Interior Design Blog

As the northern hemisphere shakes off winter, and we take to the garden, be it our own or the pub's, here are a few tips from Storey for using light as a luminous source--whether that's an unlit swimming pool or a reflective surface reflecting everything that is lit around it or lighting a specific feature, for instance a jet of water.

"Water can be magical," she says, "when lit it refracts, reflects and plays with light--so understanding its properties is essential."

What's your favoured technique for lighting water?

It is difficult to say what is the best as the solution varies according to the situation. One of my favourite ideas is to use fibre optics within a jet of water so that it seems internally lit.

What is the most challenging aspect technically?

The most challenging aspect is hiding the light source and the maintenance of it! One of the reasons why fibre optics still have an advantage is because the tiniest light source can be inbuilt, even within a jet of water, and maintenance is not a problem as the light source is remote.

What are the pitfalls to avoid?

Do not be too ambitious! Always consider maintenance as even if one light in a run goes out, the magic of the effect will be lost entirely!

Where submersed lighting is concerned, have LEDs supplanted fibre optics now or do fibre optics still have advantages?

LEDs are great for simple applications, but where the light is, for example, built in to a jet of water, then fibres will always have the advantage, as even LEDs can fail; the remote light source that can be easily maintained is a real advantage.

Lighting Design International is a London-based, independent lighting design consultancy.