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Case file
Dimmable, scene-based, daylight-aware lighting on Rako, Fibaro, KNX or DALI — programmed to the rhythm of the room rather than the switch on the wall.
— Interactive · live scene state
One panel. The whole apartment responds.
Tap a scene. Every circuit, shade, AC zone and AV source shifts at once.
/ The discipline, in detail
How we approach lighting automation.
Lighting is the single largest sensory layer in any premium space. Done well, it disappears. Done poorly, it dominates every room. We commission lighting scenes per zone — Welcome at 80% / 2700K, Dinner at 40% / 2200K, Film at 4% bias — and let the system fade between them at sunset, on a calendar, or on a single press.
Astronomical timers, daylight harvesting and occupancy sensors recover energy automatically. Engraved keypads replace the bank of toggles next to every door. Battery-backed circuits hold scene memory through power outages.
We work to the architect's lighting plan, not against it — specifying drivers, dimmer curves and load-balancing for every fixture before the wiring is pulled.
On record
Every lighting automation engagement is documented end-to-end — design, programming, commissioning, calibration — and handed over with the files our successors would need if we were never to return.
/ Where we deploy this
Active across 4 sectors.
Lighting Automation is rarely a standalone brief — it sits inside a wider sector practice with its own codes, expectations and operating rhythm.
/ Sister services
The rest of automation.
A serious brief usually crosses two or three of these. Read across the discipline — we deliver them as one contract.
- 01
Home & Office Automation
One press. The whole space responds.
Lights, climate, blinds, audio, cinema and security — orchestrated by a single Rako, Fibaro or KNX backbone and controlled from a touch panel, voice or a discreet keypad on the wall.0 - 03
Smart Control
One panel. The whole building.
Touch panels, keypads, voice and mobile control surfaces — Rako, Fibaro Home Center and KNX — engineered as the single, learnable interface to everything else we install.1 - 04
Drapery & Shading Control
Daylight, on a quiet motor.
Motorised curtain tracks, roller and roman blinds, sheer-and-blackout double-rolls, and external louvres — silent, scheduled, scene-aware and integrated with the rest of the home or building.2 - 05
Architectural & Façade Lighting
The building and the grounds, after dark.
Façade graze, in-grade uplights, linear coves, water-feature lighting, drive and pathway detailing, tree uplights and perimeter flood — engineered, programmed and night-commissioned on one Rako control surface.3
/ Where this system has been deployed
Lighting Automation on the ground.
The reference projects below carry a lighting automation layer engineered as part of an integrated stack. Each case study walks through the engineering challenges that were solved, the standards the work was held to, and the operational outcome on the day-two team.
Public project summaries describe systems and outcomes only — BOQ values, quantities, device counts and security layouts are kept off public surfaces.
Request a feasibility review/ Integration with
How lighting automation talks to the rest.
A serious deployment of this system rarely operates in isolation. The disciplines below most commonly share its cabling pathways, its controller logic, and its cause-and-effect matrix.
Home & Office Automation
One press. The whole space responds.
Lights, climate, blinds, audio, cinema and security — orchestrated by a single Rako, Fibaro or KNX backbone and controlled from a touch panel, voice or a discreet keypad on the wall.Drapery & Shading Control
Daylight, on a quiet motor.
Motorised curtain tracks, roller and roman blinds, sheer-and-blackout double-rolls, and external louvres — silent, scheduled, scene-aware and integrated with the rest of the home or building.
/ Read deeper
The engineering, in long form.
Each article below goes deeper than this service page can — a full walk-through of the engineering decisions, written by the team that delivers this work.
Engineering toolkit
Tools to scope this work
Calculators and reference checkers we use ourselves to sense-check the engineering before any drawings change hands.
- BMS · Energy
Energy & Efficiency Estimator
Adjust building variables and see indicative energy and CO₂ savings (kWh) for a BMS-driven energy upgrade plus daylight-harvesting LED retrofit. Conservative; defensible in a first conversation.
kWh · CO₂ savedOpen - Smart Home
Smart Home Discovery Wizard
For villa and apartment owners — pick your home, the zones that matter and the experiences you want, and map a coordination scope and room checklist. Not a final design, device count or security layout.
Advisory · discoveryOpen - AV · LED
LED Wall Size Calculator
Direct-view LED wall sizing across Samsung, LG MAGNIT, Leyard, Absen, Unilumin, Panasonic, Delta, Christie and Barco. Cabinet count, native resolution, brightness adequacy, power and weight — with pitch-vs-distance honesty and camera-refresh flags. Sources cited per model.
9 brands · pitch-awareOpen
/ Engineering concepts
Related engineering concepts
Concept
Rako Lighting Control
British wireless and wired lighting and scene-control platform. The default residential and hospitality lighting backbone for retrofit and new-build where Rako's keypad-and-scene ecosystem fits the design intent.
Concept
KNX Building Bus
ISO-standard wired open-protocol building bus. Multi-vendor, scalable to thousands of devices, designed for 20+ year lifecycles. The right backbone for vendor independence and longevity.
