Rethinking lighting

in museums and galleries

 Rethinking lighting
in museums and galleries
Why revisit lighting?

Museums and galleries consume significant amounts of energy to maintain

an internal environment to protect and preserve their collections. The use of
lighting within both exhibition and back of house areas can account for 20% of
this energy consumption. By targeting this lighting energy demand, significant
energy savings can be made.

Benefits of change Maximising daylight

Upgrading or refurbishing both daylight and
electric lighting systems within museums
and galleries can lead to significant cost
savings, both in terms of energy reduction
and reducing ongoing maintenance costs.
Improving energy efficiency also provides the
benefit of operating more sustainably.
Balancing energy and quality
We believe lighting within museums and
galleries should be developed with lighting
quality as the primary objective. This ensures
that displays are experienced as the artist
intended. Balancing energy savings and
quality is one of the biggest challenges facing
museum institutions today; where the lure
of significant energy savings can sometimes
lead to lighting quality being compromised.
We have the knowledge and experience
to guide our clients through this process,
ensuring that the outcome of any lighting
system upgrade leads to the best possible
lighting environment for visitors and for the
artworks.
Reviewing the control of existing daylight
systems or re-opening windows and
skylights that have been obscured can lead
to many benefits. The use of daylight within
display spaces does however require careful
consideration. When used successfully
daylight can offset a considerable amount
of electric lighting use. Daylight also has
significant benefits for museum staff, where
access to daylight and views can improve
wellbeing and productivity.
Lighting control
The control of daylight and electric lighting
is fundamental to the success of any museum
and gallery lighting installation. Control
systems often need recommissioning to
ensure energy and conservation objectives
are being achieved. New light sources can
also provide opportunities to simplify control
systems and, where appropriate, to consider
smart control systems that can respond to
occupancy or user preference.

Right: Richelieu wing, Muse du Louvre, Paris, France.

About Arup lighting

Our experts
Our award-winning lighting designers create unique answers
to our clients needs. We offer a comprehensive lighting design
service, from initial strategic advice and concept development
through to construction documents and on-site support.

Conceptual design, technical detail

With the potential to change how we perceive architecture and
public space, our lighting teams are experts in designing and
delivering innovative design solutions. Working closely with
architects and clients at all stages of a project, we provide original
and authentic conceptual design and are uniquely placed to turn
vision into reality, transforming creative concepts into detailed
technical specifications.

Top left: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Arup lighting designers;
Social Firefly, Vivid Sydney 2011, Australia; Brandhorst Museum, Munich, Germany;
V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries, London, UK; The ArcelorMittal Orbit, London, UK.
Natural lighting for
museums and galleries
Daylight is carbon free and cost free and can, if properly harnessed, play an Benefits
important part in creating a low energy museum. There are, however, downsides -- Energy savings
to the uncontrolled use of natural light in museums and galleries. Sunlight has
-- Improved visitor experience
the potential to overheat a space or flood it with illumination that is too intense
for the artworks. -- Provides visitors with a link to the outside world,
providing an opportunity to rest their eyes and
relax their concentration
There are many examples where museums have blocked off daylight from
-- Improved staff wellbeing and reduced absenteeism
gallery spaces, often because they are unable to control and regulate daylight to
required conservation limits. This can alter the architecture of museum buildings -- Variability in lighting condition, alters the ambience
of gallery interiors so there are subtle differences on
such that they are unrecognisable from their initial design, an issue particularly each occasion a visitor walks around.
relevant for heritage museums and galleries. Our lighting team has a great deal of
experience in the design and implementation of active and passive solutions for
the control of the extremes of light, heat and ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Above: V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries, London, UK.

Case study
Natural lighting for museums and galleries

Reintroducing daylight to
the Rijksmuseum, Netherlands
In 2001, Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz
were commissioned to lead a team to develop the design for
the refurbishment and modification of the Rijksmuseum in
Amsterdam. The renovation included a complete overhaul of all
existing installations for the main and surrounding buildings. Arup
provided daylight and electric lighting design services for this
historic 19th century museum.

The original museum design relied heavily on daylight. Over the

course of time, this was reduced by blocked-up windows and
suspended ceilings. The refurbishment design intended to reinstate
daylight and to transform the Rijksmuseum.

Arups lighting team analysed the expected daylight levels and

explored various options for maintaining appropriate daylight
levels in the galleries. This was done by comparing static and
adjustable window and skylight treatments, and then studying,
together with the architectural and restoration teams, how these
could be best used within each space, to avoid over-exposure from
daylight whilst maximising the daylight experience.

