Five Lighting Design Trends Dominating 2022 - From Sustainability to Multipurpose Layouts

June 15, 2022 By: QTL 3 minutes

We asked several lighting designers for their take on trends that have been prevalent so far this year. Some are new, some you’ll recognize as the evolution of topics that the lighting industry has already been experiencing. Here’s what they had to say.

Design Practices for a Brighter Future

For years, there’s been a focus on specifying products made with sustainable materials and eco-friendly manufacturing processes. More recently, there’s also a growing expectation for lighting designers to reduce carbon use through lighting design.

“In the future, I think we’re going to see more attention being paid to the total impact of lighting on the environment. Not just the wattage and color temperature but also the overall carbon footprint of the products and the lighting design throughout its lifecycle. The trick will be practicing even more sustainable design while still creating beautiful spaces that feel comfortable and welcoming”, Josh Spitzig of Atelier Ten.

In addition to selecting carbon minimizing features, lighting control systems ensure that the correct amount of light is used at the right time, and the fixtures are turned off when they aren’t needed. When combined effectively, these practices can drastically reduce energy usage.

Designers can further reduce energy use through their selection of fixture attributes. Options include using optical lenses and grazers to bounce light off walls and ceilings and specifying fixtures that increase lumen output without using additional energy, for example adding White Optics internal coating to a fixture.

White office space with suspended led lights.

Wellness

The health and comfort of occupants is an increasingly important consideration in all aspects of architectural design. Lighting impacts human health in many ways, leading to the following two trends that are starting to merge:

Circadian Lighting: While the debate about the effectiveness of circadian lighting is still ongoing due to science catching up with theory, the fact that we are still discussing circadian lighting shows it’s a trend that’s here to stay. More businesses and architectural firms are convinced that circadian lighting can impact the productivity and health of occupants.
Daylight Harvesting: This technique is more widely accepted than circadian lighting. Buildings are designed to allow as much natural light into a space as possible, using a mix of windows and skylights. Artificial light acts as a supplement to the natural light. Lighting designers consider the balance of fixtures needed closer to/farther from natural light sources and utilize lighting controls to work in harmony with a variety of other controls used in these interiors to reduce the glare from natural light, such as automated blinds.

Josh says, “We now have mass produced smart shades that let in daylight in the morning and our phones can limit blue light at night. So the average person is a lot more in tune with how lighting can affect us throughout the day.”

Warm Tones

Warm colors are in. No, we’re not talking about CCT, we’re talking about finishes. Warm hues and natural materials such as wood are “hot” in interior design, which means finishes like brass and bronze will be selected more in spaces with visible fixtures.

(Tiny) Hidden Light Sources

As lighting designers already know, light fixtures are the brush strokes that determine any space's focus, mood, and ambiance. Smaller fixtures make it easier for lighting designers and installers to incorporate lights into architectural details. Tiny fixtures that deliver sufficient lumens and color rendering allow designers to include light in small spaces without sacrificing quality.

Sara Demel of SBLD Studio shares that using small fixtures, especially those with flexible characteristics, are products that she’s been using more and more over the years. “Small fixtures blend in well with the latest architectural lighting trends. I keep trying to find small minimalistic products to fit into the smallest details. The small form factor really opens up the world of decorative lighting.”

Multipurpose office layouts

Due to the emergence of hybrid work, the way we use offices is changing. Spaces need to be multipurpose to allow for an ever-changing mix of in-person and remote workers, with lighting controls that enable occupants to adjust the lighting to best suit the task at hand. Employees also desire lighting that makes them look good on screen at individual workstations and conference rooms. Finally, companies are attempting to lure employees back into the office and are renovating to make spaces more inviting.

Lighting trends are constantly changing and evolving with our tastes, needs and preferences. Great lighting hits at a visual and energetic level and it’s certain that these lighting design trends in 2022 fully embrace impactful and thoughtful design moving through this year and the future.