The transformational power of lighting
Lighting should not be an ‘afterthought’ as it impacts the look, ambience and function of any space.
Early alignment of lighting with architecture will not just save your client time and money, but also give them a unique space which acts and behaves appropriately for their use. Dark Arts are specialists at providing the perfect environment, ambience or vibe for you or your client for any project type.
To see how we work visit our Commercial Process page.
Hospitality Lighting
Good lighting will create environments that draw in new and repeat customers by making spaces comfortable, warm and inviting.
Our experience in hotel, restaurant, bar and café projects will give you a space that guests will want to inhabit for longer and tell their friends about.
Lighting Experiences
We are experts in lighting design for front of house, events, art galleries, pop-up projects, retail & shopping centres. Dark Arts know how to add personality to your projects so your guest will experience something new.
Visitor experience projects require careful planning of lighting for different functional scenes and activities with a creative twist.
Exterior Lighting
Whether façades, large urban spaces or lush landscapes, lighting at night has a big impact on people and the environment.
Let us help create a perfectly balanced lighting solution that highlights the most important exterior characteristics without wasted light usage and light pollution.
Heritage Lighting
Our experience in historic, refurbishment and heritage projects will ensure our lighting designs are unintrusive and respectful to the architecture.
Being independent we can offer a broader range of products to ensure the right product is tied to each project, reducing complex re-wiring and additional building penetrations.
Office Lighting
Office lighting is more than blanket coverages with grids of lighting products.
Our clients are looking for ways to attract staff back to the office by providing lighting that attracts and retains talent, reduces stress and increases a sense of socialisation for the sharing of ideas.
Other Services
Lighting Visualisations
Renders are often presented under full daylight and without consideration of the lighting design. Night-scape design is very important for late night venues and should only be presented with a well-considered lighting solution.
Using industry leading design and rendering software we can bring your vision to life!
Daylight Design
Not enough daylight is a problem in a lot of projects, but so is too much!
Ask us to calculate daylight levels and provide artificial lighting and daylight management strategies that can save energy, increase staff alertness and productivity and reduce time wastage due to glare and manual daylight controls.
Lighting Calculations
Need some help with technical lighting design and illumination levels?
Dark Arts support developers, designers, and suppliers on lighting calculations to NZ Standards, Greenstar and Council Submittals. Let us make your vision become reality.
"You went above and beyond, and I am touched and grateful! Thank you for your hard work. The lighting looks amazing!"
Annique
"Sam’s enthusiasm for his work was immediately apparent and engaging. His team crafted helpful presentations to illustrate initial design concepts that came from a place of intelligent beautiful design – this was what I wished I’d received from other lighting designers on other projects.
Sam easily met agreed-upon deadlines and presented meticulous detail. His awareness of costs and choosing quality, aesthetically pleasing options at every pricing tier persisted throughout the project.
Sam’s work has undoubtedly improved the elegance, functionality and pleasure of being in our home. We are looking forward to working with Sam when we start our next building project later this year."
Lilly – Private Client
"On behalf of World Vision I just want to say thank you so much - all of you have gone above and beyond to create something that we couldn't have envisaged when we first had the pop up shop idea. I honestly can't express how grateful we are and so excited to see this come to life!"
Siobhan McPherson – World Vision
"Our house is slowly beginning to feel like home. We have received many, many compliments on the lighting. It is plain to everyone that a professional was involved in the design. Thank you."
Kim – Private Client
"Sam has an incredible eye for detail, when an issue arises, he is quick to come up with a new method and solution exceeding our expectations. Very easy to work with, great communication from start to finish and fantastic work ethic. We would highly recommend Sam for any lighting design projects and will be continuing to take advantage of his skill set for many years to come."
Ardy Philips – Targetti Lighting
"Thanks, Sam, for creating such an ambient experience for us and our guests. I was initially worried one of the lights wouldn't create enough light over our dining area but it’s perfect. We are so pleased with the entire result. Great to work with a lighting designer we can trust and with so much experience and knowledge."
Daniel – Private Client
"I found Sam to be professional and efficient to work with. He was honest and open about his availability, pricing and turnarounds which ensured my project ran on time and to budget.
I would not hesitate to work with Sam in the future and will recommend him should anyone need his services. Thanks again Sam!"Charlotte – Interior Designer
"Sam’s creativity and willingness to meet customer expectations makes him a lighting designer that I would recommend for any high end architectural or interior design project."
Julie Coutts – Tailor Inc
"We have used Sam to assist us with lighting calculations and modelling for some of our projects. Sam is extremely professional and always delivers on the timeframes set."
Richard Thorburn – ECC - ECC