subject: Restaurant Ideas – Ten Ideas for Good Lighting [print this page] Restaurant Ideas Ten Ideas for Good Lighting
This story isn't going to be an endorsement of any specific junk or a bunch of concepts. What this article shall be is a list of tactical tip a check list if you will of common mistakes I see in restaurant lighting. The intent is that when a restaurant owner or restaurant designer is reviewing a lighting plan each of these tips should be checked. If each idea is addressed then the lighting plan should be pretty good.
Plan on light pouring out of the kitchen. The kitchen is by necessity a well light place, the dining room is probably dimmer. Let me explain what I am on about. You are sitting having a nice meal, when a staff member comes out of the kitchen and a pool of bright white light pours across the dining room and leaves all the clients blinking. This is a real mood killer. Place the kitchen door carefully thinking about when the door is open and the kitchen and dining rooms are connected. Ideally the door opens into server alley blocked from the dining room. If not then look to place wing walls to cut off light and noise. At least use the door swing to direct light away from guests.
Watch the light angles. This applies mostly to track lights but any light fixture that exposes the lamp shall have this problem. The example here is, you have a painting on the wall, you want to put a spot light on it from a track head. There is a booth on the wall below the aforementioned art. The track light needs to be near enough to the wall so a patron shall not be likely to put his head between the art and track head. If the track head is to far back from the wall then the light beam shall be more parallel to the ground and therefore more likely to shine directly into a guests eyes.
Vary the light levels from area to area. A restaurant will have several different public spaces, reception, bar, dining, etc. Have a plan of varying the light levels to change the ambiance and energy levels in a manner appropriate to the space. The reception area should probably be brighter than dining so people can easily identify the host and make a transition from the outdoor light.
Use a mix of light fixtures. Unless you are doing quick service don't just pick out one fixture. Select different lights for general lighting, accent lights and feature lights. First decide if the light should be seen or unseen. What I mean by this is an unseen light fixture just provides light without being noticeable. General illumination lights are usually unseen, recessed down lights in a ceiling or plain black pendant lights in an exposed structure. Seen lights provide some visual interest in addition to providing light, examples of this are chandeliers and colored glass pendants. General illumination is how you achieve the base light level in a space, these lights can be either seen of unseen depending on your design intent. Accent lights are the light fixtures that provide extra light where you demand it, like for artwork. Accent lights are almost always of the unseen variety. Feature lights are by definition seen, these light exist for the express purpose of providing visual interest to a room.
Minimize bulb types. Now I just told you to vary your light fixtures and now I am telling you not to over do it. You can have as many different fixtures as is appropriate to the design, but keep the number of lamps to a minimum. Try to limit the lamps to 3. The owner will need to stock lights so don't require them to have a store room dedicated to a dozen different lights bulbs.
Provide house keeping lights. For a few hours a day the restaurant shall demand to be bright so it can be cleaned and setup for the day. Provide some way either with dedicated lights or lighting control for the lights level to come up for off hours function.
Provide Sun Control, don't look closed during the day. The biggest light you will have in your restaurant in the sun. This is great except when the sun beats directly in through the windows blinding customers. This is especially bad on west window during dinner or east windows during breakfast. The natural thing to do is provide blinds at the windows but this can leave you looking closed and not taking advantage of a great natural resource. Some of your option are window tints, translucent light filtering shade, awnings or light shelves. Ask yourself when I am controlling intense sun light do I look closed?
Use Dimmers. What I am on about is not a residential dimmer switch but a smart panel that has several programmable lighting seens. A dimming panel will allow you to set light levels for breakfast, lunch, dinner and house keeping; move to each light level with the push of a button; and the lights shall fade from level to level. Another advantage to a dimmer panel is that it shall extend the lamp life of all the lamps when they are not burning at 100% of their capacity.
Task lighting for servers. Provide task lights at important locations so servers can see what they are doing. A point of sale terminal may be internally illuminated but the cash and receipts are not. Also consider good task lighting where the drinks and flatware are stored so a quick inspection for cleanliness can be preformed before the table is reset.
Outside lights, be clearly open. In addition to your sign provide some exterior lights that make it know you are clearly open. Some options are goose neck lights, ground lights and landscape lights. Illuminate your facade to make the building pop at night and let people know you are there and ready to serve, its just good manners.
There it is my check list for great lighting. I hope everyone finds it helpful.
