it’s not just about [commissioning] an architect. It’s about lighting designers”. Or “maybe it’s about an exhibition designer”, or “interior designers”.’ Traynor’s experience is that architects value
having a lighting designer on a project: they can envisage how the project should look by the daytime. He talks about the growing ‘return’ to designing buildings that perform well in daylight. But by bringing a lighting designer in means a different kind of visual for the project
by exploring what can be created when the daylight is gone. ‘We are working on some phenomenal projects with some great people and it’s because they know that we’re not going to screw up their architecture,’ he adds. Establishing the profession, and the business, has seen Traynor and his team at Light Bureau take on several commercial projects both in the UK and overseas. From headquarters to fit-outs, these ‘mainstay’ projects have built the studio’s reputation, but for Traynor it’s also important to seek out other sectors as part of the continued learning and development of the profession. Currently, the studio is also working on huge public realm projects, including one in the Middle East, with international work as something for the studio to explore more of, especially when large-scale projects often come from abroad. ‘We’re now trying really hard to find more
interesting and innovative ways of lighting spaces,’ says Traynor. ‘We’re now starting to get more into exhibition design with a few projects in Norway, and we’ve won a new project for Historic Royal Palaces in London. We’re doing a touring exhibition that will start in Denmark. We really enjoy doing exhibitions: it’s there for a short time, but lighting is part of the story.’
Below Light Bureau’s Espenes Rest Stop, part of the Norwegian Scenic Routes attraction
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