Commercial Case Study

DIALux Lighting Design Case Study: A City of London Salon

A full commercial lighting scheme across a double-height ground floor and mezzanine — designed, calculated and visualised in DIALux before a single fitting was ordered.

The Brief

Lighting a Working Salon Without Losing the Interior

Following the renovation of a hair salon in the City of London, the interior design practice behind the scheme approached us to develop a lighting design that complemented the new interior while creating an engaging and welcoming atmosphere for clients.

The objective was to balance the functional requirements of a working salon — colour-accurate light at every styling station, comfortable levels in the waiting and treatment areas, and safe circulation across two levels — with the character of the new design.

Light had to do more than illuminate. It needed to enhance materials, highlight key areas and create a comfortable environment throughout the space.

DIALux render of the salon showing the mezzanine level and double-height ground floor

Lighting Approach

A Layered Scheme Built From Four Lighting Types

Rather than lighting the salon from a single ceiling layer, the scheme combines four distinct lighting types. General illumination supports the day-to-day requirements of the salon, while accent lighting highlights key areas and architectural features — together creating a layered, dynamic environment that changes character between day and evening trade.

LED Tape

Concealed tape lights the arched mirror surrounds and grazes the wall finishes, giving the salon its soft, even glow without visible sources.

Wall Lights

Slim vertical wall lights flank each styling position, delivering the shadow-free facial light a salon needs for colour work.

Track & Spotlights

Adjustable track runs provide flexible accent light over retail display, shelving and circulation — and can be re-aimed as the salon layout evolves.

Decorative Pendants

Suspended feature pendants occupy the double-height void, turning the empty volume between the two floors into the centrepiece of the interior.

Design Feature

Pendants Designed to Be Seen From Both Levels

The mezzanine provided an opportunity to introduce a stronger decorative element. Klus Serpent pendants were positioned so they can be viewed from both the ground and mezzanine levels, allowing the fittings to become a feature within the space rather than simply a source of illumination.

Getting suspension heights right in a double-height void is difficult to judge from a two-dimensional plan. Modelling the pendants in three dimensions let us test drop lengths and positions against sightlines from both floors — checking they read as a sculptural run from below, and sat at a comfortable eye level from the mezzanine, without blocking views across the space.

Klus Serpent linear LED pendants suspended in the double-height salon void, seen from the ground floor

The Software

Designed and Tested in DIALux

Using DIALux, we developed and tested the lighting scheme within a detailed 3D model of the salon. Every room surface was given its real reflectance value and every luminaire its manufacturer's photometric file, so the software could calculate how light would actually behave in the finished space.

That model let us assess light distribution, levels and visual impact throughout the space before anything was ordered:

Calculated lux levels at each styling station, basin and work surface
Uniformity across the floor, so the space reads evenly lit rather than patchy
Glare from the reflected view — critical when clients face a mirror for an hour
Quantity and spacing of fittings, trimmed to what the space genuinely needed
Photorealistic renders, so the client could see the scheme before committing to it

Cutaway view of the DIALux 3D model showing the salon's mezzanine level and the pendant layout below

Background

What Is DIALux?

DIALux is the lighting calculation and visualisation software used by lighting designers, consultants and manufacturers worldwide. It builds a three-dimensional model of a space using the real room geometry, the reflectance of each surface and the manufacturers' photometric data for the actual fittings being specified.

Because the calculation uses real photometric files rather than generic assumptions, it produces measurable results: illuminance on the working plane, uniformity ratios, glare figures and false-colour plots showing exactly where light lands. It is the difference between saying a scheme should be bright enough and being able to demonstrate that it is.

That evidence matters most on commercial projects, where landlords, building control, M&E consultants and end clients often want calculated lux levels against the relevant standards before a scheme is signed off — and where a fit-out programme leaves no room to discover a lighting problem after installation.

The final design works alongside the practice's new interior to create an atmosphere that is both functional and visually engaging — a working salon that still feels like a designed space.

The Scheme

DIALux Visualisations

Every image below is a DIALux render produced during the design stage — not a photograph of the finished salon. This is what the client saw before signing off the scheme.

Salon styling stations with LED tape around arched mirrors and vertical wall lights — Styling stations — LED tape around the arched mirrors with vertical wall lights either side for shadow-free facial light.

Close view of the mezzanine styling positions and track-mounted spotlights — Track-mounted spotlights above the mezzanine positions, accenting the arched mirror recesses.

Ground floor salon lighting with suspended track, spotlights and linear pendants — Suspended track and linear pendants over the ground floor, layered with concealed tape at high level.

Serpent pendants viewed from the mezzanine level of the salon — The same pendants from the mezzanine — the reason their drop heights were tested in 3D.

Overhead view through the salon void showing both floors lit — Looking down through the void — both levels reading as one connected space.

Salon mezzanine waiting and seating area with accent lighting — The mezzanine waiting area, lit softly enough to feel separate from the working floor.

LED tape grazing the wall finishes in the lower salon area — Vertical tape grazing the wall finishes — light used to reveal material rather than fill a room.

Retail display shelving lit by adjustable track spotlights — Retail display shelving, accented by adjustable track spots that can be re-aimed as stock changes.

Salon circulation area lit by recessed downlights — Circulation and back-of-house — recessed downlights kept deliberately restrained.

Elevation view of the salon shopfront showing the interior through arched glazing — Shopfront elevation — the interior scheme is what draws the eye from the street.

Night view of the salon shopfront with the lighting scheme visible through the arched windows — After dark, the pendants and mirror lighting turn the arched glazing into the shopfront display.

Wide DIALux render of the salon mezzanine and ground floor lighting scheme — The complete scheme across both levels, as modelled in DIALux.

Next Steps

Planning a Commercial Lighting Project

Want Your Scheme Modelled in DIALux?

DIALux modelling sits outside our standard design tiers and is quoted separately, because building and calculating an accurate model takes real time. Send us your drawings and programme and we'll tell you honestly whether your project warrants it.

Request a Free Consultation Call: 020 8874 2234

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