It is perhaps to be regretted that the regular arrays of recessed luminaires, the most common way of lighting offices, are the least preferred. Possibly in a windowless environment the lack of any view to give visual variety exaggerated the low ratings of such situations. Possibly the quality of the luminaires (particularly the prismatic 'batwing' which was rated very low) could be improved. Possibly the experimental procedure which did not allow the subject to work for a long time in the same environment made variety more desirable. But certainly the indications from this study are that subjects prefer other ways than regular recessed luminaires to light their offices. Complexity and brightness together: perhaps that is what people want in the lighting of their offices.

This paper presents the initial findings of an investigation into lighting appearance and the possibilities for its description using a photometric approach. The study shows that by describing the light pattern using the average luminance and the luminance distribution standard deviation of the most important area of the field of view, i.e. the horizontal 40° band, the acceptability of the Iighting appearance can be measured and calculated. Although this is still a simplistic approach, it provides a step towards better lighting installations, which could have benefits of comfort, productivity and energy efficiency as well as demonstrating a better understanding of the subject.

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