Home sweet home

The UK is a nation of owner occupiers, not tenants. Dominic Meyrick, principal, Hoare Lea Lighting, asks, why don’t we take more interest in how our homes are lit

If home is where the heart is, how is this reflected in the state of domestic lighting in this country? With the latest Part L Building Regulations taking the requirement for energy efficient lamps in new homes to 75 per cent (talk about a ‘one size fits all’ approach) let’s reflect on lighting in this most treasured of spaces.

A quick history lesson shows how drastically things have changed in the domestic world since the invention of the GLS lamp. Looking back to 1918 we see that after World War I, electricity started to make its way into the majority of homes. At this time, the UK’s population was 42 million, the dwelling stock around seven million and eight out of ten people lived in rented accommodation. Now our population is only a third greater – 64 million people – but we have 25 million homes, ranging from studio flats to detached houses, and only three out of ten of these are rented properties, the majority are owner occupied. A final statistic: 62 per cent of the homes we have today were built before 1965.

Why the history? Because it shows that owning a home is something which, in the UK, the majority of us like to do. And this is likely to mean taking on an older property with pre-existing lighting points, many of which were installed in haste before interior lighting was understood. Most of us instinctively know that one fitting hanging from the centre of a ceiling is not going to give enough light, hence the explosion of interest in ‘Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment’ (FF&E) which includes: ‘Movable furniture, fixtures or other equipment that have no permanent connection to the structure of a building or utilities’. Adding ‘lights’ has become a pastime but it is only the most discerning owners of older properties or the informed living in newer builds who address the lighting of their homes as a whole.

This is disappointing, as one of my favourite bits of lighting memorabilia is Derek Phillip’s Lighting: the Principles and Planning of Home Lighting published by MacDonald and Co Ltd. This was aimed at the architectural community and also sought to ‘help the owner to achieve the environment he desires’. As I look through this book, I am struck that the techniques suggested are still relevant today – it is only the kit that has changed. The publication date, 1966, shows that advice intended for the domestic market was available for at least 38 per cent of current dwellings, that’s the nine million or so which are post 1965. Unfortunately, in the majority of homes the tradition of a flex hanging from the ceiling was followed.

So how many homes in the UK will have good lighting? My very rough guess is one million out of the total 25 million could be ok. That gives you a one in 25 chance of experiencing decent lighting in someone’s home – and that includes mine!

So what is the answer? Scrap pre-1990s housing? Get rid of free-standing uplights or live in the dark? (Because it’s all about energy saving as you know.) As always, it boils down to education and changing the belief commonly held in this country that spending money on domestic, architecturally-integrated, lighting is a luxury. For evidence of this belief, just look at the poor lighting that is promoted in most of the DIY and restoration programmes – it usually leaves me screaming at the telly!

Let me finish with a story of my own failure. I’ve had a walk-in shower installed with one downlighter in the ceiling and not in the cubicle, which I insisted to my wife was adequate. After the fix, however, she pointed out that I have never shaved my legs in the shower, which proves the old adage, ‘design for need’. The lighting design community has to persuade the general public that good domestic lighting is a ‘need’ and one which can be achieved without burning down the planet.

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