Installation for Grazing Front of Brick Home

[yackman]

What type of fixture and bulb would be recommended to provide a grazing effect up the face of a brick surface. I am in the beginning stages of planning this project and have an idea of the placement of the fixtures. I would like to position the fixtures at all the corners formed were the brick face steps in and at two brick pillar which support the front porch. This will require a total of nine (9) fixtures. The home is a two story but the height of the brick face were the fixtures will be positioned varies from 10 ft to 25 ft. It was recommended to use the HADCO BL-36 with PAR36 36 Watt bulbs by a local lighting suppler. Would this be an appropriate set-up for what I have described? I would like to use something in the HADCO line. I would also like to keep a beam spread of no more than 3 feet at 25 ft. The pillars are 18" square...what would be recommended for this application...is it OK for the beam to spread beyond the width of the pillar?



Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[sitelights]

I think you have two separate requirements: a wide wash of light emanating from a low angle for brick grazing and a narrow beam of light for the brick pillars. The Hadco WAML-14 with a 20w bi-pin will handle the grazing and narrow beam could be achieved with an MR-16 lamp in Hadco's BL616. Actually I question the need to limit the beam spread to 3' at a 25' throw since if the pillars are the same material as the facade any spill light will be part of the overall lighting. I would use the MR-16 BAB (20w 35 degrees) since a narrower beam will create a hot spot on the pillars that may prove objectionable. It is important to work with shadows when lighting a facade so that the modeling of the different vertical planes is apparent. When lighting is too uniform the facade tends to look flat and if the lighting is too bright the effect is commercial (a funeral home) rather than residential.

There have been other posts on this same topic and some members may disagree but I am a firm believer in keeping light levels low. The color of the brick is a factor and if it is light (more reflective) or dark (less reflective) this may alter perceptions of too bright or too dim. If the brick is dark it may be necessary to go with 35w lamps in the WAMLs and the 616s. This is a field change that would allow you to fine tune the lighting on the basis of the actual perceived effect.

[sitelights]

Some facade lighting effects are fraught with difficulty while others design themselves. This image illustrates structure lighting at the simplest level. The designer asks "What are the key components of the structure and the landscaping and how can I put the house and the setting back together after the sun goes down?" This lighting project designed itself in the sense that after the "what not to do" things were eliminated what is left was the design. Installed 1998/9. Five transformers, 1.5kW, 62 luminaires of various types.

This image was photographic and was digitally manipulated as follows: the sky was darkened because the best angle at dusk required shooting into the western sky which was much too bright. The aspect ratio was changed to a panoramic format to crop the large and uninteresting expanse of lawn in the fore and middle ground. Kodak ASA 100 Ektachrome at f11 bracketed at various speeds; this exposure was one second. Nikon F3 with 2.8 20 mm lens.