Reflections on the

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Last One Hundred
Years of Lighting in
Great Britain

The Illuminating
Engineering Society
to
The Society of Light
and Lighting
(1909 – 2009)

Centenary Celebration Publication

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are reserved.
No part of this publication may be
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the publisher.
© May 2009
The Society of Light and Lighting
The Society is part of CIBSE, which is a
registered charity, number 278104.
ISBN 978-1-906846-03-9
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Printed in England by Page Bros

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Reflections on the
Last One Hundred
Years of Lighting in
Great Britain
David Loe and Rosemary McIntosh

The Illuminating
Engineering Society
to
The Society of Light
and Lighting
(1909 – 2009)

Centenary Celebration Publication

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Contents

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Foreword 7

Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning 8

Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years 20

Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change 46

Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation 72

Chapter 5 2009 – ? The Future 102

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Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

6
 Foreword

Foreword
Over the years many have spoken about the need for a ‘history of lighting in

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Great Britain’, but like many good ideas it didn’t come high on the agenda of
‘things to be done’. In fact this work came about virtually by accident when
in 2004, George Cole, IES Secretary 1946 - 78, wrote to the Lighting Research
and Technology editorial board to complain about the quality of the publication
– he felt that standards had slipped. I replied thanking him for his remarks,
and with the awareness of the forthcoming centenary, I asked if he would like
to write something about his experiences with the IES as part of a centenary
publication. Although, at that time, I had no clear idea what form it might take.
There was a pause of two or three weeks. Then he replied, clear and to the
point: ‘I’m 87 and if I’m going to do it I had better get on with it’ – and so he
did. George shared his essay with Walter Stevens (Steve), Tony Willoughby
and John Holmes, all past presidents of the IES. They agreed that it should
be published but as part of a more complete work. I tried to interest others
without success. So with no experience of writing such an important historical
work there seemed to be no alternative, but, like George, I had better get on
with it. Fortunately I was able to persuade Rosemary McIntosh to join me as
co-author, for which I am extremely grateful.
My aim is for the publication to be a memento of the first one hundred years of
organised lighting, ranging from the birth of the IES in 1909 to its Centenary. It
is not intended to be a ‘serious history’ but a pot-pourri of events, and a reflection
on people and developments that shaped the British lighting profession. The
aim is for it to be ‘light’ rather than ‘heavy’ (or even ‘dark’).
Many people provided material like cuttings, memories and photographs, but
too many to name individually, so I hope they will recognise themselves and
accept my grateful thanks. However, three secretaries of the Society were
particularly helpful and deserve to be recognised. George Cole I have already
mentioned, but also Andrew Ramsey and Jonathan David. I must also thank
Helen Loomes, chair of the Centenary Committee, and her team, Mark Ayres
and Mike Simpson, for their encouragement. That just leaves me to thank the
CIBSE/SLL team of Ken Butcher, Claire Ruston, and, of course, Liz Peck, the
current SLL Secretary.
I hope you enjoy wandering through our Reflections on the Last One Hundred
Years of Lighting in Great Britain, and who knows it might excite someone to
take on a more serious work. We have tried to be accurate but we apologise in
advance for any errors you might find.
David Loe

7
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1908 – 1909 The Beginning

Front cover of Volume 1 of ‘The Illuminating Engineer’ 1908

8
Chapter 1
 Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning

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It was in January 1908, before the inaugural meeting of the Illuminating
Engineering Society in November 1909, that the first British publication
dealing with the subject of illumination was produced. It was very much
this publication that brought into being the birth of the British Illuminating
Engineering Society. It was entitled The Illuminating Engineer.
The Illuminating Engineer was published by the Illuminating Engineering
Publishing Co Ltd and edited by Leon Gaster, who, over the next two decades,
was to have considerable influence in the advancement of lighting in Great
Britain. The editorial office was at 32 Victoria St, London. It was priced at 1/-
per issue or 10/6 for an annual subscription. The first issue ran to 88 pages.
Although it was twenty years since the first practical incandescent lamps had
been demonstrated by Thomas Edison in the USA, and Joseph Swan in Great
Britain, we have to remember that in 1908 ‘artificial’ lighting was generated
by oil, gas, acetylene and electricity, depending on the situation. Candles were
still widely used, particularly in homes. But in those twenty years, leaders
in the field had encountered issues that required agreement before lighting
performance could be developed and improved, and allow lighting to take its
rightful place in environmental design of the 20th century.
In the Editorial of the first issue of The Illuminating Engineer attention was drawn
to the need for a specialist magazine committed solely to the consideration
of all aspects of the subject, addressing the requirements of consumers and
professionals, keeping them in touch with recent developments.
It talks of the inefficiency of converting energy into light in that ‘it is estimated
that between half and two thirds of the light produced was wasted by inefficient
means of illumination’ and ‘that in many cases an inadequate amount of light
is delivered and that the costs are very large, estimating that the expenditure
for lighting in GB exceeded £36 million per annum.’ It continues ‘It was
therefore thought that a special magazine devoted to the furtherance of the
science and art of illumination would be cordially received by all classes.’
The Editor reports that he had recently visited the United States where the
Illuminating Engineering Society had been operating since January 1906. He
also visited the Continent (mainland Europe) with the object of ascertaining
views and securing co-operation.
The question of the behaviour of the eye under different illumination levels

9
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

and how the retina perceives colour is raised. It goes on ‘Yet the requisite
knowledge of this research is confined to the physiologists. ... It is our intention
to keep our readers in touch with results of this nature.’
It calls for not only vision scientists but also architects to become involved in

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the subject of illumination. In addition, the Board of Education is mentioned
‘to ensure suitable lighting for children is provided in schools.’
Measurement of illumination is raised as another area desperate for exploration
and definition. The co-operation between various bodies is asked for, to
eliminate the differences between different photometers and illuminometers
(illuminance meters). It is worth remembering that in 1908 illuminance would
have been measured using visual photometers, which required the matching
of two areas of brightness. The instruments were often beautifully crafted but
extremely difficult to use, therefore accuracy was questionable.
The Editor concludes ‘It may be urged that we have got on all right hitherto
without troubling about the defects of our methods of illumination. This
suggestion has always confronted any new movement. The truth of the matter
is that we rarely realise how bad a thing is until we have something better, and
until the question has been more carefully studied. We believe that the time
will come when we shall wonder at the crudeness and inefficiency of many of
the systems of illumination in use at the present day and we hope that the work
of The Illuminating Engineer will receive due recognition and, being heartily
supported, bring about the desired result.’

The full contents of Volume 1 ran to nearly 1000 pages, and contained a
wide range of technical papers, articles and correspondence. These included
the following:
A technical section with a paper ‘Illumination, its Distribution and Measurement’
by A P Trotter, Electrical Advisor to the Board of Trade. This was a paper
originally presented to the Institution of Civil Engineers on the 10th May 1892
and was subsequently awarded the Telford Medal and a Telford premium. It is
claimed that the published paper was largely rewritten and enlarged, and was
serialised in The Illuminating Engineer throughout 1908 and 1909.
Different light sources were considered with papers on Acetylene lamps, Arc
lamps, Vacuum tubes, Incandescent lamps and Gas lamps. This indicates that
the ultimate means of generating light was not yet certain and that all was still
to be played for in providing artificial illumination. Daylighting and daylight
measurement were also considered with a paper by P J Waldram, as well as

10
 Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning

a paper entitled ‘Daylight Illumination in schools’ by S Ruzicka, Professor of

Hygiene in the Bohemian University, Prague.
Lighting installations were also covered. There was a paper by Louis B Marks,
‘Design of the Illumination of the New York City Carnegie Libraries’. This had

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been presented at the second annual convention of the IES in Philadelphia on
5th and 6th October 1908. Street lighting was also represented with papers
from Germany, USA and Britain. Other applications discussed were factories,
shops (particularly shop windows), and lighthouses. There was also a paper on
stage lighting, which described lamp dimming, with an illustration of a huge
amount of equipment filling the whole side of the stage of a leading theatre. It
was explained that the dimmers were used to create special effects of light and
colour.
Light measurement topics comprised light standards, measuring equipment
and procedures, with papers by J S Dow, P J Waldram, and L Gaster among
others. C C Paterson describes the illumination laboratory at the National
Physical Laboratory (GB) and stressed the need for establishing international
light standards.
Throughout the year many patents pertaining to light and lighting were listed,
as well as reviews of articles on illumination matters that had appeared in the
technical press. From time to time there were items about the developing
illumination equipment industry.

‘During the last month we have received from

Messrs, Siemens Bros, several notes relating to the
development of Tantalum lamps. We are informed
that the firm has placed a large contract for show
cards and bill posting on public hoardings in the
provinces and London. The picture representing an
evidently satisfied consumer is shown.
We have since been informed that the demand for
the Tantalum show cards has exceeded expectations.’

Announcement of ‘Siemans’
Tantalum lamp

11
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

It is interesting to see that education had not been forgotten with the following
announcement appearing.

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“A Course in Illumination
We have received a copy of the prospectus of the Northampton Institute
(later the City University, London) for the following year, and were
interested in the account of the course conducted by Dr C V Drysdale
on the ‘Production and Utilization of Light’ in which the scientific
principles underlying the manufacture of light for illuminating purposes
received detailed attention.
The lectures referred to are supplemented by a course on ‘The Chemistry
of Incandescent Lighting’ and laboratory work on Photometry.
It is gratifying to find that in this instance, at least, the study of illumination
occupies a definite place in the college curricula, and there are indications
that the subject of illumination is about to receive attention on similar
lines in other quarters.”

The first volume of The Illuminating Engineer certainly lived up to its aim of
considering all aspects of illumination and the equipment of the day. It contained
contributions and correspondence from around the world, particularly from
Europe and America, with papers ranging from the art to the science of
lighting.
In the last issue the Editor, Leon Gaster, expressed ‘his appreciation of the
interest and sympathy with which our objects have invariably been received...
which bears witness to the general recognition of the value of the work we are
trying to carry out.’ He also mentions ‘the perpetual wrangle as to the relative
cheapness of gas and electricity that still proceeds in some quarters. And anyone
who is called upon to advise – must realise that each case must be considered
on its merits. His decision must be based not merely upon the running cost of
the two illuminants. He must also bear in mind the costs of maintenance and
renewals – and at the same time he must not lose sight of the aesthetic and
hygienic aspects of the question; good illumination can only be obtained by
the concerted action of the physiologist, the architect and the engineer.’ And
so the scene was set.

The Establishment of the Illuminating Engineering Society in GB.

