Light work: illuminating office spaces

Although many people, myself included, are currently working from home, it’s not time to write-off the office just yet. The world of work – and office design – had been undergoing changes even before the pandemic. But it's not all about architecture or furnishings that accommodate a more collaborative style of work. New energy-efficient lighting sources, such as LED and OLED are increasingly employed in offices to create more varied and stimulating interior lighting schemes that provide a more welcoming, comfortable and productive environment.

Take the Sasaki Associated-designed Microsoft Research Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts in which the lighting scheme was conceived by Lam Partners. Here, the interior lighting has been designed to correspond to different activities – circulation spaces receive rhythmic pools of light, while individual focus workspaces feature a more even light, and break-out spaces dedicated to more informal interaction and relaxation mix daylight with high levels of illumination.

In Bochum, Germany, Tobias Link designed a new interior lighting scheme for the offices of the cybersecurity company G Data. Link designed a web-like network of sound-absorbing elements with integrated white LEDs, which illuminate the space directly. Recessed and adjustable RGB lights illuminate the sides of these suspended beams, creating ever-changing colour displays. There are some notable exceptions to this scheme – more conventional floodlight armatures are used in the canteen and the employee auditorium, while the company café features timber ceiling elements and adds minimalist pendant lights to create a more relaxed and casual atmosphere.

A bespoke interior lighting scheme was also designed for Zurich Innovation Center Givaudan by Lightsphere. The workspaces are clustered around a generous, day-lit atrium that features freestanding planted pillars. Lines of light trace the balconies and staircases, while discreet, specialist luminaires that promote plant growth are attached to the green columns. The breakout spaces include more informal, brightly lit clusters of colourful poufs that are complemented by rows of library-style study places and booths with individual lighting armatures elsewhere in the building.

Atmosphere is also important in Covington's LSM-designed San Francisco office. Located in the city's recently completed Salesforce Tower, the interior lighting was designed by FMS | Fisher Marantz Stone. The all-white interior is in perfect harmony with the glazed facade, and the lights – recessed within curved ceiling impressions that follow the architecture of the building – fill the space with a white, almost ethereal light.

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