LIGHT WORK: REGENT LIGHTING

The level of comfort we experience in the office, as well as how efficiently we can work there, depends on many different factors. The layout of workstations is certainly decisive, as is the furniture and the technical infrastructure. Of course, the right lighting also plays an important role, especially since it has a decisive effect on many hours of a working day.

As a journalist, I've become used to all kinds of working spaces over the years – from open-plan areas to individual rooms to working from home. When I was editor of the design magazine form, I spent many evenings alone or with colleagues, especially in the early years, finishing the ongoing production of the magazine. During such times, good lighting can do a lot to ensure that people are happy to continue working after dark.

If the workplace is optimally illuminated, i.e. neither too bright nor too dark and also glare-free, then, ideally, you don't even think about lighting. You simply concentrate on the tasks at hand. And during darker times of the year, in particular, optimally adjusted lighting contributes greatly to a healthy atmosphere.

Architects and designers who are entrusted with the furnishing and lighting design of offices know their responsibility, especially when it comes to wide, open spaces. Those who have to make decisions here, whether specifiers or the responsible party within the company itself, ideally think in terms of systems, so it's good when the light itself is modular and structured as a system, since it is precisely this factor that offers the possibility of individual configuration.

With LIGHTPAD, Swiss manufacturer Regent Lighting has created just such a modular lighting solution: Formally minimalist, understated and timeless, it can be set up for single desks, for desks of two and even for desks of four – even if the workstations are shielded by partitions. At the same time, each user can control his or her luminaire head separately without affecting the lighting of neighbouring workstations. Thanks to double asymmetrical light distribution, LIGHTPAD creates uniform, reflection-free illumination in all the above-mentioned constellations.

Incidentally, anyone recognising that the luminaire system has certain architectural qualities would be correct. After all, in designing LIGHTPAD, Regent Lighting collaborated with the renowned Frankfurt architectural office Schneider + Schumacher, whose projects include the headquarters of Braun in Kronberg, the extension of the Städel Museum and the Westhafen Tower in Frankfurt.

But LIGHTPAD does more than just optimally illuminate workplaces – sensors that can be optionally integrated into the luminaire also analyse the surroundings. Regent Lighting refers to this solution as ‘MyData Analysis’: data on room climate, space utilisation and physical presence, for example, are collected, evaluated and the resulting optimisation potential is presented. This can then be used to help increase efficiency, save costs and save time.

Other features of the ‘MyData Analysis’ technology include, for example, the ‘Find My Place’ function, which enables employees to quickly find an available workstation thanks to a Liveview display. And the ‘Smart Cleaning’ feature informs cleaning staff which workstations have been used and need to be cleaned. The ‘Internet of Things’ in full display.

The Basel-based manufacturer, whose history dates back to 1908, is putting the current possibilities of smart lighting entirely at the service of people: The main goals of the concept include making lighting control intuitive for workers, simplifying processes, and enabling completely individualised lighting modes.

The LIGHTPAD TUNABLE version, for example, works automatically based on natural light levels over the course of the day and adjusts the light intensity accordingly. The luminaire can also communicate with the ‘My Lights Tunable‘ app if required, and users can choose from five different lighting moods which can be manually selected via smartphone. In addition, an adjustable scale is available, with which you can determine the colour temperature yourself.

And for anyone sitting alone in the office late at night, perhaps finishing the last slides for a presentation, for example, Regent Lighting has thought of you, too: The ‘Alone at Work’ function can be used to counteract the emergence of islands of light with a strong light-dark contrast. How? By networking several luminaires and activating them partially and automatically around the occupied workstation. And if you’re last out and forget to turn off the light, fear not: LIGHTPAD can take care of that, too.

© Architonic