As the above summary indicates, many of the participants involved in

12
 Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning

illuminating engineering were already aware of the problems that needed to be

resolved before lighting could develop and move forward. Agreement between
the participants was crucial.
In the editorial of Volume II, January 1909, Leon Gaster writes ‘During the past

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year people in this country have had an opportunity of satisfying themselves
as to the value of the work the illuminating engineer seeks to carry out and
the time is not far distant when the formation of a society will enable these
questions to be discussed yet more fully.’
He continues ‘In advocating the formation of such a society we have no desire
to do more than provide a common platform where all those interested in
illumination may be able to express their views in a free and informal manner,
and membership of such a society cannot, at present time, be regarded as any
claim to professional distinction. We naturally hope that in times to come,
when the subject of illumination has been thrashed out in detail to a far greater
extent than at present, ‘expert illuminating engineers’ will have a professional
existence and will, even though few in number, be entitled to claim the
distinction that the name implies.’
Furthermore he states ‘But at the present moment, though a man may be a
member of the ‘Illuminating Engineering Society’ this will not entitle him to
be termed an ‘Illuminating Engineer’ unless his qualifications are of exceptional
nature... and, to the best of our knowledge and experience, there are few
indeed. And the same view of the matter is held by the United States. For
this reason the society has been termed the ‘Illuminating Engineering Society’
and not the ‘Society of Illuminating Engineers’. The subject of illuminating
engineering may be said to have proved its claim to existence, but the expert
‘Illuminating Engineer’ is a creation of the future... it should be realised that
membership should not demand the possession of certain qualifications except
an interest in the objects of the society.’
In the March 1909 issue of The Illuminating Engineer it was reported that an
informal dinner, with Mr Leon Gaster presiding, had been held at the Criterion
Restaurant, Piccadilly, London, on the 9th February 1909. ‘At the gathering
twenty-seven representatives of the engineering, architectural, and medical
professions were present, together with other interested professionals. The
subject of discussion was the formation of an Illuminating Engineering Society
in Great Britain.
At the dinner Mr Gaster extended a hearty welcome to everyone present as
supporters of the movement for which they all held so much at heart.
One of the chief questions that arose immediately was how could such a society
be made self-supporting? Could a sufficient number of interested people be
found to bear the expense of publishing the transactions or proceedings?

13
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Mr Gaster reported that the USA had established their society in 1906 with
93 members, and now had over 1000. And in addition to its centre in New
York, a number of other local groups had been established. Regarding a
journal, he explained ‘that he had approached his colleagues, the directors of
the Illuminating Engineering Publishing Co, and asked them whether they

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would allow The Illuminating Engineer to become the official organ in the event
of such a society being formed, thereby saving one of the biggest expenses to
the society.’ They had accepted.
‘Mr Gaster concluded that he had said enough to show that those present had
little to risk and, like the general public, much to gain through the formation of
an Illuminating Engineering Society on the lines indicated, and he relied upon
their cordial assistance and co-operation.
There followed a discussion with many toasts being proposed. Mr J S Dow
commented that they were embarking on a new and necessary area of study.
As an illustration he recounted that the very term illumination, in the sense that
we use it, was almost unknown until recently, he might mention that when he
looked up its use in a well known encyclopaedia, he was rewarded by a cryptic
reference – Illumination, see fireworks.
There followed the proposals that The Illuminating Engineering Society be
established with Mr Leon Gaster as its Honorary Secretary, and accept the offer
of The Illuminating Engineer as its official organ. An organising committee was
formed with Dr H Parsons (oculist) as chairman.
Mr Gaster expressed his satisfaction of the outcome of the evening by
establishing The Illuminating Engineering Society and that by a curious chance
the dinner was held on his birthday. Mr Gaster’s health was then drunk with
musical honours by those present.’

The year continued with The Illuminating Engineer publishing articles on a wide
range of topics. One from A D Curtis and A J Morgan (USA) on indirect
lighting, claiming that is was excellent for eye comfort but was inefficient and
expensive in providing illumination. A contribution by Prof. S W Ashe and
Mr J S Dow on the subject of illumination and acuity was included. Also, gas
lighting and electric lighting were both given wide coverage, and fittings that
used both a gas and electric incandescent lamps were illustrated.
In March 1909 it was reported ‘that at a recent meeting of the Council of
International Electro-Technical Commission (later the CIE) the question of
an International Unit of Light was brought forward by the French Electro-
Technical Committee. The Council recommended that each country should

14
 Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning

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Combined gas and electric lamp luminaire

endeavour to arrange matters in such a way as to satisfy the needs of both the
gas and electrical industries. It also reported that a British sub-committee under
the chairmanship of Dr R T Glazebrook, FRS, was set up with representation
from both the electrical and gas industries to go into the details fully. The
National Physical Laboratory was also involved.’

On the 25th May a meeting of those interested in the formation of the

Illuminating Engineering Society was held at the St Bride Foundation Institute,
Fleet St, were the draft Statutes and Bye-laws giving the out-lines of the scope
of the Society were ratified on the motion of A P Trotter and seconded by K
Edgcumbe (later Lord Mount Edgcumbe). The draft constitution was published
in the June issue of The Illuminating Engineer.
Items from the Draft Constitution included the following:
‘Nature and Aims: Its objects shall be the advancement of the theory and
practice of illuminating engineering and the dissemination of knowledge
relating thereto.
Membership: The members of this Society shall be designated Members,
Honorary Members and Corresponding Members. Membership is open to
anyone interested in the objects of the Society, but at the date of election shall
not be less than twenty-one years of age. Members may be of either sex, and
of any nationality.

15
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Officers of the Society: To include a President (to hold office for one year
only) with between ten and twenty-five Vice Presidents, an Honorary
Secretary, and Treasurer. The Council, of between 18-27 members, shall
contain representatives of different interests, trades and professions concerned
with illumination and allied subjects who may be of different nationalities.

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Admission and Expulsion of Members was determined in some detail and
annual Subscriptions were set at one guinea which would include a subscription
to ‘The Illuminating Engineer, the appointed official organ of the Society.’ It
continued ‘After the first year the Council shall have power to alter this annual
subscription, if found necessary... but the subscription shall not exceed two
guineas within the first five years.’
There follows details on the organisation of Meetings of the Society including
the AGM, which would occur in the month of June. There followed details
regarding Management Issues including the publication of proceedings of the
Society where it states that ‘Papers read or lecturers delivered before the Society
must not be published in full elsewhere than in the official organ... without
special permission.’

Also, in the June issue more information was included on the proposed
International Standard of Light. Leon Gaster in the editorial states ‘It is with
great satisfaction that we record the recently issued announcement of the
National Physical Laboratory regarding the proposed international unit of
light.’ He continues ‘the British and French units (at present in almost exact
agreement) should be maintained at their present value, and that the United
States value should be lowered by 1.6% in order to be also in equality. It is
suggested that the value in use in Germany and other countries abiding by
the Hefner standard shall be taken as the round figure 0.9 of the international
unit.’ There follows much appreciation for the collaboration of the countries
involved and the successful outcome that will be a benefit for all involved
in illuminating engineering. But there seems to be some disquiet from gas
engineers in Great Britain and Germany who apparently claim they were not
adequately represented. Nonetheless Leon Gaster continues ‘it may be pointed
out that the success of the concerted action on the part of those representing
gas and electrical lighting on this occasion is a happy augury for the future.’
In July a summary of a paper to the Physical Society entitled ‘The proposed
international unit of candle power’, by C C Paterson of the NPL, was published.
The paper indicated the problems in creating an international unit that would
be acceptable to all the countries involved, and for both the electrical and the
gas engineering professions. This must have been no mean feat, particularly

16
 Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning

since there was not an accepted standard by which they could be compared.
The trouble being: unstable flame standards as used by the gas industry, and the
difficulties of making incandescent lamp standards to acceptable manufacturing
tolerances. A standard that relied on the melting point of a pure substance was
discussed, but there were many reported problems with that too.

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The journal continued to include a broad range of topics. It made reference to
the annual report of His Majesty’s Inspector of Factories, which commented
on the defects in the lighting of workshops, not only in electric lighting but
also in daylighting. It went on to remind readers that Mr P J Waldram had
frequently pointed out that daylight illumination required the same careful
study as artificial lighting. Street lighting also received considerable coverage
and included the description of fixtures, illuminants and installation examples
from America, Germany and Great Britain.
In the July issue there appeared the following notice announcing the formation
of the IES and inviting interested parties to apply for membership.

Facsimile ‘Notice for membership of the IES’

17
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Further, it was announced that Professor Sylvanus P Thompson DSc., FRS,

had accepted the invitation to be the first President of the Society.
The inaugural meeting of the Illuminating Engineering Society was held at the
Royal Society of Arts, London, on Thursday, November 18th 1909, with a

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distinguished audience of about 150.
As one might expect from an inaugural lecture and presidential address for a
new society, Professor Thompson embraced all aspects of the new subject of
illuminating engineering. He commenced by describing the justification for
a new society. ‘There had arisen a real need, which the existing societies and
institutions failed to meet, and the new society had to represent a new science,
industry or art.’ He went on ‘Those who have founded the Illuminating
Engineering Society, in whose name I have the honour of speaking to-night,
have no hesitation whatever in putting forward the claim to justification on
both these grounds.’
He stressed the urgency in establishing national and international units of
illumination so that the term ‘well lit’, for a range of situations, could be
described numerically rather than using the unaided eye which he said was
‘notoriously bad at making such judgements’. Drawing attention to the work of
A P Trotter, he mentioned the need for photometers with which illumination
levels could be measured.
Human vision was discussed, including the physical and psychophysical aspects.
Lighting applications and safety were also touched on, particularly in factories,
offices and schools. He concluded ‘I venture to suggest it would be a good
thing if our Society could draw up a model specification, or model clauses for
architects to insert in their specification, in which the proper way of prescribing
the requisite amounts of illumination, in different cases, should be set forth. I
trust, therefore, that before long our Society will become generally recognised
as one of public utility having real purpose.’
And so the IES of Great Britain was founded. At the end of 1909 the Society
comprised a President, twenty-seven Vice Presidents and nineteen Members of
Council. Mr Leon Gaster was Honorary Secretary and Editor of The Illuminating
Engineer, with Mr John Dow as Secretary. Altogether there were 161 members
of all classes.

18
 Chapter 1 1908 – 1909 The Beginning

Leon Gaster 1872 – 1928

He was born and educated in Bucharest, Romania. After taking
his degree in Bachelor of Science and Arts in 1890 at Bucharest
University he entered Zurich Polytechnic and worked in the

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Electro-technical Laboratory until 1895 when he moved to England,
becoming a naturalised British subject in 1902. With a keen interest
in illumination he commenced a career as a consulting engineer in
1903. In 1905 he contributed a leading article to the Times Engineering
Supplement entitled ‘The standardisation of electric light’. In 1906 he was awarded
the silver medal of the Royal Society for his paper ‘Progress in electric lighting’.
In 1908 he became Editor of The Illuminating Engineer. And in the same year
became Honorary Secretary of the Illuminating Engineering Society.

John Stewart Dow 1881-1948

He was born in the North London suburb of Hornsey and studied
electrical engineering at the City and Guilds of London, Engineering
College, and then became a member of the staff of the College
there. Latterly he was engaged in research, chiefly on photometric
problems. He became associated with Leon Gaster in 1907 and
subsequently became Assistant Editor of The Illuminating Engineer in
1908, and Assistant Secretary of the IES in 1909.