On the upper floor, daylight is admitted through laylights in

the ceilings and transparent skylight sections in the roofs. The
refurbishment consisted of replacing the skylight glazing to add
diffusion and replacing the laylight glazing to improve uniformity
of illumination within the gallery. Adjustable louvres were
installed in the loft space between the laylight and the skylight
glass, providing the much needed ability to fine tune daylight with
seasonal daylight availability. Now, the gallery spaces are lit by
homogenous light flowing in from above, reinstating the original
daylight intent of these spaces whilst achieving conservation
requirements at all times.
Electric lighting for
museums and galleries
The electric lighting industry has been subjected to an unprecedented era of Benefits
change, driven by changes in legislation and advances in lighting technology. -- Significant energy savings
Both these factors offer attractive advantages for museums and galleries, in
-- Reduction in size of luminaires
particular the potential for savings in energy consumption and maintenance costs.
-- Reduction in relamping costs
As the museum sector is driven towards the adoption of these new lighting -- Enhanced flexibility
technologies, it is necessary to carefully consider the implications of this -- Ability to tune lighting according to visitor and
change, in particular where existing lighting systems are refurbished and curator preference
upgraded. Upgrading lighting systems can offer both opportunities and potential (colour temperature, illuminance level)
drawbacks. Our designers have a thorough knowledge of lighting technology and -- Enhanced control, where lighting
its application in museums and galleries. We are uniquely placed to guide our can be linked to presence
(potentially reducing illumination exposure
clients through this process, ensuring a successful outcome for all. as well as energy use)
-- Recording and logging of illumination exposure
-- Customised lighting spectrum tuned
to the object being lit.
Above: The Waterhall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
Case study
Electric lighting for museums and galleries

24:00:00 - Lighting in the urban age

Exhibition lighting utilising smart technology
Todays museum visitor is becoming increasingly familiar with
technology, with the ability to obtain information on demand
and to personalise their environment. Conventional gallery
spaces traditionally have static lighting solutions defined by
conservators and curators that often ignore the individual needs
of museum visitors.

Lighting technology now offers the ability for museums to move

beyond these static environments to create exhibitions that can
be lit according to a museum visitor needs and preferences. This
can be achieved whilst adhering to the conservation requirements
necessary to ensure sensitive objects can be preserved for future
generations.

24:00:00 - Lighting in the urban age was an exhibition that

explored the possibilities of smart lighting and how it can be
used to facilitate engagement and personalisation for visitors
at exhibitions. New generation LED luminaires were produced
which incorporate smart LED modules with integrated sensors
and wireless connectivity. Each of these track-mounted
luminaires communicated via power-line communication to
a central lighting control system which can be accessed by
visitors with their wireless devices. This allowed users change
the intensity of illumination, colour temperature, as well as the
directionality, via a simple and intuitive graphical interface.
The luminaires were also equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy
devices that allow the location of users within the exhibition
space to be identified, allowing content specific to the adjacent
object to be delivered to visitor smart devices. A centralised
control system monitors all individual luminaires allowing the
exhibition team to track and log illumination exposure and the
amount of time visitors are spending at each exhibit.
Selected experience
We have worked with museums and galleries across the
world to provide lighting solutions to both new-build
and refurbishment properties. Additionally we can create
site-specific lighting artworks either independently or in
collaboration with external artists.

