INDEX 2009 AWARD: Design to improve life case: Dynamic lighting improves life for hospital patients and staff

Dynamic lighting improves life for hospital patients and staff
 
Light is, without doubt, extremely important for the wellbeing of people. Yet, at many workplaces only small amounts of daylight enter. This is especially true for hospitals, where the lack of daylight in corridors affects both patients and staff. Hospital corridors have become much more than transport areas, and the lack of daylight in corridors combined with deficient lighting have consequences for health and working environment. 
 
The Danish designer Carlo Volf, who has been working with lighting for many years, experienced hospital lighting as deficient while being admitted for a couple of days. The experience led to the development of so-called lightmachines controlled by computer and a daylight sensor to create a more dynamic lighting which changes during the day and the year. At the same time the dynamic lighting helps saving energy and thus meets both different needs of hospital patients and staff as well as the environmental need for sustainable solutions.
Designer: Carlo Volf, Company: Louis Poulsen Lighting A/S and Light Makers A/S