Silvanus P Thompson 1851 – 1916

He was born in York, in the year of the Great Exhibition. In 1876 he
was appointed as a lecturer in Physics at University College, Bristol,
and was made Professor in 1878 at the age of 27. He became Professor
of Physics at The City and Guilds Technical College, London. He
delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1896, entitled
Light, Visible and Invisible.
Thompson wrote many books of a technical nature, particularly
Elementary Lessons in Electricity & Magnetism (1890), Dynamo Electrical Machinery
(1896), and the classic, Calculus Made Easy, which was first published in 1910.

19
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The Formative Years

20
1910 – 1945

Office lighting, early 20th century

Chapter 2
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

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t is clear from the early issues of The Illuminating Engineer that the founder
members of the Society fully understood the task they had embarked
upon: learning and understanding the requirements of good illumination.
Their remit included providing guidance for the good of all concerned, as
well as informing the public. This need for understanding illumination was
paralleled by the technological development of lamps, luminaires, photometric
procedures and associated instrumentation.
They recognised that ‘Light is the cause, Illumination the Effect and that
with this effect all sections of the community are concerned, the Society has
been instrumental in bringing together the suppliers of gas and electricity, the
makers of lamps and lighting appliances, and the actual users of light. All
classes have been represented in its varied discussions, a feature of which has
been the numerous joint meetings with other bodies concerned with particular
application of light under consideration. In this way the circle of those interested
in the Society’s work have been considerably extended. Many different sections
of the public have been shown that maintenance of good illumination is of
direct interest to them in their daily work. On various occasions Government
departments have also taken an actual interest in the discussions of the Society.’
(Quote taken from The Illuminating Engineer editorial 1910)

In the first ten years or so of the Society’s existence the IES membership had
grown to nearly 500 ‘and included not only lighting experts, but architects,
medical men, inspectors of factories, railway engineers and others concerned
with illumination.’
The rules regarding the term of office for the President were changed to allow
a person to be re-appointed if it was seen to be appropriate, so Professor S P
Thompson served for five years, 1909-1914.
Illumination development became a common aim for many professional
groups and the number of examples of collaboration is impressive. Records
show that there were joint meetings with the Library Association to understand
the illumination requirements of libraries and schools. The IES formed a joint
Committee on the Standard Specification for Street Lighting. Delegates from the
Institutions of Gas, Electrical and Municipal Engineers, and County Engineers
worked together for the first time, availing themselves of the impartial platform
of the IES. Other joint committees covered Railway Lighting, Lamps and

21
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Lighting Appliances, Cinema Theatres and Studios, Motor Car Headlights, and
the formation of the National Illumination Committee of Great Britain.
Throughout this period regular meetings were held at the Royal Society of Arts
in John St., London. These numbered approximately six each year; some were

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presented papers, others were formal discussions. Prior to the discussion an
exhaustive questionnaire was sent to members thought likely to offer ideas and
add knowledge to the debate. In particular, it was sent to members overseas,
and during the course of the meeting the Honorary Secretary would read out
their contributions. This indicates how much international collaboration there
was in the early years of illuminating engineering.
A number of the presented papers discussed lighting applications, and it is
interesting to see that on some occasions comparative papers were presented.
For example, an application using gas lighting and then electric lighting, or vice-
versa. The illumination of shop windows, printing works and private houses
were evaluated, showing that the preferred energy source for illumination was
still to be resolved. But the IES was keen not to favour one over the other.
Of the early papers presented, then published in The Illuminating Engineer, a
number considered the fundamental issues. Some of these were (and continue
to be) the initial components in the building blocks of illumination practice. A
selection is listed below.
‘Glare, its causes and effect’, J Herbert Parsons, Ophthalmologist 1910.
‘The measurement of light and illumination’ (general discussion) 1910.
‘The direct measurement of the total light emitted from a lamp’, Dr W E Sumpner
1910.
‘Colour discrimination by artificial light’, T E Richie 1912.
‘The centenary of gas lighting and its historical development’, W J Liberty 1913.
‘The importance of direction, quality and distribution of light’, M Luckish 1913.
‘The nomenclature and definition of photometric magnitudes and units’, A P Trotter
1914.
‘The lumen as a measure of illuminating power’, Professors J T McGregor-Morris
and F W Willcox 1917.
‘Colour matching by natural and artificial light’, L C Martin 1920.

Light, and lighting photometry was a continuing topic. A P Trotter described

the problem in his paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers ‘The distribution
and measurement of illumination’ 1892. He states ‘Light being an expenditure of

22
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

energy, ‘candlepower’ is an accurate term since it is the rate of expenditure

of energy... and it is the art of directing this candlepower for the use and
convenience of man.’ Candlepower had been derived from the wax candle but
he commented that the ‘The English Parliamentary Candle (the standard of the
day) is no more scientific or accurate than the barley-corn, of which there are

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three to the inch.’
Later in his paper to the IES in May 1914 ‘The nomenclature and definition of
photometric magnitudes and units’ he described how ‘the term candlepower can be
used to describe luminous intensity in candles. Also that the luminous intensity
of a point source of light is the solid angular density of the luminous flux
emitted by the source in the direction considered; or is the flux per unit solid
angle from that source.’ In addition, he reports that Professor A Blondel of
France ‘shuddered’ at the use of a ‘candle’ as a physical unit. ‘It is as unscientific,
he writes, to call the unit of intensity an international candle as it would be to
call the unit of heat an international stove.’ Trotter continued by explaining
the unit for illumination (illuminance) as comprising two factors: candlepower
and distance, and Britain and the USA called the unit the foot-candle. (Later to
become the lumen per square foot, and even later the lumen per square metre,
or lux.)
At that time lighting equipment performance luminous intensity distribution
diagrams began to be published, because lamps and luminaires could usually be
considered as point sources and they often had the same (though not necessarily
identical) intensity distribution for any vertical plane. The term ‘mean spherical
candlepower’(mscp) was also used. However, there was much debate about the
accuracy of such claims. Some described mscp as being too approximate since it
presumed that the intensity distribution was spherical in shape, which in most
cases it was not. Luminous intensity polar distributions were published without
scales and units. These were strongly criticised.
The next obstacles to overcome were the measurement of candlepower
(luminous intensity) and illumination level (illuminance), as well as the amount
of illumination (illuminance) necessary to do a task.
In March 1914 The Illuminating Engineer published items from the American
IES presidential address, given by Mr P S Millar, entitled ‘Statistics of the Lighting
Art’. In this he illustrates how the average light output of incandescent lamps
had risen from 18 candlepower in 1906 to 29 candlepower in 1912. Although it
does not say, presumably these figures refer to mscp. Also, he showed the typical
illumination level (illuminance) for a number of applications as follows:

23
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

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Typical light intensities of artificial illumination, P S Millar, ‘Illuminating
Engineering’ USA, 1914

There is no certainty how accurate these values are, but they serve to indicate
the order of illuminance values in 1914 in the USA.
(To convert from foot-candles (lumen/[Link]) to lux it is necessary to multiply
by 10.69 (1 sq.m = 10.69 [Link]))

During this period it wasn’t just the science of lighting that was developing,
the lighting industry was growing as well, with the major gas and electricity
producers, and installers of the supply networks leading the way.
In 1913 Mr W J Liberty, Inspector of Public Lighting for the City of London,
presented a paper ‘The centenary of gas lighting and its historical development’. In
it he describes the first attempts to manufacture illuminated gas in the 19th
century. At that time, scientists were sceptical, and there was much opposition
to gas lighting. In 1812, after three years perseverance, a charter was obtained
from King George III enabling the first meeting of the Incorporated Gas Light
and Coke Company. But gas mains were not without their problems, which

24
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

included leaks and imperfect purification. Liberty refers to the invention of the
incandescent gas mantle by Welsbach, patented in 1885, and the introduction
of the penny-in-the-slot meter.
The number of advertisements placed in The Illuminating Engineer indicates the

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growth of lighting manufacturing companies. These included:
Holophane Co., Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW. Showing a new line in
glass reflectors, providing three different luminous intensity distributions, and
available for use with electric lamps and gas burners.
The General Electric Co. Ltd, Queen Victoria St, London EC. Drawing
attention to their Osram Lamps used for street lighting, ‘which are cheaper
than gas’.
The AEG Electric Co. Ltd, Caxton St, Westminster, London SW. Advertising
their flame arc lamps.
William Sugg & Co. Ltd, Westminster. Advertising incandescent gas lighting
for the lighting of schools.
The British Thompson-Houston Co. Ltd, Rugby. Offered their services as
lighting experts. They also drew attention to their recently introduced Mazda
lamp.
The Benjamin Electric Co. Ltd., Victoria St, Westminster, London SW.
Advertised lighting specialities.
This advertisement of
1910, shows the Siemens
Bros ‘Onewatt’ tungsten
filament lamp at the price of
four shillings and sixpence
(equivalent to £16 in 2007).
The price was reduced later
in the year, but nonetheless
these were very costly items
and apparently prone to theft.
To overcome the problem a
locking clip was devised; they
sold for five shillings per gross
(144). In 1910 an engineer or
surveyor earned around £288
per year again indicating the
cost of lighting early in the Announcement of ‘Siemans’ Onewatt lamp
20th century.

25
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

There were almost certainly many more small lighting manufacturers not
listed. In November 1911 The Illuminating Engineer reviewed the Electrical
Exhibition at the Olympia in London, which included stands displaying lamps
and luminaires.

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In June 1914 The Illuminating Engineer recorded the death of Sir Joseph Wilson
Swan on the 27th May 1914 at his home in Surrey, aged 85. The obituary,
written by Leon Gaster, refers to his work on the earliest experiments on the
electric incandescent lamp in 1860, but which first became known at large
in about 1880. He mentions Swan’s other lighting work on mining lamps,
accumulators and photography. In 1904 a Knighthood, and the award of the
Hughes medal of the Royal Society, honoured his distinguished services to
science. He was one of the original Vice Presidents of the IES (1910) providing
valuable guidance on the work of the Illuminating Engineering Society. Swan
was anxious to point out that illumination was not purely an engineering matter
and that assistance of all sections of the public should be sought.

It had always been an aim of the Illuminating Engineering Society to be

in discussion with like-minded people from other countries. Leon Gaster
was a regular visitor to America and mainland Europe, and in 1911, as a
representative of the IES, he attended the International Electrical Congress
in Turin. Towards the end of the proceedings he moved a resolution, which
was passed unanimously. It read as follows ‘This Congress deems it desirable
that an International Commission should be nominated in order to study all
systems of lighting and technical problems connected therewith; and, having
been informed that the Illuminating Engineering Society of London has the
intention of forming such a Commission and of putting itself in touch with
other existing national and international photometric committees, approves
their taking the initiative in this respect.’
Very soon negotiations were started to extend the scope of the existing
Commission, which, as its name implied, was concerned solely with the
measurement of light, and to convert it into a body that would cover all aspects
of lighting engineering. In August 1913 representatives from nine countries
who were members of the Commission met in Berlin. Photometry was the
main topic but a new constitution was also adopted, together with a change
of name to the International Commission on Illumination, otherwise know as
the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage, or CIE. The man who played the
greatest part in drafting the new constitution was Clifford C Paterson of the
National Physical Laboratory (later the director of the Research Laboratories of
the GEC). He was unanimously appointed Honorary Secretary, a post he held
until his death in 1948, except for the period 1928-31 when he was President.

