HAFARY HOUSE
Interior and Graphics Design: FARM
Photo | Finbarr
Hafary, a renowned name in the world of tiles, stones, and building materials, celebrated for its wide range of high-quality products. Hafary House, located in Singapore's vibrant Jalan Besar district, is more than just a showroom—it is a tactile, immersive journey that allows visitors to explore the full potential of these materials in innovative and inspiring ways.
The lighting design for Hafary House plays a crucial role in enhancing this experience. It not only serves the functional needs of the showroom but also enriches the visitor’s journey through carefully crafted lighting. By introducing dynamic contrasts in brightness and colour temperature, the lighting design ensures a visually engaging and multi-dimensional space.
Through a balance of technical precision and aesthetic intent, the lighting encourages creativity and material discovery, making Hafary House a destination where every material on display is showcased to its fullest potential. Designers, architects, and homeowners alike are invited to explore this thoughtfully illuminated space, sparking new ideas and possibilities for their projects.
Functional as Showroom
At its core, the showroom’s lighting must serve its primary function: allowing visitors to closely examine and evaluate materials. This provided an opportunity to return to the foundations of lighting design. The lighting environment was carefully calibrated to ensure that it reduces eye strain while guests move through the showroom, with materials displayed under optimal conditions. High-CRI (Colour Rendering Index) LED lighting was employed to accurately showcase the textures, colours, and details of the materials, while the lighting angles were meticulously adjusted to prevent shadows from falling over the displays as visitors stand in front of them. Given the showroom’s low ceilings, great care was taken to prevent uncomfortable glare by using glare-controlled spotlights, mirroring the precision typically reserved for gallery lighting. These considerations are essential to creating a sophisticated lighting environment. use of track-mounted spotlights ensures flexibility, allowing for easy adjustments as display arrangements may change over time.
Contrast in Colour Temperature and Brightness
In line with Hafary House’s concept of presenting both raw materials and the design potential they offer, the lighting was designed to differentiate these two elements. Materials on display are illuminated with cooler 4000K lighting to highlight their natural characteristics, while the surrounding designed spaces are bathed in warmer 3000K light, creating a striking contrast. This contrast not only emphasizes the materials but also adds rhythm and depth to the showroom environment, preventing the experience from becoming monotonous. By keeping areas like the flooring deliberately unlit, the showroom achieves a sense of tension and release, with brightness fluctuating based on the density of the displays, encouraging a more engaging and dynamic exploration.
Luminance Design: No Need to Illuminate the Floors
Through lighting tests, it was determined that 500 lux was the ideal amount of light for displaying materials, ensuring that each display is clearly visible while the surrounding space remains comfortably bright without lighting the floor. Unlike typical lighting schemes that over-illuminate the floor, the focus here is on creating a pleasant visual environment by emphasizing the brightness of the walls. This approach, known as luminance design, enhances the visual comfort of the space and often results in using fewer fixtures and less energy. By understanding how light interacts with surfaces, the design achieves a harmonious and energy-efficient solution.
