Lights, new dimensions for facades

Conveying an idea, a corporate image or simply highlighting the architecture of a hotel, are some of the reasons why a façade is illuminated.

by: Carlos Ruink

When we talk about the interior of a place, we think of colors, textures, fabrics, ornaments and countless elements that when combined give life to the space; a space that in the case of hotels receives hundreds of people daily and welcomes them as if they were at home.

The decoration of the lobby, rooms, bars, restaurants, wet area, gym, spa and other areas that can be found in a hotel establishment are part of a corporate structure, an image that must be preserved but that adapts to the climate, city, culture and the type of public it receives.

However, before entering that strategically decorated interior for their comfort, guests and visitors find the exterior of the building, that part that gives the first impression of a place, which, as many say, is the mouth opener of what will be inside.
The façade is that external face of any construction, building, house, winery, company or hotel, each of these buildings requires a well-structured and designed surface that opens the doors to the interior.

Nowadays facades are not simple structures isolated from construction, it has become essential elements of buildings, their design, architecture and decoration, as well as being an essential part of the relationship of the establishment with the environment.

To talk about the importance of this topic, HOTEL MANAGEMENT invited Bill Marshall, from Estudio Marshall and Ángela Higuita, maintenance manager at Sodexo.

Main facades
First we must understand that when we talk about facades we refer to the front or main part of a hotel, the part of the building that first connects with the city. However there is the side and rear façade, but the main one is the one that has the mission of welcoming visitors, that is why both its structure and its decoration and of course, lighting, must be perfect.

The old constructions were characterized by having traditional facades of exposed brick, plastered coating, cladding (brick exterior cladding), stone, wood, among others, which required meticulous care and maintenance, in addition to requiring to be well lit to be able to attract attention at night, in the same way as they did in the day.

The exterior lighting of a hotel, for example, responds to thousands of reasons such as aesthetics, security, symbolism, corporate image, among others. For this reason the type of luminaires that will be used must be chosen and analyzed by the designer, decorator and / or architect, who will decide where to install them and what will be the degree of luminosity that each of them will have.

Light should mainly highlight some aspects of the construction, essential qualities of architecture that are seen in daylight and that provide special sensations to the viewer, but before doing this it is necessary for the designer to take into account some aspects such as the contrast between the building and the environment, the building materials and the direction of the main site to observe it, as Mentioned by Angela Higuita.

Cement, brick, coatings for cement and brick, glass, aluminum, among many other materials can compose the different types of facades that are worked today and that demand different lighting according to the type of material used.

When the building is clear it will need much less light than if it is dark or if the material is more or less reflective. Semi-matte or glossy aluminium can produce reflections depending on the angle of the lighting, one more aspect that architects and designers must take into account, outside the color of the materials and the irregularities of the illuminated surface.

Bill Marshall, president of Estudio Marshall & Asociados, explains that when designing the lighting of a façade, the first thing to take into account is the message you want to convey. "It is not about lighting for the sake of illuminating, the important thing is to present a proposal, highlight an image, a corporate idea, an architectural style and draw attention to all or some points of the façade."

Luminaires
It could be said that there are many types of lights that can be used to illuminate the exterior of a hotel.  If the purpose is to illuminate a façade and highlight its geometry, texture, style or design, the market offers many technological possibilities that allow this purpose to be carried out, according to Marshall.

Light sources can come from incandescent, dimerized lamps, discharge lamps, double-contact tubular halogen incandescents, projectors of different sizes, and LED lights.
"Nowadays you can use different types of lights; there are dynamic, and also static, in addition to some facades can be projected images as if they were projection screens" says Bill Marshall, while asserting that the novelty is now established in the use of energy-efficient luminaires and multimedia alternatives such as projection.

Angela also expresses herself, who says that depending on the size of the building and its structure, the luminaires must be selected. Discharge lamps are the most popular for their ability to produce extremely bright light, while incandescent lamps are less used in this type of lighting because of their short service life and low performance.

It should be noted that the textures of the facades influence the lighting and some materials make the process much more difficult or simpler. Bill Marshall explains that in the case of a façade with glass, these provide an unsuspected effect sometimes, that although it can favor the project and the result that is expected, other times it does not happen in this way, but also ensures that generally transillumining glass facades achieves an effect in which the façade itself is a luminaire.

Legislated lighting
By regulation, some areas of the hotels must have a stronger lighting than another, and although these areas are not the main topic of this article, it is worth highlighting them.

According to Marshall, the accesses, the work areas, the corridors and the service stairs are the places of the hotels that must always have a lighting determined by regulations, but this lighting can also be harmonious and be in accordance with the image that the hotel wants to transmit from its façade, so you can use some special lights or make use of natural light to contribute to the environment and give a sense of clarity almost all day.

Currently white, colored, warm and cold, strong and weak lights are used by architects, designers and specialized people to give life to the "faces" of hotels, but the use of large projections on the facades that recreate the interior or exterior environment of the establishment is also becoming popular, in addition to generating an unreal world on bricks, cement, glass and so on.