Since its small, and I'm still learning to model spaces in Dialux (which has limited CAD capabilities and I don't, yet, have a way to import from Sketchup) I decided to make this my first Rogue Redesign.
I am hoping that through Rogue Redesigns, I (and others who see this) can be inspired to see what a room could be with different lighting. They are Rogue, in that I was not commissioned or hired to create these designs, they are just for fun and, hopefully, to help inspire you a bit.
Here is the current 'design'
Actually, I don't mind being in this room too much, ti is overall pretty good although there are spots that are places that are harshly lit and places that are to dark.The biggest thing I don't like about this is that it is quite haphazard. The track has a funny arrangement and we have cobbled together track heads from other rooms to make this work. This isn't necessarily the fault of the original design; the room used to be an office that had some additional lighting, which was removed to make it into a conference room.
So, using Dialux, I came up with the following rendering.
Knowing that this room is in a non-profit organization, with very low budgets, I decided to use lighting concepts that are variable in cost. So I stuck with LED MR-16 retrofit lamps (in this case 7W, but could be adjusted for more or less lighting) for most of the lighting. The beauty of this is that the quality of the lighting design is not dependent on the fixture-one could pick very inexpensive residential track fixtures, recessed lighting or expensive decorative track with very little change in the lighting effect.
I chose to distribute the fixtures around the room, using them as task lighting for the tack board. I also placed a couple fixtures above the bookcase (to highlight some decorative item or plant) and on side table (I also took some liberty with a different furniture arrangement to make the room suitable for a small meeting or for some quiet reading).
While the accent lighting is certainly not necessary, it helps to balance out the room, providing some visual interest in areas that are dark now.
Over the table, I added a basic pendant lamp with a cylinder shade (and a 23W CFL). Although this may hinder some views of the tackboard, I like the way that these fixtures (when hung just above seated head height) provide pleasing ambient light, table task light and soft vertical illuminance on the occupant's faces.
Again, this wasn't a complicated design and certainly not a drastic change. But with simple changes, inexpensive lighting (or expensive, depending on the quality of fixtures), we can address some of the shortcomings of the original lighting, while maintaining a cozy meeting space.