Above: The New Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Selected museum and gallery
refurbishment projects
Rothko Chapel,
Houston, USA
The Rothko Chapel, a 400m art gallery and
non-denominational chapel was the result of
collaboration between artist Mark Rothko and
architect Philip Johnson. Conservation teams felt
daylight was contributing to the visible deterioration
of the paintings within. We worked to re-design
the daylight and electric lighting systems while
remaining sensitive to the history of the chapel. The
final result is very close to how Rothko originally
intended it - a serene, spiritual space, daylit, with a
sense of conditions outside retained.
Folkwang Museum,
Essen, Germany
The Museum Folkwang, founded in Hagen by Karl
Ernst Osthaus in 1902, was Europes first museum of
contemporary art. The most significant works were
transferred from Hagen to Essen in 1922, and today
it is one of Germanys highest-profile museums.
The project was both a refurbishment of the existing
building as well as a new extension building with a
project area of 267,000 ft2. Arup provided specialist
daylight and electric lighting design to the exhibition
spaces and public areas.
Royal Academy,
London, UK
Abbot Hall Art Gallery is located within a Grade
I listed Georgian house built in 1759 and was
refurbished in the late 1950s and again in the
1980s. Our assessment of the building found that
it was operating in an extremely inefficient way,
and our team worked with the museum to identify
a series of options to significantly improve the
environment and reduce energy consumption.
Changes to daylight and electric lighting played an
important role in these savings.
V&A Medieval and Renaissance Galleries,
London, UK
The Medieval and Renaissance project is the largest
refurbishment the V&A has undertaken since the
British galleries opened in 2001. The fundamental
goal of the project was to illuminate the refurbished
galleries with natural light for its ability to create
atmosphere and drama. Addressing sustainability in
the project required the balancing and optimisation
of a range of issues that had the potential to create
conflicts, such as between art conservation and
energy use or improving accessibility whilst
conserving the existing listed building.
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art,
Gateshead, UK
Baltic Centre is a lottery-funded project with the aim
to architecturally recycle a former grain warehouse
to create an international centre for contemporary
art. The building, with a total floor area of 8000m2,
is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne and
lies at the heart of the regeneration of the Gateshead
Quayside. Arup has designed natural lighting as well
as electric lighting systems for a range of new breed
public art spaces housed within the building.
The Waterhall, Birmingham Museum
and Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK
The Waterhall was designed in 1881 by Yeoville
Thomason as an extension to his 1874 Council
House building. Arup worked with the architect
to convert this space to provide the first addition
to the Art Gallerys permanent space since 1912.
The Victorian interior was carefully restored,
which included careful refurbishment of windows
and addition of daylight control shading. Custom
electric lighting systems were designed and installed
to provide flexible lighting for the space and
exhibitions.
Above: V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries, London, UK.
Selected museum and gallery
exhibition lighting design projects
New Acropolis Museum,
Athens, Greece
Arup provided natural and electric lighting design for
this new museum building with 14 000m of exhibition
space to accommodate ancient works from the Archaic
period to the Roman Empire, as well as the architectural
sculptures from the Parthenon. Our design ensures
optimum display lighting for the museums prized
artefacts balanced with a daylight ambience throughout,
re-creating a sense of the outdoor conditions in which
its sculptures were originally viewed. The architectural
lighting plays a complimentary role navigating the
visitor through the interiors.
Muse du Louvre-Lens,
France
Arup provided natural and electric lighting design,
including exhibition lighting, for the new Muse
du Louvre in Lens. In the two main galleries,
daylight enters through a fully glazed roof. Above
the glazing, a specially designed grating ensures
direct sun is blocked at all times while maximising
the incoming daylight and views out to the sky. Our
electric lighting design is unobtrusive to complement
the architecture, whilst ensuring the museums needs
for flexibility, quality and efficiency were achieved.
California Academy of Sciences,
San Francisco, USA
The Califiornia Academy of Sciences required
exhibition lighting design for a permanent exhibition
exploring the connections between water and life.
Working the museum team, Arup created a luminous
environment that brings dramatic lighting and sea
life together, and features audio, dynamic blue
solid-state lighting and wavy exhibit walls. The
theatre-like display gives visitors the impression
that they are in an underwater world. The Arup team
also provided architectural and daylight design to all
spaces, including the unique rainforest dome.
Harvard Art Museums,
Cambridge, USA
As part of the renovation and a significant new
addition to the existing Fogg Art Museum, Arup
provided full lighting design services, including
exhibition lighting design. In collaboration with Renzo
Piano Building Workshop and wHY, Arup designed
exhibition lighting to reinforce the aspiration to
create a unified art viewing experience by employing
a streamlined, simple and elegant lighting design
language. In total the project includes over 130 cases
for a diverse collection of approximately 250,000
objects dating from ancient times to the present.
York Art Gallery,
UK
We are working with York Art Gallery to provide
lighting and exhibition lighting design for a major
8m refurbishment and redevelopment that will
provide 60 per cent more exhibition space. The
museum will have three exhibition spaces on the
ground floor, and four on the first floor, two of which
will contain an internationally significant collection
of British Studio Ceramics. The Arup team will
work with the curators and exhibition designers to
illuminate a diverse range of exhibitions, from Italian
Old Masters to modern and contemporary pieces.
Science Museum,
London, UK
We are working with the Science Museum to provide
exhibition lighting design for the Mathematics and
Medicine Galleries, as part of a 60m masterplan project
to revisit and significantly update key areas of the
Science Museum. Working in collaboration with Zaha
Hadid and Wilkinson Eyre, the Arup team will design
exhibition lighting to present the Science Museums
collections in new and innovative ways, with the aim
of supporting the museum to reach out and engage a
new audience. In total there are almost 200 individual