26
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

Then Dr John W T Walsh, who also worked at the NPL, took the post of
Secretary.
One of the important features of the constitution of the CIE was that
membership was made conditional on the formation of a national illumination

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committee (NIC). It appears that in the early years the UK NIC was part of
the Illuminating Engineering Society. (Many years later it became known as
the CIE-UK.)

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 introduced new challenges
for the lighting industry. Leon Gaster delivered a paper in December 1914
- ‘Illuminating engineering in war time’. His opening remark was ‘When the
members of this Society last met in May, few of us imagined that before the
new session had commenced this country would be plunged into the greatest
war it had ever had to wage. ... Only last year we were congratulating ourselves
on the successful formation of the International Commission on Illumination,
and looking forward to other forms of co-operation in the near future. Now
much of this work must be laid aside, and we can only wait in patience for
the time when it is possible... to renew these relations.’ He then discussed the
lighting of streets, goods yards and railway stations, and other exterior lighted
areas that would be visible from above. The question asked was ‘How far is it
necessary to diminish the amount of light and still ensure public safety.’ Further
topics included the development of searchlights, and the lighting of rifle ranges.
These were published in February and May 1915 respectively.
In December 1916 Leon Gaster delivered a paper to the Society ‘Some events
during the vacation, with special reference to war economies in lighting’. In this he drew
attention to the ‘Summer Time Act’, generally known as the ‘Daylight Saving
Act’ which came into effect from 21st May to 1st October when the clocks
were moved forward one hour with the purpose of saving energy used for
lighting. The outcome varied and depended on the need and the application,
but in residential use the diminution in energy consumption was considerable.
In Ealing for example it is stated to be as much as 23%, however the saving in
Manchester was only 13%. Gaster also asked for the exercise in the reduction of
lighting during wartime (the darkening of streets for economy, and to minimise
observation from enemy aircraft) to be set against a possible increased number
of accidents. He drew attention to placards with the message “Don’t waste
coal, gas or electric light” – somehow this has a familiar ring to it!
Factories used both gas and electric lighting, sometimes in the same factory, and
the topic gets considerable coverage, as it was an important issue in wartime.
However, many other papers were delivered to the Society and published in

27
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

The Illuminating Engineer. The lighting of picture galleries, offices, and railway
carriages were also covered. Other subjects discussed were stage lighting, and
the lighting of churches.
Electric lighting installations in the first half of the 20th century were dominated

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by the incandescent lamp. These early carbon filament lamps had an efficacy
of around 2-3 lumens/watt. But through various developments of filament
structure and materials, as well as vacuum and gas filling, improvements in
performance of light output and life were achieved. However, in 1915 a
paper was delivered to the Society by Mr F W Willcox entitled ‘The practical
rating of electric incandescent lamps’ which raised the issue of specifying lamps
by their rating in watts and in candle-power, and their maximum and mean
spherical candle power (mspc). It was clear from the discussion that different
people required different information, depending on their particular interest.
For example, lighting equipment manufacturers required polar curves, while
the illumination engineer required information about the illuminance a lamp
or luminaire would deliver. As well as this, it was important to have some
information about the energy consumed and therefore the operating costs. F W
Willcox also considered lumen output as well as the ‘effective lumens’, which
described the amount of lumens incident on the working plane.
The delivery of the paper was followed by a discussion involving all sectors of
the industry and profession, but there was no clear decision as to how to proceed
except that some form of standardisation was necessary. It was suggested that
the NPL was the institution to lead the way.
In 1916 the General Electric Co. announced the
launch of the Osram reflector lamp. But there is no
indication as to how effective it was or whether it
was used as widely as the reflector lamps developed
in the 1950s and 60s.
Throughout the early days of the IES The
Illuminating Engineer considered a wide range of
applications, but industrial lighting was deemed of
particular importance. The December 1915 issue
of the journal included a report by Leon Gaster on
‘The Departmental Home Office Committee on Lighting
in Factories and Workshops’. The report addressed
many topics, but it recognised ‘the value of good
illumination as desirable in the interests of safety
and general health of workers, and as an important

Announcement of ‘Osram GEC’ reflector lamp

28
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

factor in influencing the output

and quality of work.’ Installations
were shown using gas and electric
lamps together with some form
of reflector, either metal or glass,

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or a combination of the two. In
May the Holophane Company
described their new industrial
reflector.

Announcement of ‘Holophane’ industrial reflector

The lighting of shops and shop

windows was discussed too. The
illustrations show interiors lit with
ceiling suspended luminaires,
some with diffusers or reflectors
providing both downward and
upward illumination. Shop
windows were lit with floodlight
reflector luminaires.
In March 1915 Mr F W Thorpe
presented his paper ‘The
development and design of lighting
fixtures in relation to architecture,
interior design and illumination’.
It is a well-illustrated paper
showing the development of
modern decorative luminaires
where architectural style, as well
as the lighting performance, was Announcement of ‘Benjamin’ shop window reflectors
considered.

29
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

From time to time taught courses on Illuminating Engineering were announced.

For example, in 1912, the following courses were advertised:
Regent St and Battersea Polytechnics offered evening courses on
‘Illumination and the Eye’, ‘Artificial Illuminants’ and ‘The Measurement

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of Light’; lecturers Dr W Ettles and J S Dow.
The Northampton Polytechnic Institute offered lectures on ‘Illumination’
and ‘The Nature of Light and Radiation’, lecturer S D Chalmers.
University College London announced a special advanced course of
evening lectures on ‘Illumination and Photometry’ to be delivered by
Professor W C Clinton. The announcement also refers to the pioneering
work on photometry carried out by Professor Fleming at UCL.
Salford Institute announced a course of lectures by Mr D H Ogley on
topics including photometry, electric illuminants, light and the eye, and
illumination including auto-car headlights.

In Volume XII of The Illuminating Engineer (1919) a paper was published by

Mr A Wise entitled ‘Modern practice in office lighting’. The paper is extensive
in its considerations and includes the description and illustration of lighting
techniques and equipment. It touches on the required illumination levels in
offices stating ‘While in the past it has been common to assume 2-3 foot-candles
as a minimum for reading purposes, experience shows that a considerably higher
value is needed for most of the work in offices. ... In the writer’s experience
4-6 foot-candles is desirable for general lighting, while for desk-work, which
calls for close attention and constant reading of written characters, a somewhat
higher value of 6-8 foot-candles, is not unduly high.’ However, during the
discussion an architect claimed that he preferred to work by a window where
at least 30 foot-candles was usually available.
The illustrations showed rooms with large windows and high ceilings, pendent
luminaires with varying combinations of direct and indirect illumination, and
very often task lights, which were commended as useful additions.

Lighting maintenance is described as the decline of the illumination level due

to dirt accumulation on the lamp and the luminaire’s light emitting surfaces.
Regular cleaning is essential because dust is always present in offices. There
is also a diagram from the National Lamp Works of the USA showing the
percentage reduction in illumination relative to time. A reproduction of the
graph is shown.

30
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
Lighting maintenance – Reduction in illuminance relative to time, National Lamp
Works, USA

Both direct and reflected glare from polished surfaces was described as a
serious problem that needed attention, and there were determined efforts
made to address them. ‘It is suggested that the Society should consider the
recommendation of matt surfaces for furniture and walls.’ One speaker told
of having seen a piece of blotting paper fixed to a luminaire to obscure direct
glare. It seems the problems were not dissimilar to modern times.

Also, in the 1919 volume of The Illuminating Engineer was a report of a paper
by A P M Fleming given to the Institution of Electrical Engineers entitled,
‘The planning of a works research organisation’. Fleming states ‘During recent
years many centres for research have been established. A distinction must
however be drawn between research work as pure science and that bearing
directly on industry. A certain amount of this kind of work is done at technical
colleges and universities and the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research (DSIR) is endeavouring to establish co-operative research in various
industries.’ The paper goes on to describe what is required in terms of the
establishment, facilities and staff. The paper concludes ‘The tendency towards
secrecy of most British firms has been weakened during the war... in which
exchange of experience was beneficial. This practice of exchanging experience
is of great importance in keeping industry up to date and increasing its capacity
in international competition.’
In 1923 the General Electric Co founded a pioneering industrial research

31
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

laboratory in North Wembley. As early as 1916 Clifford C Paterson (later Sir

Clifford C Paterson) of the NPL was asked to organise a research department
for the company’s lamp works. Owing to the First World War the formation
of the department was delayed. So by 1918 the GEC had decided that the
proposed laboratory should serve the whole of the Company’s interests and not

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just the lamp works, however lamps and lighting remained an important part
of the establishment.
At the opening, visitors were shown the lamp development laboratory, which
was placed next to a small lamp-factory, where production trials could be
carried out. The laboratories were supported by well-equipped wood and metal
workshops that manufactured special research equipment. The photometric
facilities included an Ulbricht integrating sphere as well as a large photometric
bench. Procedures for lamp life tests were demonstrated. There was also a
library with facilities for abstraction of scientific papers likely to be of interest. It
is not clear whether the practice of lighting was to be included in its remit, but
since it was not mentioned in the review, presumably it was not. However, the
laboratories certainly became an important feature, and later on they provided a
research facility, not just for the GEC, but also for the development of lighting,
and the IES. It appears that the Illumination Laboratory was formed in the
mid 1930s, and in 1939 W R Stevens became the Group Leader, with other
notable members of staff including R G Hopkinson and J M Waldram.

At this time light measurements were made using visual photometry, by

comparing the brightness of a known source with an unknown one. A number
of companies, including Holophane and the GEC, developed measuring
instruments. But in 1917 Leon Gaster, in The Illuminating Engineer, referred
to a paper entitled ‘Some properties and applications of selenium’ which had been
delivered to the Röntgen Society by Mr E Fournier D’Albe. The author
claimed that the substance had many possible applications, but one very striking
example was to measure the light from distant stars, because selenium was more
sensitive than the human eye. He reported that ‘ It has long been known that this
substance (selenium) is affected by light, its resistance diminishing considerably
under the influence of illumination, though the rays which produce the most
powerful effect are not necessarily those to which the eye is most sensitive. ...
The chief difficulty in using selenium for photometry is the time necessary for
the recovery of the material after exposure. ... Apart from this, selenium, as is
well known, is ‘colour blind’ to some extent, there being strong reactions of
resonance in the extreme red. One can also obtain reaction from infra-red rays
and, to a limited extent, from the ultra-violet.’ The paper also suggested other
possible uses, including, automatic shutters for cameras, and the transmission

32
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

of pictures by wire and television. Clearly, although many

problems still needed to be overcome, selenium provided
an opportunity for advancing photometry by photoelectric
means.

