Ingo Maurer designed a wonderful dinosaur egg-shaped light with a crack in it.  He commented that ‘the egg shape, is perfect, beautiful and a recurring element in his work.  He felt however that for him the egg had to be flawed, broken with light emerging from the cracks’. A design classic for the future!

Designers showed off their playful side throughout the exhibition;  Cappellini & Walt Disney’s Signature Ribbon Stool, with Mickey Mouse ears and Moschino’s crochet chair and lantern.

The international design community has been buzzing about the new shape-shifting chair made of recycled aluminum, the amorphic chair squishes into a new shape every time someone sits in it. Yoshioka designed the futuristic-looking piece of furniture for Italian brand, Moroso and it is certainly an attention grabber!

The designers took an exuberant and colourful approach to all their designs and left a smile on all our faces. The recession has its occasional upside!

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Tom Dixon’s Mirror ball, inspired by the space helmet, is a versatile collection of multi-functional lights including pendant lights, table lights, wall lights and floor lights.  Made of plastic polycarbonate, the globe is metalised with chrome, creating a highly reflective surgace which sparkles as the mirror balls reflect off each other or other lights in an area.

The Stainless steel tripod stand will hold up to six mirror balls.  This displays a configuration of balls which come in three sizes and are held in place with industrial clamps to create a sculptural light tree.

Hanging in groups or fixed on the ceiling the amazing mirror balls can be used to create a myriad of lighting detail in any space.

The mirror ball has become an iconic fitting and looks wonderful within a home environment or in an architectural design for hotels and restaurants.

Tom Dixon – Mirror Ball

www.tomdixon.net

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Innovative ideas from lighting designers are hardly rare, but it is always newsworthy when lighting is used for more than… well… lighting. Imagine a beam of moonlight nestled between your collarbones; one that burns brightly throughout the evening, whether at a restaurant, party or club…

Sound like a trick of the light?

Beau & Bien have developed a range of, what they call, “Night Bijoux”, which comprises a silicon housing containing an LED light to emanate the colour, feel and glow of moonlight, and which can be worn as a necklace, belt or a pendant. They can be shaped like hearts, lotus flowers or as a simple glowing orb. With the means of a rechargeable battery and charger, the light will last up to 20 years and will last for 50 hours without recharging. At prices starting at only £50, every woman should have one…

Beau & Bien http://www.adhoc-design.fr/beauetbien/

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Rebecca Weir, Design Director of Light IQ was honoured to receive this year’s Gibbs’ Award for outstanding achievement in the interior design industry. The award was presented by John Gibbs at this year’s KLC School of Design Awards Ceremony, which was held at the RIBA.

We were also delighted, for the first time, to present the Light IQ Award for Lighting Design. The winner of this year’s award was Certificate student Victoria Lee for her innovative ideas and excellent attention to detail.

It was an evening hosted by many high profile figures from the design world, who added their own inspirational advice to the enjoyment of all who were there.

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The summer holidays are nearly with us, and it is now that we are beginning to plan and think of ways to keep the family happy for the next couple of months.

The London Zoo has held a fascination for generations and of all ages, with many exciting things to see and activities to enjoy.  There is now the added enjoyment of a wonderful installation by Lighting Designer, Bruce Munroe.

The London Zoo commissioned a new ‘Twilight Zone’ installation by Bruce Munroe which has been installed in a staircase in the Rainforest Building. This joins the Rainforest area above to the Nightlife area below creating a seamless transition between the two spaces which becomes a destination in itself, and creates anticipation of the journey ahead.

864 clear tear-drop diffusers hang at lengths of up to three metres and gently twinkle with a grey-blue light. An eerie twilight soundtrack and nocturnal sounds completes the atmospheric effect.

Enjoy a long lazy, hazy summer!

Twilight Zone by Bruce Munroe       London Zoo – Clore Rainforest Building

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The Chelsea Flower Show is one of the high points of the London summer season and without a doubt the most famous flower show in the world! The Royal Hospital Chelsea grounds come alive with the finest flower and garden displays.

Stephen Woodhams one of the UK’s leading garden designers designed Smallbone’s 2010 Alfresco kitchen garden. His signature over-scaled planting and striking architectural detail created a lush and intriguing outdoor living space.

Light IQ were delighted to collaborate with Stephen providing an innovative scheme to complement his wonderful garden.

Congratulations to Stephen Woodhams and all the team for winning the Gold Award for Excellence and Best Trade Stand.

Stephen Woodhams Garden Design

Amdega Conservatories

Smallbone Kitchens

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Summer seems to have arrived at last, with the evenings becoming longer and warmer.  I can’t thing of a better way to extend the time shared with family and friends than to have some wonderful outdoor lighting.

Many gardens have now become an extension of the home and a place to relax or entertain in even after dark, as dusk falls a feeling of glamour or romance can be felt as the lights start to glow.

There are so many exciting new outdoor luminaires on the market from the elegant to the simple and enchanting.

Designs by VIBIA are evolutionary and practical and take the elegance of the garden at night to another level.

Halley

Design by Jordi Vilardell & Meritxell Vidal

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Was it only four years ago that the last revision of Building Regulations Part L came into effect, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and to produce 28% less Carbon Dioxide than before?

We wondered then whether it would be easy to comply with 25% light fittings to be energy efficient or 1 every 25m²! This October domestic regulations will change to requiring 75% of light fittings to be energy efficient and lighting to meet 45 lamp lumens/circW with a minimum lumen output of 400 lumens and a minimum power rating of 5W to be eligible for compliance.

Meeting the 75% target will be challenging, but now energy efficient replacement lamps such as compact fluorescent and LEDs with Edison or bayonet base can be included in the calculation, allowing designers to achieve compliance while still adopting decorative and creative luminaires.

On the exterior lighting the new regulations require the use of daylight sensors and either energy efficient luminaires (with lamp efficacy higher than 45 lamp lumens/circW) or non efficient fittings with power not higher than 100W in conjunction with the use of occupancy sensors.

The energy used in the average home can be responsible for more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions of the average car.  When you use less energy at home, you reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and help protect our environment from the risks of global climate change.

There are some wonderful and innovative products on the market that will make meeting these targets a simple and effective way of achieving both the new regulations and CIBSE guidelines and doing our bit in the fight against global warming and all the inherent problems for generations to come.

If you would like more information on Energy Efficient Lighting please go to the LED product section of our website. 

In the very near future there will be an Energy Efficient brochure on our website that you will be able to access or download to help you with product selection to comply with the new regulations.

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As designers we love light, and as a symbol of the passion, love and strong emotion that light can inspire, gni-projects created a stylised heart installation; a play upon the classic I love NY logo at the Frankfurt Light Fair.

The heart is rendered by criss-crossing blood red laser beams which emerge from a central source as from an explosion, with its inner core taking up the shape of a heart.  Some of the beams break out and are emitted into the depth of the tunnel, adding a third dimension to the installation.  Haze is created and used to make the laser beams visible, yet make the heart appear mystical.

We do love light, a constant fascination!

Gni-projects
Frankfurt Light and Build Fair

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The laser show continues and UVA had an amazing new laser installation for Y-3’s Autumn 2010 fashion show at New York Fashion Week.

A white monolith of light created a void out of which the models emerged onto the catwalk as if out of nowhere. Using white laser, they built an illusion of architectural forms that defined the catwalk area, shifting in shape and composition over the course of the show.

United Visual Artists are a British based collective who collaborate with a wide range of artists and companies and it is well worth keeping an eye out for their next light responsive, architectural or live performance installation, which never fails to stimulate the senses.

Y-3 Show at New York Fashion Week
UVA

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