Concept
DALI Protocol
IEC-standard digital lighting protocol. Each fitting is individually addressable and dimmable; preferred for premium lighting where each circuit needs scene-level and tunable-white control.
Concept
Scene Orchestration Pattern
Engraved-keypad-driven scene programming where lighting, shades, climate, audio and AV move together to a named room state (Welcome, Dinner, Film, Goodnight) — programmed once and triggered as one.
/ Used alongside
Commonly deployed alongside
Sector
Hospitality
Guest experience, engineered.
Sector
Residential
The premium home, made quiet.
Service
Home & Office Automation
One press. The whole space responds.
Service
Smart Control
One panel. The whole building.
Project
Cabinet Conference Room, Arunachal Pradesh Secretariat
Cabinet Conference Room, Arunachal Pradesh Secretariat — cabinet conference room audio, video and control infrastructure delivered under sub-contract in an Arunachal Pradesh Public Works Department project, integrating Bose, BSS by Harman, LG, WyreStorm, AMX by Harman and Rako. Procurement quantities, private implementation schedules and private handover evidence stay in the project file.
Service
Multi-Room Audio
One song. Every room. Or six different ones.
/ Plan it right
Lighting Automation — getting the brief right.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Finalising the lighting layout and circuiting without the control intent, so scenes and dimming zones cannot be created afterwards.
- Mixing dimmable and non-dimmable drivers on one circuit and discovering the flicker on site.
- Ignoring tunable-white and daylight strategy where the architecture clearly calls for it.
- Engraving keypads with numbers instead of the room's real scenes — Welcome, Dinner, Film, Goodnight.
- Treating lighting control as separate from the shade, AV and climate scenes that should fire together.
What to share before a quotation
- Reflected ceiling plan and the lighting layout with fixture types and driver / dimming detail.
- Circuit and panel zoning, and whether DALI, KNX or wireless is preferred.
- The scenes and daily rhythm each space should support.
- Whether shade, AV and climate need to join the same scene logic.
- New-build or retrofit, and the keypad / app control preference.
/ Frequently asked
Lighting Automation — what buyers ask first.
Difference between dimming and lighting automation?
Dimming is a hardware function on a single fixture; lighting automation is the control layer above it that runs scenes, schedules, sensors and inter-room logic. A knob, a slider, a smart dimmer. Lighting automation is a control layer above it: scenes, schedules, sensors and inter-room logic. A dimmer changes one fixture; an automation system changes the entire room's character at one press.
Will lighting automation work with my existing fixtures?
Yes — lighting automation works with existing fixtures using standard mains-dimmable, 0–10V, DALI or DMX drivers; some premium decoratives need a driver swap. If the fixtures use standard mains-dimmable, 0–10V, DALI, or DMX drivers, yes. Many premium decorative fixtures need a driver swap or dedicated leading-edge dimmer — we audit every fixture during the survey and tell you upfront.
What is tunable-white lighting?
Tunable-white lighting shifts colour temperature on demand from 2200 K (warm candle-glow) to 6500 K (cool daylight), mirroring the sun across the day. Fixtures shift colour temperature on demand, typically 2200K (warm candle-glow) to 6500K (cool daylight). Paired with automation, the home brightens and cools through the morning and warms toward evening, mirroring the sun. The effect on circadian rhythm and the perceived warmth of a space is significant.
How many scenes should I plan for?
Programme 6–10 scenes per primary room for residential projects (Welcome, Day, Dinner, Film, Read, Goodnight is a complete starting set), and 4–6 named states for commercial spaces. We typically programme 6–10 scenes per primary room — Welcome, Day, Dinner, Film, Read, Goodnight is a complete starting set. Scenes beyond that count are rarely used in practice and clutter the keypad UX. For commercial spaces we keep scenes per zone to 4–6 named states.
Will tunable-white fixtures work with all dimmers?
No — tunable-white fixtures require DALI-2, dual-channel 0–10V or proprietary protocols (Rako Tunable, KNX dimming); standard mains dimmers cannot drive them. Tunable-white needs DALI-2, 0–10V dual-channel, or proprietary protocols (Rako Tunable, KNX dimming). Standard mains dimmers cannot drive tunable-white fixtures. We specify the driver, dimmer and fixture together at the design stage.
How does daylight harvesting work in practice?
Daylight harvesting uses perimeter lux sensors that dim artificial fixtures inversely as daylight rises, typically saving 20–35% on perimeter-zone lighting bills. Lux sensors mounted at the perimeter measure incident daylight; the controller dims the artificial fixtures inversely so the total illuminance at the work plane stays constant. Done well, occupants do not notice the change; the energy saving on a perimeter office zone runs 20–35% on the lighting bill.
· Begin
Begin a
lighting automation
brief.
Tell us about the building, the timeline, and what success looks like a year after handover. We will reply within two working days with a written response, not a sales pitch.