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However, for photometry to become standardised
internationally, a number of steps needed to be taken. Firstly,
there had to be agreement over the spectral response of the
eye. In 1924 the CIE agreed the spectral distribution of the
photopic eye (light adapted eye), now known as the Vλ
distribution.
Also, there needed to be an international acceptance of a
light standard, or a standard of luminous intensity. In the past
there had been a number of attempts ranging from candles
and different forms of oil lamp, but these had not been found
to be reliable and had poor repeatability. By the early 1930s
a decision had been made to use a radiator at the temperature
of the solidification of molten platinum, and it was from this NPL Primary Standard of
that electric lamps could be calibrated to form sub-standards Light (luminous intensity)
and working standards.
As the techniques and technology of illumination developed,
so did the interest in the quality of the lit environment and
it began to form an aspect of lighting design. In 1920 a short
article appeared in The Illuminating Engineer describing the
benefits of medium to high reflectance room surfaces. The
article is from the Illuminating Engineering Department of
British Thomson–Houston Co. Ltd, Rugby. The article
explains that ‘In the case of indirect and semi-indirect
installations the influence of the light (high-reflectance)
surroundings is of special importance and in some cases the
illumination on the working plane may be increased by as
much as 200%. But apart from this increase in illumination,
the appearance of illuminated objects should be considered.
A desk covered with a black surface, for example, appears
as a badly lighted object, because it reflects little light, even
though it may be receiving quite a high illumination in foot-
candles. A room papered in light materials appears much better
NPL sub-standard lamp
lighted and gives a more cheerful effect than one covered with
for luminous intensity
dark materials. Yet another factor influenced by the nature
of surroundings is the diffusion of light. Good diffusion and soft shadows are
the result of light coming from a number of different directions and from a
relatively large illuminated surface.’

33
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

To demonstrate this message a table of Co-efficients of Utilisation was

included.
Two further papers published
by The Illuminating Engineer in

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1920 deserve mention. The
first is by L C Martin, who
was a lecturer in the Optical
Engineering Department,
Imperial College of Science
and Technology, entitled
‘Colour-matching by natural
and artificial light’. The author
commenced with a discussion
about the way people see
colour and how a colour can
be distorted depending on
where it is viewed: within a
scene or in isolation. Also,
how the colour of a surface
will be affected by the
colour performance of a light
source. He then proceeded to
explain and demonstrate how
the colour of the light can
Announcement of ‘BTH’ table of Co-efficients of be changed with coloured
Utilisation reflectors.

J S Dow presented two written communications, one from Professor W

Gardner from the Bradford Technical College, the other from Matthew
Luckiesh of the NELA works, Cleveland, USA. Professor Gardner described
an arc lamp equipped with a special colour-screen devised for colour matching.
Mr Luckiesh gave an account of the development of ‘artificial daylight’ units in
the USA. He also showed photographs of their use in industry and retailing.
Mr A E Bawtree described a form of colorimeter, where any colour tint could
be matched by combining red, green and blue light transmitted in specified
proportions through tinted gelatines. There followed demonstrations of
Lovibond Tintometer equipment for this purpose.
Another paper was by T Lister Llewellyn entitled ‘Lighting conditions in mines,
with special reference to the eyesight of miners’. The working conditions were

34
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

extremely hazardous. The presence of firedamp (flammable gas) required the

use of the oil safety lamp, which, in an environment of low reflectance, did not
give much illumination. He referred to the number of accidents happening to
miners because of the poor visual conditions, and he believed working in low
levels of light caused miners’ nystagmus. An extensive discussion followed. It

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was clear that lighting conditions were abominable and were a contributing
factor to the serious accident rate. And this in an industry that was the very
life-blood of the nation - supplying the raw material for generating gas and
electricity, as well as coal for heating.

In the early part of the 1920s The Illuminating Engineer published papers on
a variety of lighting applications. These addressed industrial situations where
safety and productivity were of prime importance, and also hospitals where
both daylight and electric light were considered. A comprehensive paper from
the NPL covered a range of public buildings including offices and an art gallery,
where a 1/3 full-scale architectural model was built to investigate daylighting
with the exclusion of direct sunlight.
In 1923 Mr Haydn Harrison presented a street lighting paper. His opening
remark was that street lighting was first started with the object of reducing
crime, and that was still of prime importance. He continued that it was claimed
that one arc lamp was worth two policemen. The paper included a table of
minimum illuminance values for different road classifications. This shows:

Road character Min. Illum. (ft-cd)

Important streets 0.06 - 0.1
Good-class district 0.04 – 0.06
Average London district 0.025 – 0.04
Residential London district 0.01 – 0.025
Poor class district 0.01 and below

A discussion regarding the distribution of light followed, and it also considered

the costs involved. However it was claimed that the expenditure on street
lighting was small compared to other public services. A speaker from Glasgow
reported that the costs of street lighting amounted to 5/- per head of population
per annum.
Two other presentations of 1923 deserve mention. The first was a comprehensive
paper by P J and J M Waldram (father and son) entitled ‘Window design and the
measurement and predetermination of daylight illumination’. The authors described

35
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

the concept of daylight factor, a theory that was first reported in 1914, as a way
of overcoming the extreme differences in interior illumination for a particular
window design, due to the wide variation in external illumination caused
by different sky conditions. The paper illustrates the calculation methods for
determining daylight factor using the Waldram Diagram, and relating them to

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the likely daylight illuminance. In addition, it suggests acceptable minimum
daylight factors.
The second paper is by J F Crowley and entitled ‘Intermittent illumination in
industry’. The paper deals with the effect of a stroboscopic light to examine
rotating and vibrating machines.

In 1924 the British Empire Exhibition was held at Wembley Park, an event that
provided many opportunities for decorative lighting and exterior floodlighting.
It was also the year when the Electric Lamp Manufacturers’ Association (ELMA)
realised there was a need to educate lighting providers and users, and they
established the Lighting Service Bureau. Lighting solutions and equipment
were demonstrated in a special studio at 15 Savoy Street, London. Lighting
professionals and architects were actively encouraged to use the facility. It was
also the year when the Institution (later the Association) of Public Lighting
Engineers was formed for the specific purpose of encouraging the study and
promotion of good street lighting.
The Electric Lamp Manufacturers’ Association of Great Britain, originally
established in 1919 as a trade body, represented 95% of the British lamp
manufacturers. By 1933 the lamp manufacturing industry had changed
significantly and hence they formed the Electric Lamp Manufacturers’
Association, an incorporated body registered as a trade union. It took over
all the active functions of its predecessor but widened its remit to include
educational functions.
A further trade association, the Electric Lighting Fittings Association (ELFA) was
formed in 1926 to represent the lighting fittings (luminaire) manufacturers.
In addition, the British Engineering Standards Association (later the British
Standards Institution) included illumination in its areas of interest. Its desire
to improve electric lighting was prompted by the need for a standardisation
in the performance of incandescent lamps in terms of their light output, life,
and cost of operation. It had been reported that customers had no legal basis
of distinction between good lamps and bad lamps and had to depend on the
honesty of the lamp maker. It had been proposed that some form of ‘hall
mark’ system was required which in 1924 evolved into BESA Specification
161, Electric Filament Lamps. Eventually the BSI established a Kite Mark label

36
 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

to define and assess tungsten lamp quality. A further BESA initiative was the
publication, in 1926, of a glossary of terms in illumination and photometry.
In June 1926 Dr John Walsh delivered a paper to the IES entitled ‘Research in
illumination, with particular reference to the work of the Illumination Research Committee

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of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research’. It is impossible to list all the
areas of concern raised by Walsh, but his opening remarks are summarised.
‘Although it is true that illumination is one of the youngest branches of applied
science, ... probably every illuminating engineer has been surprised at the very
limited extent of our knowledge. ... One of the reasons being that most other
engineers have to deal with phenomena which are almost entirely physical in
character. But the illuminating engineer needs to understand the physiological
behaviour of the human body. The human eye is the final judge... and the
illuminating engineer must ask himself ‘What will the eye think of it’.’ Dr
Walsh then described the issues that most demanded answers. These included
human performance relative to the amount of illumination both in interiors
and exteriors (street lighting), also the problems of glare. He then identified a
number of application problems, ranging from the performance of luminaires
to the lighting of art galleries. It is worth reflecting that although many of the
issues raised by Walsh have been addressed and solutions found; it is the eye in
conjunction with the brain, which is still the final arbiter.
Also, in 1926 H C Weston and A K Taylor published their paper ‘The relation
between illumination and efficiency in fine work (typesetting by hand), Final report of
the Industrial Fatigue Research Board and Illumination Research Committee (DSIR)’.
This work formed the basis of the recommended illuminance for different tasks
and was the source of the first IES recommendations, which were published in
the IES Transactions in 1936.
The three page long paper ‘Recommended values of Illumination’ states that
recommendations have been prepared by the Technical Committee of the
IES as an indication of Good Modern Lighting Practice. It commences by
describing that the recommended lighting levels refer to the working plane,
and that the average values are to be within the task area. It touches on
illuminance uniformity, the use of local lights, and colour correction. It also
includes recommended illuminance values for different classes of task.

37
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

The following indicates the range:

Recommended Foot-candle Value Class of Task

Catagory 1. Above 50 Precision work to a high degree

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of accuracy; tasks requiring rapid
discrimination.
Catagory 3. 15 – 25 Prolonged critical visual tasks, such as
proof reading, type-setting etc.
Catagory 7. 2 – 4 Casual observation where no specific
work is performed.

Although these recommendations are not described as a code of practice they

are in effect the first issue of the IES Code. And in the first half of the 20th
century further issues of the IES Code for Lighting in Buildings were published
in 1941 and 1949.

During the 1920s the IES made a number of changes to its organisation and
to their publication The Illuminating Engineer. In 1920 the council decided
to increase the subscriptions to two guineas. It also decided to introduce an
Associate Membership class, for students and those not professionally connected
with the lighting industry, with an annual subscription of one guinea. In
1926 the journal changed its name to The Illuminating Engineer, The Journal of
Good Lighting, and the official journal of the IES and the APLE. The publication
increased its coverage of lighting applications with a greater quantity and
quality of photographs. In addition, it increased the number of advertisements,
presumably to help pay for an enhanced publication.
But in 1928 Leon Gaster died, marking the end of an era. There is little doubt
that without his drive and enthusiasm for lighting the IES may not have
happened when it did, and the lighting profession owes him a great debt of
gratitude. Fortunately for the Society he had working by his side from the very
beginning, John Stewart Dow, a man who was able to take on from where his
predecessor left off.
John S Dow, as has been stated earlier, was one of the founders of the IES
and who worked with Leon Gaster from the beginning. Apparently he was an
unassuming man who suffered from poor hearing, but he steered the Society
for the next twenty years until his death in 1948. His successor George F Cole
described him as an ‘Edwardian Gentleman’.

