Lighting design and supply, Johannesburg
Architectural
Lighting Design
and Supply
We believe in shadow, as much as light.
Darkroom Lighting Projects designs, specifies and supplies architectural lighting for hospitality, restaurant, retail, corporate and residential projects across South Africa. We work from a design led starting point and back it with supply, so the concept and the product list come from the same place.
01 — The position
Lighting is the last thing installed and the first thing felt
A space can be beautifully designed and still fall apart after dark. Lighting decides whether a restaurant feels intimate or clinical, whether a lodge deck feels like an escape, whether a retail display makes someone stop and pick something up. It is also the layer most often left until the budget is nearly spent.
Darkroom exists to get that layer right, from the first concept through to the final aiming of a fitting on site. We develop a lighting concept for the specific project rather than pulling fittings from whatever happens to be in a catalogue, then source and supply the products that deliver it. We work alongside the architect, the interior designer and the contractor rather than around them.
Every scheme is driven by three things at once: how the space should feel, what it will cost to run, and whether it can actually be installed and maintained by the people who have to live with it.
02 — What we do
Six areas
of work
Six areas of work, each with its own set of problems to solve. Most projects draw on more than one.
Architectural
Lighting Design
Concept development, lighting layouts, calculations, specification and documentation for new builds and refurbishments, issued in a form the design team and the contractor can build from.
View service →
Hospitality and
Lodge Lighting
Lighting for lodges, hotels, guest suites and public areas, including exterior and pathway lighting in environments where load, dark skies and insects all matter.
View service →
Restaurant and
Bar Lighting
Atmosphere that holds from lunch service through to late evening, with the flexibility to move between the two without anyone touching a fitting.
View service →
Retail and
Commercial Lighting
Lighting that makes merchandise look the way it should, keeps staff comfortable, meets landlord and compliance requirements and keeps running costs sensible.
View service →
Residential
Lighting
Considered lighting for private homes and apartments, covering architectural detail, decorative selection and control, whether we are appointed directly or through your architect.
View service →
Custom and
Bespoke Lighting
Fittings developed for a specific space when nothing available does what the design needs, from a single feature piece to a run of matched elements.
View service →03 — Selected projects
Selected
projects
Our work runs across five star lodges, award winning retail, restaurants, corporate interiors, exhibitions and private homes. Each project is written up with the brief, the lighting strategy, the fittings specified and the team we worked with.
Recognised work
Retail Design and Development Award
Exclusive Books Ballito, lit by Darkroom, won the award for the best retail store design within a shopping centre in South Africa.
04 — Trade and professional team
Working with architects and interior designers
A large part of what we do never appears under our own name. We support architects, interior designers and quantity surveyors through the specification process with lighting layouts, product data, photometric information, budget guidance and documentation that can go straight into a tender pack.
If you are specifying lighting on a project and want a second opinion on a layout, a full design from concept to commissioning, or simply a supplier who will answer the phone during construction, that part of the website is written for you.
05 — Brands
The brands
we carry
Darkroom supplies international and South African architectural and decorative lighting into projects across the country. Where a project calls for a product we do not carry, we say so and source it rather than bending the design to fit the stock.
06 — Approach
The way we
think about light
Design before product
The concept comes first and the product list follows from it. A lighting scheme built backwards from a price list looks exactly like a lighting scheme built backwards from a price list.
Efficiency that pays for itself
Energy efficiency and sustainability are treated as design constraints rather than an afterthought. Loads, running costs and expected life are put in front of you while there is still time to act on them.
On site to the end
We do not hand over a drawing and disappear. Commissioning, focusing and final aiming is where a lighting scheme is either delivered or quietly lost, so we stay involved through it.
07 — Enquire
Tell us about
your project
Whether it is a single room, a full lodge or a national retail rollout, the first step is a conversation. Send through whatever you have, drawings, a mood board or a description in your own words, and we will come back to you with an honest view of what is involved and what it is likely to cost.