92. Fiat lux

We’re lighting up

30th October 2015

Lighting is a bit of a personal obsession. Our hope is that the day-to-night experience of the Orchard will involve wonderful effects created by the manipulation of both daylight and artificial light. Right now I am focused on the latter, as our ever-cheerful electrician Szymon Berlanga was back on site this week beginning electrical second fix. It’s been a long time since he put the cables in, so it’s a sweet moment.

One of the pleasures of turning the lights on for the first time is the sheer surprise at how they look and what they do, which can never be fully predicted until they are in place. Our kitchen lights, beaten brass pendants from English craftsmen Original BTC, produce a gorgeous golden gleam from the inner surface of the luminaires. Our window wall lights, from efficient and helpful Dusk Lights, are reflected three times in our triple-glazed windows. And our centre ceiling light, a 1970s German glass and brass affair from Hector Finch, looks a bit like a retreating flying saucer piloted by a race of exceptionally delicate beings. Needless to say, all the bulbs are LEDs.

Installing such lovely and lively fittings unquestionably means we have turned a corner and can begin to experience the building as a place to dwell rather than as a place merely to get tired and dirty. The home straight, you might say. Perhaps, but there’s still miles to go.