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 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

In 1929 a fund was opened to provide a fitting memorial to Leon Gaster. The
Council requested donations from the membership, aiming for a fund of £200
(although it is suggested that more was raised) and so the Leon Gaster Premium
was established for the best paper presented during a session. In due course the
Premium was amended to be the Leon Gaster Medal, which later still became

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the Leon Gaster Award, for the best paper referring particularly to lighting
applications, either presented to or published by the Society.
In 1930 the Society celebrated its ‘coming of age’ and it was considered by
Council ‘that both in standing and in strength it was fully qualified to become
a body corporate.’ Accordingly the draft articles of association and by-laws
were prepared, and with minor amendments they were adopted at a special
general meeting of the Society held in July 1929. They were printed in full in
The Illuminating Engineer for August and became the basis of the application to
the Board of Trade for the incorporation of the Society. The application was
made on the 17th June 1930, and the certificate of incorporation was granted
on 24th November – within one week of the 21st anniversary of the Society’s
first meeting.

A further change to the Society was made in 1936 when it was decided to
produce two publications instead of one. Transactions of the Society and Light and
Lighting (incorporating The Illuminating Engineer).
The Transactions included the details of the Society’s meetings and other notices,
applications for membership and the annual financial balance sheet.
The balance sheet for 1935 shows an income from member’s subscriptions of
£1,162 6s 9d. It showed that the Leon Gaster Memorial fund stood at £255
17s 4d, and the premium paid for 1935-36 was £10 10s 0d. The accounts
for the National Illumination Committee (NIC) were also included which
indicates that the two bodies were still closely involved.
Transcripts of the presented papers, which in the first year amounted to twelve,
included the presidential address by Arthur Cunnington. It also printed other
technical contributions.
Authors for 1936 included the following:
R J Lythgoe, ‘Visual perceptions under modern conditions’, Vol. 1/1, Jan. 36.
R G Hopkinson, ‘Photographic representation of street lighting’, Vol.1/2, Feb. 36.
IES Technical Committee, ‘Recommended values of illumination’, Vol.1/3, March
36.
L J Davies, ‘Electrical discharge lamps’, Vol.1/4, April 36.

39
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

H Buckley, ‘Classification of symmetrical light distributions’, Vol.1/6, June 36.

S F Dunkley & W R Stevens, ‘Thermal tests for illuminating glassware’, Vol.1/8,
Aug. 36.
J W T Walsh, ‘Photometry at the National Physical Laboratory’, Vol. 1/10, Oct.

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36.
The second publication was entitled Light and Lighting (incorporating The
Illuminating Engineer) and was edited by J S Dow. This covered ‘news’ related
topics, descriptions of lighting installations, and advertisements. It continued
until 1949. The style was similar to the earlier publication The Illuminating
Engineer, The Journal of Good Lighting. Although it was the journal of the IES it
was obviously aimed at all lighting providers and users. Considerable coverage
was given to applications and new installations, ranging from domestic interiors,
exterior floodlighting, road lighting, art galleries, industrial areas, and the
lighting of the newly launched ‘Queen Mary’. Articles on lamp developments,
luminaire optics and photometry were also included. What is particularly
noticeable is the growth of lighting equipment companies advertising in the
journal, and numbering considerably more than at the birth of the IES, which
suggests that a new and expanding industry had emerged.
A further observation is how lighting designs had changed over the life of the
IES. Some of this was due to changes in architectural style with ‘Modernism’
having an influence. Lighting was being integrated with architectural elements,
particularly coves and cornices. Diffusing glass was evident in luminaire designs,
presumably for styling and for reducing glare. Examples can be seen from the
interiors of cinemas where specially designed lighting was devised and included
colour-changing effects.

Like all cultural and technical societies, education and training was seen as an
important activity of the IES. And, as mentioned earlier, a number of lectures
and short courses on the subject of illumination had been offered from the very
early days. But it was not until 1937 that the City and Guilds of London Institute
was approached with a view to establishing a formal education and examination
programme on lighting. A syllabus was prepared with strong representation
from the Society, and in 1938 courses were offered at several polytechnics and
technical colleges in London and elsewhere. In 1939 the first examination (at
the ‘Intermediate’ level) was held and continued without a break until well
into the 1970s. But like many education programmes of specialist subjects it
was at the mercy of a fluctuating and relatively small demand.
Many members of the IES became involved in giving lectures to students, and

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 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

to the public, to raise the awareness and possibilities of lighting. Exhibitions and
demonstrations where mounted with help from the industry. Lord Rutherford
opened one of the most notable in 1936, at the Science Museum in London. It
showed the development of electric lamps and lighting, as well as phenomena
of vision.

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By 1938 the IES membership had reach 800 with expectations of it reaching
1000 before too long.
In the early 1930s the IES Council had commenced discussions on the possibility
of out of London centres in order to serve its growing membership more
adequately. To this end the first local centre was formed in 1933 – the North
Western – with meetings held in Manchester and Liverpool. Over the next
three years meetings were held from time to time in various cities, but it was
not until 1936 that the second and third centres were formed in Glasgow and
Dublin. Then the North Midland Centre, based in Leeds, was inaugurated in
1937, to be followed the next year by the Midlands Centre, with headquarters
in Birmingham. The Council decided that 50 - 60 members were required in
an area before a new regional centre could be established.
The urge for decentralisation led to further sub-division, and in 1939 two
sub-centres (later called groups) were formed in Sheffield and Nottingham. As
one can imagine the administration of the network of centres and sub-centres
was complicated and not without problems. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm
of a centre could wax and wane, depending on its organisation, and of its
members’ willingness to participate. However, one outcome from the annual
meeting of the chairmen of local centres, in 1939, was the proposal to hold a
summer meeting of the whole Society at Harrogate in 1940. But because of the
outbreak of the Second World War the event had to be deferred.

The year 1939 marked thirty years of the Illuminating Engineering Society and
it is clear from the journals that considerable advancements had been made,
both nationally and internationally, in the art and science of illumination. There
had also been considerable developments in the technology. Incandescent
lamp lighting was now well established, and mercury discharge lamps had been
introduced; mainly for road lighting and some industrial situations, however
their colour performance was poor. The measurement of illumination was now
based on internationally agreed units, and a light intensity standard had been
accepted.
In June 1939 the CIE met in Scheveningen, in the Netherlands. The meeting was
presided over by Professor Fabry of France, with approximately 400 delegates
from 15 countries. The British delegation numbered about 70, which included

41
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

21 members of the NIC. Twenty-four Technical committees held meetings,

with Britain providing the secretariat for three: Light Sources, Calculation of
Beam Intensity in Projector Systems, and Theatre Stage Lighting. But in less
than three months many of the countries represented were at war.

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Sometime before the outbreak of war the services of the Society, and its members,
had been placed at the disposal of HM Government. A joint committee of the
IES and the Ministry of Home Security Air Raid Precaution Dept. (ARP) was
set up in June 1939 under the chairmanship of the IES President, Mr Percy
Good. A number of sub-committees were established to consider specific
problems, and around one hundred IES members participated. One of the
main results was the installation of very low intensity street lighting, the aim
of which was to be invisible from enemy aircraft, but to facilitate movement
with a high degree of safety, and to raise morale. A committee was formed
which produced a luminaire specification, published by the BSI, to provide
moderately even illuminations (illuminances) of 0.002, 0.02 and 0.2 lm/ft2.
The first of the designs appeared in September 1939 and by the end of the year
the so-called ‘synthetic moonlight’ from these ‘ARP lanterns’ had actually been
installed in Westminster. Other matters that the joint committee dealt with
included shop-window lighting, the design of masks for vehicle headlights, and
the lighting of air raid shelter entrances and ARP signs.
In spite of the war IES activities continued. In May 1940 the first list of members
appointed to the class of Fellow was announced which contained thirty-nine
names. The Fellows enjoyed the double privilege of using the letters FIES after
their name and paying a higher subscription, amounting to an additional £1.
The new class of membership embraced both practising lighting engineers and
others who had attained some recognised position in a branch of illuminating
engineering.
Other developments included the opening of a new showroom by Philips
Lighting Ltd, at Century House, Shaftsbury Ave, London, in 1940. The
showroom contained many things including lighting equipment, demonstrations
of road lighting using mercury and sodium (low pressure) lamps, and the effect
of fluorescent materials illuminated with a ‘black lamp (Ultra-violet)’.
Also, in 1940, the Physical Society Colour Group (later the Colour Group Great
Britain) was formed, and held its first meeting in October to consider ‘Colour
Tolerance’. Although the Colour Group was not a formal part of the IES its
relevance to lighting was clear, particularly in helping with the development of
colour measurements, primarily in colour rendering and colour appearance. It
is reported in Light and Lighting that the chairman of the new body was Dr W
D Wright and that the committee included Mr J Guild and Mr J G Holmes, all
well known members of the IES.

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 Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

But perhaps the most important technological development was the

announcement by the Electric Lamp Manufacturers’ Association on the 1st
March 1940 of the ‘New Fluorescent Lamp’.
The announcement describes the lamp as ‘a 5ft glass tube 1½” diameter

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internally coated with fluorescent powder and with a two contact BC cap at
each end. The low-pressure mercury discharge stimulates the powder strongly.
The control gear necessary for the lamp is identical with that for the 80W
mercury lamp but an additional (electrical) condenser and thermal switch are
required.’ It continues ‘The initial efficiency is 35 lumens/watt, or about 32.1
lumens/watt if choke losses are taken into account. The initial light output is
2800 lumens, which compares well with the 2900 lumen output of a 200W
GLS lamp. The life is about 2000 hours... the colour of the light is termed
‘cold white’ and is in fact, very similar to natural daylight.’ The announcement
makes further claims ‘It is stated to show all colours with greater truth than
any previous commercial colour corrected lamp... Moreover, owing to the
extended source of light the diffusion is exceptionally complete and only very
soft shadows are formed. ... Since the surface brightness of the lamp is low no
elaborate screening devices are necessary. ... The price of the lamp is 36s 6d.’
The new fluorescent lamp was indeed a major development, but it is difficult
not to be amused, with the benefit of hind-sight, by the rather over enthusiastic
claims. Nonetheless, the industry was quick to promote the new light source.

‘BTH’ promotion
cartoon of new
fluorescent lamp

43
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

In February 1942 plans were already being made for when the war was over,
and a committee was appointed by the Building Research Board of DSIR. It
was to advise on the lighting of post-war buildings both by natural and artificial
light, and was under the chairmanship of Dr Clifford C Paterson.

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In 1944 the committee delivered its first report (summarised in Light and Lighting
January 1945). Considerable coverage was given to daylighting, including
sunlight; it referred to window size and position, also on the role of planning
and orientation of buildings. It also refers to artificial lighting though to a lesser
extent. The report concentrates on dwellings and schools. A later report, in
1955, deals with offices.
The report concludes ‘that lighting education is needed for architects in
training, and for illuminating engineers to have instruction in building practice
and design.’ Also, ‘the public needs education in lighting, particularly for their
homes.’

In May 1945 the hostilities in Europe came to an end and it needed to pick
itself up to rebuild for the future. Many of its cities needed new houses, schools,
hospitals and industries, as well as leisure facilities. It was clear that light would
be a major element in the regeneration process. The last thirty-six years, since
the birth of the IES, had seen lighting rise from a small industry to one of the
most important features of architecture and science. Now was the time to
put into practice the developments of those formative years and for lighting
to provide environments that were pleasant, comfortable and efficient for the
people it served.

