Facade flood light: grazing against washing
A facade can be washed flat or grazed to show its texture, and the choice is made before the fixture. Setback, aiming angle and the colour of the wall decide the result more than the output does.
Specification
What the sheet states for this build, and what is confirmed per project.
| Topic | What the sheet states |
|---|---|
| Technique | Wash, grazing or accent, agreed on a mock up |
| Setback | Fixed by the site, and it sets the aiming angle |
| Optic | Asymmetric for wash, narrow for grazing |
| Colour temperature | Agreed per material and per scheme |
| Up light | Limited by the local dark sky rule |
| Housing | Corrosion class and finish per exposure |
| Control | Timer, scene or astronomical clock |
| Access | Cleaning and re aiming, from where |
| Data sheet | Current revision, naming the delivered model |
A mock up on the wall is worth more than a calculation. The material, the texture and the colour of the surface all change the result, and none of them is in a photometric file.
Grazing or washing
Washing puts the fixture back from the wall and aims across it, producing an even field that reads as a lit surface. Grazing puts the fixture close to the wall and aims along it, so every joint and every brick casts a small shadow and the texture appears.
The two techniques want different optics and different setbacks, and a scheme that mixes them without meaning to looks uneven. Decide which one the building wants, then fix the fixture positions around it.
- The technique, agreed with the client on a mock up.
- The setback the site allows, including planters and paths.
- Whether the material wants texture or an even field.
The falloff nobody plans for
A wash aimed from the ground is brightest at the base and falls off toward the top, because the distance to the surface grows and the angle steepens. On a tall building the top can be a fraction of the base, and the eye reads that as a gradient even when the numbers look acceptable.
The corrections are geometric: a wider optic, a higher mounting point, a second row at mid height, or a narrower and more powerful unit further back. Each changes the fixture, so the falloff question belongs in the first conversation.
- The wall height against the achievable setback.
- Whether a mid height row is possible, and how it is serviced.
- The colour of the material, which changes the level the scheme needs.
Dark sky and the neighbours
Facade lighting is where up light becomes visible to everyone. Many jurisdictions limit the upward component, the curfew hours, or both, and a scheme designed without that limit can be refused after installation.
The practical answer is a shielded optic, an aiming plan that keeps the beam on the surface, and a control schedule that reduces or switches off after a set hour. All three are cheaper at the design stage than as a retrospective fix.
- The local up light limit and any curfew.
- A shielded optic option, if the scheme needs it.
- The switching schedule, including who changes it.
Before the order
- Mock up on the real material before the order, at night.
- Setback drawing, because the angle is fixed by where the fixture can sit.
- Curfew and dimming, agreed with the client and the planner.
- Build
- Facade flood light
- Line
- Flood lights
- Ask for
- Specification sheet, photometric file, aiming drawing
Send the space, get the sheet.
Build, specification sheet and the option list for each line item, in one reply.