Landscape Lighting – Custom Light Fixtures

April 30, 2008

The selection of light fixtures is important when designing a landscape lighting plan. This is especially true when choosing path lights.We sometimes select simple fixtures that quietly stand adjacent to sidewalks, pathways, patios, steps and other areas in our landscape projects and in other cases we decide to make a statement.This is where a custom deigned and fabricated light feature can really be excited.

When selecting the materials we often consider wood, aluminum, steel, glass, fiberglass, plastic and stone.In fact a typical custom light fixture uses several of these materials in one light, like the fixtures we designed and built for one of our projects near St. Paul, Minnesota.Designed to provide illumination along a raised entry boardwalk, provide a connection to the front entry and make an artistic statement.

We decided to attach the lights to the deck of the boardwalk and keep them low, so that a low wattage bulb would be ample to provide enough light to safety navigate the raised walk and not over power the other landscape lights.Because the boardwalk reached more than fifty feet from the front entry to the guest parking we decided to embrace the existing red door and incorporate red into the design of the light fixtures, thus providing the connection to the entrance.The metal work was designed to create a soft contemporary look that would embrace and show the hand blown glass cubes, which are the strong artistic element of the fixtures.The glass cubes were blown gold with red striations running through them, and again providing that connection to the entry door and the red detailing in the metal housing.

Like many projects a number of professionals were involved from design, fabrication, sand blasting, powder coating, blowing the glass, assembling and installing the fixtures, with the net result being a success.Remember when thinking about your project that the details, although secondary to the big picture, are very important.

Posted in Garden Art, Japanese Garden Design, Landscape, Landscape Lighting