44
 for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
Chapter 2 1910 – 1945 The Formative Years

45
 for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
Development and Change
1946 – 1978 Time of

46
The Skylon, Festival of Britain,1951
Chapter 3
 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

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uring the next thirty-six years there were considerable developments.
The number of members rose to around 1700 and they represented
a wide range of expertise and interests. A large number worked in
groups at the GEC, BTH and the NPL, researching and developing lamps,
luminaires, light measurement, and illumination (illuminance).
Notably, the IES Code of 1941 set recommendations for task lighting
illuminance with the levels drawn mainly from the work of H C Weston.
But the major advance at that time was the tubular fluorescent lamp. It provided
considerably higher light outputs than the incandescent lamp, achieving a
threefold increase in efficacy. Initially the size of the lamp was 5ft in length
with a rating of 80W. It utilised the 80 watt control gear already developed for
high-pressure mercury discharge lamps used in factories and street lighting. It
also made use of the bayonet cap of the incandescent lamp already in existence.
Incorporating these components in the design of the fluorescent lamp enabled
the speedy launch of fluorescent lighting into industry, facilitating ‘around the
clock’ working which was essential for wartime operations. Illustrations of the
time show that fluorescent lamps were used in conjunction with metal reflector
fittings, but in some cases it was just a bare lamp batten fitting. The price of a
5ft, 80watt fluorescent lamp in 1948 was 19/6.
In February 1945 a joint meeting of the IES and the Royal Institution of British
Architects was held in the lecture theatre of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers. (This was their second meeting as the first one, held in 1944, had
been a great success.) The speaker was Dr John Walsh of the National Physical
Laboratory. Dr Walsh opened his address by saying that he wanted to dispel
the idea that illuminating engineers were suffering from ‘foot-candle disease’
and that the correct term was lumens per square foot, which was determined
from a scientific relationship between light fitting performance and the physical
aspects of the room. He proceeded to explain the use of the ‘lumen method’ or
‘coefficient of utilisation method’ for determining illumination (illuminance).
He showed how the room size and shape, which was encompassed in the
‘Room Index’, as well as the reflectance of the room surfaces, influenced the
value.
In the following discussion speakers did not fail to point out that adequate
amounts of light on the working plane was only part of the story and that
architects were also concerned with the general appearance of the room. Mr W

47
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

J Jones suggested that architects might provide ‘wash diagrams’ illustrating the
gradation of brightness on the room surfaces they wished to see and on which
lighting engineers might base their designs. Other speakers were concerned
about the brightness of fluorescent tubes and the resulting discomfort glare.

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Overall, the meeting was deemed successful, and whilst it presented the
developments in illumination design it also highlighted problems still to be
overcome.
In March 1945 J B Carne delivered a paper to the IES Sheffield Centre entitled
‘The avoidance of glare’ in which he describes the effect of glare on visual acuity.
In his presentation he summarised factors that determined the degree of
discomfort, and requested that discomfort glare should be included in future
editions of the IES Code.
On May 16th 1945 Her Majesty
Queen Mary visited the GEC Research
Laboratories in Wembley, accompanied
by her grand daughter Princess
Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II).
Dr Clifford C Paterson presented
an effective lighting demonstration,
and Mr H G Jenkins explained the
technology of fluorescent lamps. Mr J
M Waldram showed the development
of a street lighting installation and Mr
W R Stevens talked about the design of
lighting fittings.
Although the fluorescent lamp had
been hailed as a major development, a
paper by Mr C A Morton, published
in Light and Lighting, November 1945,
raised some important questions about
the photometry of linear fittings. The
paper was entitled ‘Cosine response of
photocells and the photometry of linear
light sources’. Mr Morton points out the
problems when rectifier type photocells
(or indeed any planar photocell) do
not have accurate cosine correction
and the photocell is close to the lamp.
Mazda promotion for its polar co-ordinate He also indicates the likely errors. It is
photometer worth mentioning that until the linear

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

fluorescent lamp was introduced the photometry of luminaires using tungsten

lamps, or high pressure discharge lamps, was usually carried out using some
form of mirror photometer which provided a reasonable length measurement
path. The equipment comprised a photocell, which was mounted on the
centre line of rotation of the mirror system. Then by rotating the mirrors and

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the luminaire independently, it allowed the photocell to measure the luminous
intensity distribution around the fitting. The question of cosine correction was
also a problem when measuring daylight illumination when light is incident on
the photocell at oblique angles.

In May 1946 the IES held its first convention with a full programme of technical
and social events. Over 300 members attended. Technical sessions were held
in the lecture theatre of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London. The
topics included: ‘Fluorescent Lighting’ by W J Jones, ‘the Lighting of Airports’ by
Dr S English and ‘Daylight and Town Planning’ by W A Allen. The convention
dinner was held in the Connaught Rooms with 500 members and guests
present. In addition, on the last evening, an informal social event was held
at the GEC Head Office, High Holborn. Here the attendees were treated to
refreshments followed by a series of comedy sketches, performed by members
of the Institution on the theme of the ‘Story of Light’. The whole event was
reported in Light and Lighting, describing how popular it had been.
In October 1946, John S Dow retired from his position in the IES where he
had worked since its inception; he then commenced a term as President of
the Society – a fitting conclusion to his career with the IES. Earlier in 1946
George F Cole, who was a member of the IES as a gas lighting engineer before
the war, and was now looking to continue his career in electric lighting, had
approached Dow and asked him for his opinion on how to achieve this. A few
weeks later J S Dow contacted George Cole to ask him if he was still available
and would he like to give him a hand with the IES – this was agreed and he
was paid £5 a week, apparently from Dow’s own pocket. A few months later,
following Dow’s retirement, George Cole was formally appointed as Secretary
of the Society and Editor of Light and Lighting. He claims he knew nothing of
publishing and learnt ‘on the job’.
In a personal communication G F Cole described the IES office, which was
still at 32 Victoria St., as ‘Victorian Grim’ in every respect (it had been built as
a domestic apartment block). The IES had two rooms on the fourth floor and
the staff comprised Dow himself, a lady with undefined duties, a typist and an
office boy, who George described as worth his weight in gold. One imagines
that G F Cole soon knocked it into shape since he held the post for the next
32 years.

49
 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

In the concluding section of John Dow’s presidential address, he dealt with the
future of the Society in which he says ‘The Society by the terms of its Articles
and the intentions of its founders was a cultural one – the highest description
that a Society could covet. This did not, however, debar it from making
provision for training and education.’ He continued ‘One element which,

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more than any other, had contributed to the high reputation of the Society was
its disinterestedness. This was due to the fact that the Society included among
its members not only the greatest experts on illumination, but also others –
architects, consulting engineers, physicists, ophthalmologists, teachers, works
managers and others, who all made their influence felt.’ Further he said ‘Even
more important was the fine tradition whereby those in the lighting industry,
who still formed the backbone of the Society’s membership, were willing to
forget their personal interests and to pool their efforts for the common good.
The Society would do well to preserve – this reputation.’
In the years of austerity that followed the war Light and Lighting and the IES
Transactions continued to be published regularly but were restricted in terms of
size and the quality of the paper. However, it was also a time for growth and
expansion. Now the restrictions of wartime had been relaxed lighting equipment
companies advertised their services, encouraging industry, commerce and retail
to improve their illumination.
Engineering companies who had been involved in manufacturing equipment
for the war effort were looking for new opportunities and some moved into
the lighting business. Often without much knowledge of illumination they
looked to the IES for guidance. Also there were many advertisements from ex-
service personnel seeking employment, as well as employers seeking new staff.
Street lighting received considerable coverage in the1947 volume of Light
and Lighting. The Association of Public Lighting Engineers (APLE), now
independent from the IES, held their annual conference in Southport
with papers on the ‘Relationship between street lighting and road safety’, ‘Street
lighting photometry’, and the ‘Design of street light standards’. There were also
demonstrations of street lighting using fluorescent lamps. And the volume
included illustrations of other applications using fluorescent lamps.
Another important topic of the time was the lighting of coal mines and Light and
Lighting drew attention to a memorandum published by the Ministry of Fuel and
Power ‘Mines (Lighting) General Regulations 1947’. The aim of the publication
was to improve standards of underground lighting, particularly with regard to
safety. The regulations covered general lighting and individual lamps, and the
whitening of the roof and sides of the tunnel to improve illumination.
By now the IES membership had exceeded 2000 and its income from

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

subscriptions was in excess of £5,000 pa. This enabled the purchase of much
needed new office equipment (presumably typewriters). It was also reported
at the IES Annual meeting that a Register of Lighting Engineers had been
proposed. The idea was for members who fulfilled certain conditions might
be included in a register, entitling them to the exclusive use of the description

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‘Registered Lighting Engineer (IES)’. The results of a postal ballot on the
proposal revealed that a large majority of the membership were in favour.
However, there was no further information recorded at this stage, though at
some point the register was established. Also in 1947 the IES decided that it was
time for a Presidential Badge of Office and one was designed and produced. It
embodied a flaming torch encircled by the name of the Society.
In August 1947 Light and Lighting announced the death of Alexander Pelham
Trotter at the age of 91. He was one of the founder members of the IES and
President for the period 1917-1920. His value to illuminating engineering was
considerable. He was the author of two important books that are still classics:
llumination: Its Distribution and Measurement and The Elements of Illuminating
Engineering. He also led the deputation of IES members, which paved the way
for the committee on Illumination Research, which operated within the remit
of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). He was a
great figure in the field of illuminating engineering.
During the following year, the IES Council decided to establish a special lecture
in memory of A P Trotter and to be known as the Trotter Memorial Lecture.
They proposed that the lecture be delivered at intervals of one or two years
with the first to be delivered in 1948-49. To help pay for the lecture a special
trust fund was established which members, particularly those who had personal
recollections of Trotter, were invited to contribute. At some point later, the
memorial lecture was extended to honour Sir Clifford C Paterson and the
lecture became the Trotter – Paterson Memorial Lecture.
The first lecture was held on the 17th January 1951 at the Royal Institution,
Albemarle St. It was delivered by Dr John W T Walsh on the subject ‘The
early years of Illuminating Engineering in Great Britain’ and was published in the
Transactions of the IES.

