Museum Lighting Design

We speak to Terrie Hampson-Powell, Head of Lighting at Applelec, to explore key considerations for museum lighting design, from protecting delicate artefacts to creating an immersive visitor experience.

What role can lighting controls play within a museum lighting scheme?

Lighting controls are an integral aspect for museum lighting design. Offering more than just a practical use, controllers can be paired with lighting solutions to create different illumination styles and designs to add further context and meaning to exhibition displays.

These can include delivering vivid RGB and RGBW LED colour sequences or flowing through a range of white colour temperature LEDs, as well as providing dimmable functionality for adjusting the lighting levels as required. Along with this, certain lighting controls are Bluetooth and DMX enabled, making them extremely user friendly for whenever the lighting scheme for museum exhibitions needs altering. 

These can include delivering vivid RGB and RGBW LED colour sequences or flowing through a range of white colour temperature LEDs, as well as providing dimmable functionality for adjusting the lighting levels as required. Along with this, certain lighting controls are Bluetooth and DMX enabled, making them extremely user friendly for whenever the lighting scheme for museum exhibitions needs altering.

What negative impacts can lighting have on exhibits and how can this be overcome?

Inferior LED solutions can carry a number of risks if installed for museum lighting design, in particular if these lighting products are used for display and backlighting purposes. Issues such as poor-quality light output or LEDs which warm up after prolonged usage can compromise the integrity of displayed artefacts and could lead to irreversible damage.

Helping to avoid these problems, certain lighting solutions such as LED Light Sheet panels are engineered in such a way that any heat generated from the LEDs is dissipated, ensuring the lighting solution runs cool to the touch, and displayed items will not incur any heat damage. As well as this, some light panels can be embedded with high CRI LEDs, guaranteeing artefacts are displayed true to life, and the colours on various exhibition items are accurately showcased. 

Please tell us about a successful museum lighting project Applelec Lighting has worked on and what it involved.

We’re proud to have supported the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, on more than one occasion. As a globally recognised touring exhibition, the quality of presentation is critical to delivering an immersive, impactful visitor experience.

To meet the exhibition’s unique demands, Applelec Lighting was commissioned to manufacture a set of bespoke illuminated snapframes using our Applelec LED Light Sheet. With a crisp 5000K colour temperature and high-performance, energy-efficient LEDs, the solution ensured each image was lit with absolute clarity and detail.

The snapframes were custom-built to specification, including painted aluminium housings to match the aesthetic direction of the exhibition and bespoke mounting brackets designed for fast, secure installation across international venues. All components, including the power supplies, were selected to comply with UL, EU, and UKAS safety standards to support the exhibition’s global tour.

We’re particularly proud that this is a repeat project, and that our original snapframes are currently being refurbished as part of our Applelec Recycling Scheme. By upgrading existing components instead of producing new frames, we’re helping extend product life and reduce waste, supporting both our clients’ sustainability objectives and our own ECO Pledge.

How does lighting impact the overall experience for the visitor?

Lighting is a key aspect for museum and exhibition design, it helps to set the ambience, create focus lighting as well as utilised as a way of guiding visitors. The use of light and dark can be used to create an interesting and atmospheric space, whether that’s through the use of spotlights or LED Light Sheet panels, lighting can play a crucial role in influencing what the visitor feels and experiences at exhibitions.

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