caseworks, and over 3,000 individual objects.
Above: New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece.
Selected light art and
artist collaboration projects
The ArcelorMittal Orbit,
London, UK
The Orbit is the largest sculpture in the UK (2012)
and created for the 2012 London Olympic &
Paralympic Games. The two observation platforms
at 80m and 85m above ground provide visitors
with stunning views over London. Arup provided
architectural lighting design from concept to
completion. We worked closely with designers Anish
Kapoor and Cecil Balmond to create a lighting
scheme that highlights the sculptures complex
geometric form, and to create a must see element
to the sculpture at night.
Light Neville Street,
Leeds, UK
Lighting input for this unique installation that
transformed a previously unwelcoming tunnel in
Leeds City centre into a space filled with sound
and light. Collaborating with Leeds-based Bauman
Lyons Architects and sound & light artist Hans Peter
Kuhn, Arup designed a lighting installation that
incorporates 3000 individual LED units integrated
into acoustic cladding, forming randomly generated
lit arrays to the artists exacting criteria so as not to
repeat a pattern within 20 years of operation.
Soon Nuit Blanche,
Toronto, Canada
Nuit Blanche is an all night arts festival which takes
place annually in multiple cities all over the world.
One of the 5 top commissioned pieces, entitled
SOON, envisioned by London-based artists Iain
Forsyth & Jane Pollard, was designed to create a
sense that an unknown ominous event was about
to occur. Arup lighting and acoustics collaborated
with the artists to produce this experiential public
art piece which evoke a feeling of an impending
catastrophic event.
Web of Light,
Liverpool, UK
The Web of Light was commissioned for the
Liverpool Biennial, an event which commissioned
over 100 new works of public art. Designed by artist
Ai Weiwei in collaboration with Arup, the 19m high
sculpture spans Exchange Flags Square the largest
pedestrian square in Liverpool. At the heart of this
intricate steel construction is a crystal-studded
spider, while LEDs integrated along the 400m
of stainless steel cables allow visitors to enjoy a
paradoxical night-time image of dew glistening in
the sun.
UP, and Away!,
Travelling Exhibition
This is an invitation to fly; to reach your aspirations
fancy; to empower yourself with a pair of
psychedelic wings, and there you go; UP, and
away! Designed, curated and assembled by Arup,
it consists of five sets of psychedelic wings on
recycled bicycles. The faster one pedals the brighter
the wings become. This is made possible through
an intelligent circuit board that takes input from a
device on the wheel and correspondingly controls
the brightness of the LED lights.
LightHive,
London, UK
LightHive (subtitled luminous architectural
surveillance) was an interactive installation at the
Architectural Association, London and designed
in collaboration with Alex Haw. The installation
consisted of 1,024 suspended LEDs, arranged to
recreate the position of every light source in the AA
building. The LEDs were controlled by a vast network
of sensors presence detectors, infra-red cameras, and
wireless door and seat sensors all switching on and
off and changing in intensity in response to changes in
light use throughout the building.
Above: Janet Echelman TED 2014 Sculpture, Vancouver, Canada.
Selected museum and gallery
new-build projects
Tate Modern 2 (TM2),
London, UK
Continuing our relationship with the Tate, following
completion of the original Tate Modern, our lighting
team are collaborating with Herzog & De Meuron
to provide daylight and electric lighting design
services for a significant 22,000m2 addition to the
existing museum. The addition will form a new
model for galleries of this type, fully incorporating
the exhibition, learning and social functions of the
museum and strengthening links between the Tate
modern and the city.
British Museum,
London, UK
The British Museum required daylight and electric
lighting design for the new 135m extension,
which adds conservation laboratories, special
exhibition gallery, logistics facilities and research
department. The Arup lighting team faced a complex
brief, having to unify a scheme for many different
specialists and their specific lighting requirements
while delivering a system that would agree with
the architects, Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners,
industrial aesthetic. Our design input ensured the
underground building was provided with adequate
daylight to work effectively.
Art Institute of Chicago,
USA
Arup provided natural and electric lighting design
for a four storey extension to the existing museum,
consisting of 23,000m of space dedicated to
exhibition and museum facilities. Our design for
the third floor galleries illuminated the space with
generous but controlled amounts of natural light. To
achieve this level of control we designed a multi-
layered roof system, topped with a unique 45,000
sq ft flying carpet shading layer, which excludes
sunlight from passing through whilst optimising the
transmission of diffuse skylight and reflected sunlight.
Brandhorst Museum,
Munich, Germany
Arup provided natural and electric lighting design
for all areas of the new 17,000m museum located
in Munichs museum district. The ground floor
has seven galleries illuminated by a unique and
innovative daylighting system that brings side-
light in through clerestory windows in the faade
and transforms this light to have a zenithal quality
through an external light-redirection panel, a curved
reflective ceiling and a system of internal translucent
lamellas to diffuse the daylight. A system of
adjustable internal louvers controls the amount of
incoming daylight.
Turner Contemporary Art Gallery,
Margate, UK
Arup provided daylight and electric lighting
design for a new 3,000m museum for the Turner
Contemporary Art Museum, situated on Margates
seafront. The light that fills the galleries is free from
direct sun, but varies considerably as the maritime
atmosphere changes. Daylight modelling influenced
the form and arrangement of the gallery spaces,
and careful positioning of windows and skylights
enables the galleries to be lit with indirect daylight
and diffused sunlight without the need for complex
control systems.
The Hepworth Gallery,
Wakefield, UK
The Hepworth Gallery required natural and
architectural lighting design for a new build art
gallery development, which houses the original
plaster sculptures of Barbara Hepworth, as well
as Wakefields own art collection and temporary
exhibitions of contemporary art. The galleries are
naturally lit using a combination of skylights and
vertical windows, arranged asymmetrically to create
a gentle but definite variation of natural lighting
levels. This allows a variety of art using different
media to be displayed in one room.
Above: Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, Margate, UK
Contact

