Commercial lighting designers

Detail Lighting is a commercial lighting designer and supplier working with architects, interior designers, M&E consultants and main contractors across the UK.

For twenty five years we have designed, specified, manufactured and supplied lighting for offices, retail, hospitality, showrooms and mixed-use developments, with a London showroom where project teams can see fittings working before they commit them to a scheme.

As commercial lighting designers, our role is to plan how light is delivered across a space so it meets the standards, supports the way people use the building, and reinforces the design intent of the interior.

What a commercial lighting designer does

A commercial lighting designer coordinates the type, position, output and control of every fitting so a scheme performs as a whole rather than as a grid of downlights. On a commercial project that means balancing three things at once: compliance with energy and workplace standards, visual comfort for people working under the lighting for long periods, and the visual quality of the space for staff, visitors and the building owner.

Getting this right at design stage is far cheaper than correcting it later. Fitting positions, ceiling voids, control wiring and emergency provision all need to be agreed before first fix. Lighting treated as an afterthought tends to produce glare, uneven coverage and energy figures that fail Building Regulations. A good designer resolves these questions on the drawing, not on site.

Why architects and contractors choose Detail Lighting

Plenty of suppliers can send a fitting against a schedule. What separates a lighting partner is continuity, technical control and accountability across the life of the project. This is how Detail Lighting is set up.

One team from concept to commissioning

Design, specification, project management, assembly and supply all sit under one roof, and the same people stay involved from the first conversation through to commissioning. The person who takes your first call is still on the project when the control system is being tuned on site.

For architects, contractors and consultants the practical benefit is clear: named people, continuous involvement and no ambiguity about what was specified or why. When site conditions change, the response comes from the team that produced the design, not from a helpdesk working through someone else’s paperwork. Twenty five years of doing it this way is why clients come back.

Design and manufacture in-house, including bespoke

Standard products follow a direct path. Specifications are checked against the drawings, stock and lead times are confirmed, and orders are scheduled around the site programme rather than simply processed.

Where a project calls for something bespoke, a modified fitting, a custom length of linear or a specific optic and finish, the technical team develops the design from the architectural drawings and real site conditions. Each bespoke product is broken down into a Bill of Materials so every component is accounted for before anything is committed. In-house products are then assembled and checked before they leave the building, where quality can be controlled, rather than left to be sorted out on site.

Controls designed and commissioned in-house

Control strategy is considered alongside the products, not bolted on at the end. Detail Lighting designs and configures control systems in-house, from simple dimming through to networked, scene-based platforms, and its fittings support DALI, 0-10V and Casambi. Where a project includes a control system, the team returns to commission it and fine-tune light levels and scenes in situ, as it did on the Casambi installation at Avenue House, a commercial office in Westminster. A scheme is finished when the space is walked and the lighting works as intended, not when the products are installed.

A London showroom to see fittings in real conditions

Specification decisions are easier to make when fittings can be compared in person. The London showroom lets project teams see beam angles, finishes and colour temperatures working in real conditions before they are locked into a design, which reduces the risk of a fitting reading differently on site to how it looked on a datasheet.

The standards a commercial scheme has to meet

A credible commercial lighting design addresses the relevant standards from the outset rather than treating efficiency and emergency provision as add-ons. The main reference points are:

• BS EN 12464-1, which sets maintained illuminance, uniformity and glare limits for indoor workplaces. General office tasks typically call for around 500 lux on the working plane, a uniformity of 0.6 or higher, and a Unified Glare Rating of UGR 19 or below in screen-based areas.
• Part L of the Building Regulations, which sets luminaire efficacy targets and requires effective controls such as occupancy and daylight sensing for commercial buildings.
• BS 5266, which governs emergency lighting for escape routes and open areas.
• CIBSE Lighting Guide 7 (LG7), the practical reference for office lighting, and higher benchmarks under the WELL Building Standard and BREEAM where clients specify them.

Colour rendering sits alongside these. A CRI of 80 is the minimum for commercial work, with CRI 90 or above specified where finishes, products or brand colours need to read accurately.

A commercial lighting range built for specification

Good commercial lighting is layered, not flat. Ambient light sets the base level, task light supports desks and counters, and accent light draws the eye to materials, displays or architecture. Detail Lighting’s range is built to deliver all three from compatible product families with consistent colour temperature, rendering and control.

• Recessed downlights such as the Archinto Adjustable, a compact fitting with 25 degrees of tilt, CRI 90 optics and fire and IP ratings, for general and accent duties.
• Track systems such as the Cortes 48V deep surface and suspended track and the compact ALT45 48V, for spaces that are reconfigured between tenancies or as displays change.
• Linear LED such as the Volans Premium COB IP20, a dot-free strip at CRI 90, cuttable at 50mm centres, for coves, joinery and reception detailing.
• Surface fittings such as the SD041 15W downlight, for exposed soffits and refurbishments where there is no ceiling void to recess into.

Specifier support through the project

Alongside the products, Detail Lighting provides the technical information specifiers need to verify performance before committing to a fitting. That includes photometric data, IES files and DIALux models, technical drawings, samples and project-level advice on product selection and control integration. On-site support continues through installation and commissioning, answered by the people who produced the design.

Work with Detail Lighting

If you have a commercial project at concept or specification stage and want a lighting designer who stays involved from the first conversation through to commissioning, talk to the team on 01908 613 256 or email sales@detaillighting.co.uk. You can also visit the London showroom to compare fittings in person before they are locked into your scheme.