False ceilings and lighting in the designer
Draw false ceilings with coves, trays, islands and slats, place lights, fans, switches and sockets, and see the rooms lit at night. Each room's light level is checked. Ceiling area, cove metres and fittings are priced into the estimate, and the ceiling and electrical plans print as PDFs.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- The false ceiling is quoted per square foot from a guess, and the cove and edge metres are forgotten.
- The client sees the living room by day only, and asks after handover why the cove looks dim.
- A study ends up with too few downlights because nobody checked the light level.
- The electrician gets switch heights by phone, and the ceiling contractor a hand sketch.
How it works
- In the designer, pick Build > Ceiling and choose a type for the room. The types are Plain drop, Border + cove, Tray, Island, Wooden slats, Wooden panels, Grid tiles or Star ceiling. Set the drop, border, steps and cove gap.
- Open Lights. The Light card shows the room's lux against the range its kind of room needs. It says OK, Too dark or Too bright and what to add.
- Press Auto-place lights for a start: LED strips in the coves, then downlights along the ceiling's border band. Add pendants, tracks, wall lights, lamps or fans by hand; they stay when you auto-place again.
- Open Points and put switch boards, sockets, TV and data, USB, AC points and fan regulators on the walls at their usual heights.
- Switch to Night to see every light in its colour and beam. Then print the Reflected Ceiling Plan and the Lighting and Electrical Plan, and make the estimate.
Everything it does
False ceilings
- Types: plain drop, border with a cove, tray with steps, island, wooden slats, wooden panels, grid tiles, star ceiling with fibre-optic points
- Drop (mm), Border, Steps and Step rise, an island's Thickness, Cove with an LED strip and the Cove gap, Slat width, Gap and Turned
- Per room, under a lower ceiling area, or Only a rectangle over a table or bed
- Bands and steps follow walls at any angle; lower ceiling areas and skylights are cut out
- Quantities: m² with wastage, running metres of edges and of cove, priced from the ceiling material's rates
- Warnings: lower than 2100 mm, below a lower ceiling area, or a tall unit reaching into it (the box shows it too)
Lights and fans
- Ceiling: downlights, trimless downlights, spots, panels, surface lights, track and magnetic track, wall washers, pendants, linear pendants, chandeliers
- Strips priced by the metre: cove, RGB / RGBW, corner, recessed and surface profiles, mirror backlight, step, skirting, under-cabinet, wardrobe and shelf, neon flex
- Wall: wall lights, up-down lights, sconces, picture lights, vanity bars, step lights; lamps on a table or the floor
- Fans: ceiling fans in ten styles hanging on their down-rod, wall, pedestal, tower, table, bladeless, exhaust and inline duct fans
- Each fixture: watts, lumens, colour temperature, beam, price, brand and supplier code
- Each light can be switched off in 3D; it stays in the price, the purchase list and the drawings
- Starter catalogue: 85 light fixtures in Essential, Premium and Luxury, with sample rates
Light level rule
- Lux = lumens x utilisation factor (0.5) / floor area
- Targets by room name: Living and Dining 150-200, Kitchen 300-400, Bath 200-250, Bedroom 100-150, Study 400-500, Foyer 100-150, others 150-200
- Cove and accent lights count at 25 %; Too bright means 25 % over the range
- A guide for the quote, not a lighting engineer's calculation
Switches and sockets
- Switch boards at 1200 mm, sockets at 300 mm, AC points at 2100 mm to start with
- Dragged along the wall, or place and height typed
Drawings and the estimate
- Print > Reflected Ceiling Plan and Lighting and Electrical Plan: a floor page, then a page a room. Pages show heights, coves, symbols, a legend with m², metres and counts, and each room's light level
- Estimate lines per ceiling (m², edges, cove), per fixture (pieces, metres of strip) and per point type
- Work by trade sends ceilings to the false ceiling contractor and lights and points to the electrician
Night view
- Fast lights two fixtures for real, Balanced six, Best twelve; the rest are drawn as pools of light
- Coves wash the ceiling; pelmet strips wash the curtains; lamp shades glow
Who uses it
DesignerDraws the ceilings, places lights, fans and points, checks the light level and shows the room at night.
EstimatorChecks the ceiling m², cove metres and fixture counts before the estimate goes out.
Site supervisorHands the ceiling plan to the false ceiling contractor and the electrical plan to the electrician.
Interiors AdministratorKeeps the ceiling materials, light fixtures, electrical points and room light levels.
Where you use it
- Web: the 3D designer, Build > Ceiling, Lights, and Lights > Switches and sockets
- Web: a design > Print > Reflected Ceiling Plan / Lighting and Electrical Plan
- Configuration: Interior Design > Configuration > Finishes > Ceiling Materials; Lighting and Power > Light Fixtures, Electrical Points, Room Light Levels
- The client's 3D page: ceilings and lights, lit at night
- Not in the phone apps
What you control
Settings
- Utilisation Factor: 0.5
- Too Bright Above (%): 25
- Cove Light Counts (%): 25
- Auto-Place Downlight and Auto-Place Cove Strip: the first downlight and strip if empty
- Room light levels per kind of room (the targets above)
- Usual heights of each electrical point type
Questions
Is the light level a proper lighting design?
No. It is a simple rule to help you quote enough lights. Lumens times 0.5, over the floor area, against a range for the kind of room. For a hotel or office, check it with a lighting engineer.Can I use my supplier's fittings?
Yes. Add them under Light Fixtures with their watts, lumens, colour, beam, price, brand and supplier code. The brand shows in the estimate line and on the purchase list.Does the cove strip follow the ceiling if I change it?
Yes. A strip placed in a cove follows the cove, also into a new version of the design.What does the ceiling contractor get?
The Reflected Ceiling Plan and the Ceiling Sections with a 1:20 edge detail, and the false ceiling lines of Work by Trade with their quantities.Do night views work on a phone?
The client's 3D page has a Fast setting for weaker devices. It has been checked in desktop browsers on our demo data, not yet on real phones.Related features
DESIGN STUDIOWall finishes and floors in the designerPaint, wallpaper, panels, cladding, mouldings and tiles go on the walls of the 3D design. Tiles, stone, planks or carpet go on the floors in their laying pattern. The litres, rolls, boxes and square metres are worked out with wastage and priced into the estimate.DESIGN STUDIODrawings made from the modelFurnished plans, elevations of every wall, tile layouts, ceiling sections, ceiling and electrical plans come straight from the 3D design. They form a numbered drawing set with a cover, an index and a title block. Each issue is a revision in the drawing register for the client to sign off.DESIGN STUDIOPriced quantities and purchase lists from the modelThe 3D design is the quote. Everything in it, from paint litres and tile boxes to lights, curtains and furniture, becomes estimate lines. You also get a purchase list by supplier and the work by trade with quantities and value. The design is also checked against the site measurement.DESIGN STUDIOFurniture, decor, appliances and bathrooms in the designerFurnish every room of the 3D design: beds, sofas, dining sets and wardrobes made to measure or bought, and ready 3D models. Add rugs, art, cushions, TVs and kitchen appliances, shower glass, tubs and accessories. Each piece is placed by touch, kept clear of walls and other things, and priced into the estimate.DESIGN3D designer with a price on every boxDraw the rooms wall by wall and put your own kitchen and wardrobe boxes on the walls. Each box shows in 3D with its materials, its price and anything wrong with it. The client turns the design on their phone, tries other material sets with their prices, and approves.
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