Arup lighting design,

13 Fitzroy Street, London,
W1T 4BQ, UK

t: 020 7636 1531

e: lighting-design@arup.com

About Arup
Arup is a global firm of planners, designers, engineers and
business consultants. We provide a diverse range of professional
services to clients around the world, exerting a significant
influence on the built environment. The firm is the creative force
behind many of the worlds most innovative and sustainable
building, transport and civil engineering projects and design
technologies.

Established in 1946, Arup has over 11,000 employees based

in more than 90 offices across 39 countries, working on up to
10,000 projects at any one time. Its unique structure, with the
firm held in trust on behalf of its employees, gives us complete
independence.
Image credits

Cover The New Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Pedro Pegenaute

p05 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Jannes Linders
Social Firefly, Vivid Sydney 2011, Australia Frank Maguire
Brandhorst Museum, Munich, Germany Hufton+Crow
V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries, London, UK Alan Williams Photography
p06 V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries, London, UK Alan Williams Photography
p07 The New Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands John Lewis Marshall
The New Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Iwan Baan
p08 The Waterhall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK Martine Hamilton Knight Photography
p10 The New Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Pedro Pegenaute
p12 Rothko Chapel, Houston, USA Hickey Robertson
Royal Academy, London, UK David Chipperfield Architects
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK Keith Hunter/Arcblue
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany Hufton+Crow
V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries Alan Williams Photography
The Waterhall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK Martine Hamilton Knight Photography
p13 V&A Medieval Renaissance Galleries, London, UK Alan Williams Photography
p14 New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece Peter Mauss/Esto
California Academy of Sciences, USA Tim Griffith
York Art Gallery, UK York Museums Trust
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, USA Nic Lehoux
Science Museum, London, UK Wilkinson Eyre
p15 New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece Christian Richters/VIEW
p16 Web of Light, Liverpool, UK David Millington Photography Limited
LightHive, London, UK Redshift Photography 2008
p17 Janet Echelman TED 2014 Sculpture, Vancouver, Canada Ema Peters
p18 Tate Modern 2 (TM2), London, UK Herzog & de Meuron Hayes Davidson
Art Institute Of Chicago, USA Charles G. Young, Interactive Design, Architects
Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, Margate, UK Hufton+Crow
Brandhorst MuseumMunich, Germany Hufton+Crow
The Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield, UK Hufton+Crow
p19 Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, Margate, UK Hufton+Crow
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