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Gordon's Pond Utopia LLC takes great gratification in helping our clients create beautiful and functional outdoor environments. We will custom design your outdoor landscape lighting to fit the needs of your home, landscape and lifestyle. We want our customers in Carlisle, Mechanicsburg, Harrisburg & Hershey to enjoy their landscapes from sun down to sun up . Our carefully designed landscape lighting assures that your home is a nighttime showcase.
Installing outdoor lighting will bring life to your landscape and will allow you to enjoy your walkway, patio and swimming pool areas at night. We can install your outdoor lighting direct to a remote control, timer, motion sensor, or directly to your light switch. Once we understand your goals, we can custom design an outdoor lighting plan for you. When it comes to your outdoor lights, the sky's the limit. We can incorporate architectural lighting, landscape lighting, pool lights, patio lights, deck lights, path lights – whatever you choose.
Installing outdoor lighting will bring life to your landscape and will allow you to enjoy your walkway, patio and swimming pool areas at night. We can install your outdoor lighting direct to a remote control, timer, motion sensor, or directly to your light switch. Once we understand your goals, we can custom design an outdoor lighting plan for you. When it comes to your outdoor lights, the sky's the limit. We can incorporate architectural lighting, landscape lighting, pool lights, patio lights, deck lights, path lights – whatever you choose.
Object of Landscape Lighting
The object of landscape lighting are both practical and aesthetic. A good lighting design addresses each of these object.
Security Lighting
It is well known that a well-lit property is less liable to be invaded or burglarized. Less known is that the placement, coverage, and quality of the illumination greatly determine the level of security.
Most residential security lighting consists of a few powerful flood lights directed towards a few areas of the property. In nearly all cases, this lighting is overly bright and provides limited coverage of vulnerable regions. The result is a property where intruders can pass freely through dark areas allowing them to be invisible to home occupants and to individuals occupying outdoor areas illuminated by the security lights. It's quite possible that a person can exit the car in the brightly lit driveway while an intruder waits in the shadows a few feet away.
A better approach is to create a strategic lighting plan that illuminates several key areas of the property with low levels of illumination. The low levels allow the viewer to see objects in the illuminated areas and to still see details in adjacent unlit areas. This is possible because the human eye is able to compensate for a narrow range of illumination (i.e. from dim to nearly dark). The brighter traditional security lighting offers a far greater contrast to the nearly dark unlit areas, and the human eye is unable to compensate rapidly enough when glancing from the very bright to the nearly dark. A skilled lighting designer will identify the key areas of security concern and provide low levels of illumination to ensure that intruders are not able to move through the property unseen.
Most residential security lighting consists of a few powerful flood lights directed towards a few areas of the property. In nearly all cases, this lighting is overly bright and provides limited coverage of vulnerable regions. The result is a property where intruders can pass freely through dark areas allowing them to be invisible to home occupants and to individuals occupying outdoor areas illuminated by the security lights. It's quite possible that a person can exit the car in the brightly lit driveway while an intruder waits in the shadows a few feet away.
A better approach is to create a strategic lighting plan that illuminates several key areas of the property with low levels of illumination. The low levels allow the viewer to see objects in the illuminated areas and to still see details in adjacent unlit areas. This is possible because the human eye is able to compensate for a narrow range of illumination (i.e. from dim to nearly dark). The brighter traditional security lighting offers a far greater contrast to the nearly dark unlit areas, and the human eye is unable to compensate rapidly enough when glancing from the very bright to the nearly dark. A skilled lighting designer will identify the key areas of security concern and provide low levels of illumination to ensure that intruders are not able to move through the property unseen.
Aesthetic Lighting
This encompasses a wide range of human factors and is the most subjective of the goals. The term, 'Beauty', is often used but this word reflects only some parts of the complex visual aesthetic. Aesthetics represents a holistic experience triggered by visual signals that are processed by the brain and judged to be appealing both superficially and with such depth that even the subconscious plays a role. In every case, a lighting project is judged to be aesthetically beautiful by both obvious beauty and by the wide range of emotions and feelings that arise from the visual experience.
Just as each visitor to a museum reacts differently to the objects on display, in the same way, each person viewing a landscape lighting scene has a different experience. Still, experienced landscape lighting designers learn that certain aspects or principals of lighting design tend to produce positive aesthetic judgments. The skillfully implementation of these principles tends to produce superior designs.
Just as each visitor to a museum reacts differently to the objects on display, in the same way, each person viewing a landscape lighting scene has a different experience. Still, experienced landscape lighting designers learn that certain aspects or principals of lighting design tend to produce positive aesthetic judgments. The skillfully implementation of these principles tends to produce superior designs.
Safety Lighting
While safety is related to security, it is not the same. Safety refers to providing illumination that offers safe passage through the property. It especially targets steps, pools, water features, and tripping hazards. As with the strategy for security lighting, the illumination of hazards should be at a very low level - just enough to discern details, but not so bright as to obscure surrounding dark areas. Also important is that bulb filaments are not visible; fixtures that do not shield these filaments are known as 'light bombs'. When a visitor is subjected to one of these light bombs, he or she is momentarily blinded and may trip and fall. Nearly all flood lights, carriage lights, and entryway lights fall into this light bomb category.
A good lighting designer will also consider the age of occupants and the presence of disabilities. Our threshold for visual perception increases with age; the elderly require far more light to safely navigate a property than do younger people. They may also be less able to see contrast in brightness, putting them at risk for missing steps or tripping on field stones.
A good lighting designer will also consider the age of occupants and the presence of disabilities. Our threshold for visual perception increases with age; the elderly require far more light to safely navigate a property than do younger people. They may also be less able to see contrast in brightness, putting them at risk for missing steps or tripping on field stones.
Task Lighting
Also know as usability, this goal identifies the need to provide appropriate illumination for the various regions of nighttime activity. Areas such as decks, docks, patios, and sports courts require specific lighting designed according to the nature of the activity. Low voltage lighting with its small lighting fixtures and sharply defined beams are ideal to mange the illumination for such areas.
In addition to selecting the appropriate illumination, designers may offer various control options for these lights. A patio area can, for example, be equipped with two lighting schemes - one for romance and the other for parties. Such options can be achieved with dimming or with the inclusion of extra fixtures that can be switched on and off as needed.
In addition to selecting the appropriate illumination, designers may offer various control options for these lights. A patio area can, for example, be equipped with two lighting schemes - one for romance and the other for parties. Such options can be achieved with dimming or with the inclusion of extra fixtures that can be switched on and off as needed.
Don’t Just Dream About A Perfect Outdoor Space.
There’s no better place than your own backyard for relaxing, entertaining and enjoying the outdoors. And there’s no better time than now to spruce up your space. If you’re looking to upgrade your back yard into something special, here are some things to consider.
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Trees and awnings aren’t just great adornments for your yard; they provide much needed shade for you to sit outdoors comfortably and safely.
Avoid summer mosquito bites by placing birdbaths and other standing water structures far from lounging and eating areas. Install LED yard lighting for night, which is less likely to attract mosquitoes than incandescent lightst. BeautyYour yard is an extension of your home, so don’t let design and style fall by the wayside when planning its look.
For a touch of natural beauty, consider planting a flower garden to attract butterflies and humming birds.“Illuminate paths and define edges where the garden or grass meet walkways,” says Jeff Dross, corporate director of education and industry trends for Kichler Lighting. The interplay of light and shadow adds magic to the night. By carefully placing accent lights at upward or downward angles and using wall wash lighting, you can silhouette trees and direct shadows. |
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