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Seen from below

Fifteen minutes can feel like a long time when you’re waiting for test results. At reception, the same fifteen minutes fly by. Three phone calls, a prescription, a patient without an appointment. All at once, of course.

In medical practices, health centres and hospitals, these situations often unfold just a few metres apart. Each places different demands on the design of the space and its lighting.

Reception at the Repromed clinic in Adelaide with a curved Liquid Line pendant luminaire by Lightnet above the counter. Repromed clinic in Adelaide, Photography: David Sievers
Waiting area at Dr Hartmann’s orthodontic practice in Margetshöchheim with round Basic X1 ceiling luminaires by Lightnet and a children’s play corner. Dr Hartmann’s orthodontic practice in Margetshöchheim
Reception at the Baldi medical practice in Basel with a wooden counter, a ceiling featuring a floral design, and round ceiling and pendant luminaires by Lightnet. Baldi medical practice in Basel

What comes into view

At reception, attention centres on the counter and the person opposite. Someone types something in or passes over a form. Light is needed above all where the work happens: on the counter, on the page, at the screen.

In the waiting room, there is more time to look around. You glance at the door, at the clock or out of the window. You leaf through a magazine or simply sit there. Eventually, your gaze wanders towards the ceiling. Perhaps you notice a luminaire. Or perhaps it is the light it casts onto the ceiling that first catches your eye. For a moment, something usually at the edge of your attention becomes interesting.

Then someone calls a name.

On the examination couch, there is less choice about where to look.

One building, many perspectives

Waiting, talking, being examined or accompanying someone. What we notice about a space changes with the situation. And so does what we need from the lighting.

Treatment room at Dr Schaltenberg’s dental practice in Meschede with a black Caleo pendant luminaire by Lightnet above the dental chair. Dr Schaltenberg’s dental practice in Meschede
Patient room at the Clinic for Manual Therapy in Hamm with a round ceiling luminaire by Lightnet, wood panelling and indirect wall lighting. Clinic for Manual Therapy in Hamm, Photography: PBM Visuals

The underside comes into view

We usually see luminaires as we enter a room: while walking, at an angle from below, from a few metres away. On the examination couch, this perspective changes. The light-emitting surface and the edge of the housing can come directly into view.

From the side, you can see how far a pendant luminaire hangs below the ceiling. From below, this distance is less apparent. Instead, the light-emitting surface and its relationship to the ceiling become more prominent. Against a dark ceiling, it can look like a bright cut-out; against an illuminated ceiling, almost like part of the ceiling itself.

Someone lying on an examination couch cannot simply look around the room to turn their gaze away from the light. A luminaire may remain directly in their field of vision for an extended period.

Good lighting design therefore considers both how a space looks and how people experience it from different positions.

Lounge with a sofa, armchairs and a table tennis table beneath two round pendant luminaires, with a green wall and floor-length curtains.

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