The latter years of the 1940s concentrated mainly on promoting and improving
electric lighting using the new fluorescent lamps. Mr A W Jervis provided a series
of articles for Light and Lighting entitled the ‘Lighting of large retail stores’. They
form a comprehensive analysis of the subject together with some solutions. He
describes fluorescent luminaires of different types, some of which incorporated
150 watt incandescent reflector-spotlamps for highlighting displays. Most of

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

the fittings are suspended from the ceiling and provide both direct and indirect
illumination. Although the style of the fittings is very different to modern times
the principles are very similar.
In March 1948 there was an IES visit to the Plastics Division of the ICI at

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Welwyn Garden City. During the visit the various uses of ‘Perspex’ in lighting
equipment were demonstrated. These included moulding, cutting and grinding
as well as the polishing of optical components. It is interesting to note that prior
to the war optical components of lighting equipment would have been made
of metal or glass. Now plastics provided designers with new opportunities.
The summer of 1948 saw the first IES Summer Meeting, which was held at
Harrogate. Originally proposed before the war it had been postponed due to
the conflict. It was decided to hold the event in the provinces to enable the
local Region to help with the organisation. Around 300 delegates and guests
attended, with visitors from the USA and France. The Mayor of Harrogate
hosted the opening reception. And the dance that followed provided the
opportunity for a get-together.
Over the next two days a number of lectures were presented. One of the
highlights was a presentation by Mr Ward Harrison entitled ‘Some frontiers of
the lighting art’. Dr Walsh, the IES President, introduced Ward Harrison as a
Past President of the IES of America and a Director of the General Electric Co.
(USA) and whose work on ‘Coefficients of Utilisation’ would be familiar to
many of the delegates.
His lecture commenced with greetings from the American IES members
but quickly focused on the three areas that he felt were the most urgent
for consideration: 1) Desirable levels of illumination, 2) Suitable brightness
distribution surrounding the visual task and 3) Ocular comfort when eyes are
raised from the work. Each of these topics was examined with the plea that
numerical guidance needed to be developed to aid better quality lighting.
What is difficult to appreciate now is that at the time of this first IES Convention
post-war food shortages were still evident in Great Britain. And as a gesture
of good will Ward Harrison came laden with a large quantity of eggs, which
enabled everyone to have an egg for breakfast. The conference was deemed a
great success with the intention that more would follow.

During the summer of 1948 the International Commission on Illumination

(CIE) held the 11th session of the Commission in Paris. This was the first
meeting since 1939. Sixteen countries were represented with over 400 delegates
attending, and 59 of these were from Great Britain.

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

Photometry was one of the major areas for consideration. Recommendations

were made to determine a standard spectral sensitivity curve for the dark-
adapted eye. It was also suggested that a correction factor for the distribution of
the curve should be found which would take into consideration the increasing
age of the eye.

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The Definitions and Symbols Committee (France) had the task of selecting a
name for the ‘new candle’ – the unit of luminous intensity, and recommended
that it should be called the ‘Candela’ with the symbol ‘cd’.
Colour also received attention with the plea that colour-rendering properties of
illuminants should be measured and expressed in terms of the CIE chromaticity
co-ordinates. And luminance (described as the new term for photometric
brightness) quantified in eight spectral bands from 0.38 – 0.76 μm.
Ultra-violet radiation was also discussed. The Dutch team described the
considerable variation in radiation measurements between different laboratories.
As a result it was decided to exchange lamps between countries for the purpose
of making comparative measurements. There was a proposal that research into
the maximum dose of UV (2537Å) allowable, without causing harmful effects
to the eyes, whilst at the same time not losing the bactericidal effect, was
necessary.
The event concluded with an agreement that the next commission would be
held in Sweden in 1951.

Earlier in the year (1948) it was announced that the American IES had awarded
their Gold Medal to Sir Clifford C Paterson and it had been hoped to present
the medal to him at the CIE meeting in Paris. Sadly, however, Sir Clifford was
unable to attend due to an illness from which he died on the 26th July. This
was the first time that the medal had been awarded to someone outside the
USA. The medal was inscribed ‘To Sir Clifford Copland Paterson, who, by
distinguished contribution, has conspicuously furthered the art, knowledge and
profession of Illuminating Engineering.’
The Obituary to Sir Clifford, in Light and Lighting (August 1948), pays tribute
to his considerable work in illuminating engineering, first with the NPL then
with the Research Laboratories of the GEC. He was IES President 1928-29
and a Past President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and the Institute
of Physics. He had also been a President of the CIE. He had received many
honours including the Fellowship of the Royal Society, an OBE for his work
during the First World War, and was knighted in 1946. C C Paterson was not
only a man with considerable strength and enthusiasm for lighting but also a man

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

who had time for others. Lady Paterson, on the occasion when she received the
IES of America’s Gold Medal on behalf of her husband, commented that ‘she
was very glad to think that his life’s work was to bring more and better light in
the physical and spiritual sense to what is, at present, so dark a world.’

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In August 1948 the IES lost another one of its founders when the death was
announced of J S Dow, Past Secretary and Past President of the Society.
His obituary (Light and Lighting, September 1948) lists his many talents and
concludes ‘He had a great fund of wisdom which was always at the disposal of
the IES... and it is due to his careful thinking that the Society is so well placed
today to carry on. ... The Society has suffered a great loss and many of us have
lost a great friend.’

In the immediate post war years a number of developments occurred which

helped to secure the foundations of lighting in the UK. The IES formed a
Technical Committee led by W T Souter as chairman and Dr W E Harper
as Secretary. Its remit was to act as a ‘think tank’ and to produce information
documents for the development of illumination. Over the following years
many very successful publications were produced.
In 1946, Ralph G Hopkinson, who was a member of the research team of
the GEC Illumination Laboratories, accepted a new post. He was to lead the
newly formed Lighting Research Unit, part of the Architecture Section at
the Building Research Station, Garston, near Watford. Peter Petherbridge and
James Longmore joined him there, with John Collins coming later. Much
of their early work was directed towards the development of daylighting,
particularly in schools and later in hospitals. They also contributed to the
research on discomfort glare, which resulted in the IES Glare Index system
published in 1962. Two books that stemmed from the work of the unit deserve
mention and are still considered by many to be landmark publications. They
are Architectural Physics: Lighting by R G Hopkinson (1963) and Daylighting by
R G Hopkinson, P Petherbridge and J Longmore (1966).
In Architectural Physics: Lighting Hopkinson addresses the subject of psychophysics
with respect to the lit environment, and describes how to use people as human
meters. Although theirs was not the only research in this field, their work helped
develop discomfort glare quantification, as well as other aspects of illumination.
Hopkinson also drew attention to the possibility of using the same techniques
in the acoustic and thermal environments.
Daylighting, and other related publications produced by the Section, formed

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

the basis of daylighting design in the immediate post war years and influenced
the design of a wide range of buildings – ranging from houses to schools and
hospitals. The Section also developed formulas, graphical techniques, and tools
for calculating daylight factor – remember this was the time before computers.
A visual device for measuring solid angles in the field was also developed.

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Also, at this time, Holophane Ltd developed a slide rule for the calculation of
illumination (illuminance), which avoided the need for trigonometrical tables,
and a range of illumination measurement instruments.

During the early 1950s two major events provided an opportunity for
imaginative lighting solutions. The first, in the summer of 1951, was the Festival
of Britain exhibition, which was held on the South Bank of the Thames and
sited either side of Hungerford Bridge. It was a celebration that combined
modern architecture and art with displays of technological developments.
There were many imaginative exhibits, but perhaps the most striking feature
was the internally illuminated ‘Skylon’ designed by the architectural practice
Powell and Moya. Unfortunately
the exhibition was temporary and
by the end of the year most of it
was swept away except for the
Festival Hall. In terms of lighting,
the importance of the Festival of
Britain was that it showed the
integration of light and architecture
in an imaginative way.
The second event was the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
in 1953. The celebration events
included spectacular floodlighting
and other forms of decorative
illumination. The coronation,
held in Westminster Abbey, was
lit for the occasion with new
equipment designed and executed
by Holophane Ltd. The installation
enabled the televising and filming of
the whole ceremony thus allowing
it to be seen around the country
and abroad without impairing the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster Abbey,
dignity of the occasion. London 1953

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

In the annals of the IES there are many references to the companionship of the
members even when they were commercial rivals. So much so that in 1953 a
group of them, during lunch at the Cock Tavern in Fleet Street, decided to
form a dining club. They called themselves the Lightmongers. Today there
is the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers, a flourishing London livery

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company.

Education and qualifications were matters with which the Society was much
concerned. The City and Guilds lighting courses were now well established
and on offer at a number of colleges around the UK, with the Borough
Polytechnic (now the University of the South Bank), in London, being one of
the leaders. A further development was the Institution of Electrical Engineers,
Endorsement in Illuminating Engineering, which was a course/qualification
on offer to holders of the IEE Higher National Certificate. But although these
courses provided a comprehensive foundation in the technology and science
of illumination they lacked substance in illumination design. As has already
been mentioned, some qualified lighting engineers within the membership
of the IES were pressing for a hallmark that would distinguish them from the
other members who were graduates in architecture, medicine and science,
as well as those who were less well qualified. The class of Fellow, created in
1939, was originally intended to meet this need. However, in addition to those
professionally qualified in illumination, a number of the unqualified members
of the Society who had distinguished themselves in other fields had been given
fellowship status.
In addition to the proposal of a qualifying grade of membership was the
suggestion that the Society change its name to the ‘The Lighting Society’,
presumably with the idea of embracing the non-engineering aspects of
illumination. In 1957 a special general meeting was held. Two proposals were
put to the meeting: a) to change the name of the Society to ‘The Lighting
Society’ and b) to introduce a new class of ‘Diploma Member’. Following
a ‘welter of argument’ the proposals were put to a vote with the result that
proposal a) was rejected and proposal b) was accepted. Henceforth Diploma
Membership would provide a grade of membership for those members engaged
in illumination and qualified either by the C&G or IEE qualifications. This left
Fellowship status for those who had ‘achieved an outstanding position in, or
made important contributions to lighting’.

Lighting design was beginning to take a more scientific approach with designers
and engineers needing luminaire photometric data. This was prompted by

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

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Polar curves in the British Zonal (BZ) Classification, ‘IES Code’ 1961

the publication of the 1961 IES Code, which included not only numerical
recommendations for task illuminance, but also a glare index for a range of
applications. It also included information on the calculation of Glare Indices
based on the British Zonal (BZ) classification system. This was a unique system
that classified the downward luminous intensity distribution of a luminaire.
The requirement for photometric data was also necessary for the calculation
of utilisation factors. This was described in IES Technical Report No. 2, The
Calculation and Use of Utilisation Factors (1962). These two publications were
important documents in the continuing development of illumination design
and the status of the IES.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

The original constitution of the Society provided for the election of Honorary
Members with Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison being two of the earliest.
At the time of incorporation (1930) it was laid down that not more than one
Honorary Member was to be elected each year and that the total number should
not exceed six. This position remained until 1957 when the maximum number

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was raised to ten. The Honorary Members at that time were Ward Harrison,
Howard Long, J W T Walsh, H C Weston, J T MacGregor-Morris and Sir
John Parsons. But the election of new honorary members had been allowed
to lapse and in 1957 it was decided to create a new class of Honorary Fellow,
to include ‘any distinguished
person whom the Society
desires to honour for services
rendered to the Society or
whose association therewith
is of benefit to the Society’.
Soon after that time it was
decided to offer Honorary
Fellowship to HRH Prince
Phillip and council were
delighted that he accepted.
But it took until 1961 before
a suitable date could be
arranged for the presentation.
The award of Honorary Fellowship to HRH Prince Philip by
The presentation was made
W S Stiles, 1961
at the IEE on the 11th April
1961 at the same time as the
launch of the 1961 IES Code. The President, W S Stiles FRS OBE, chaired
the meeting and Dr W E Harper presented the Code, which was warmly
applauded. After the presentation a special leather-bound copy of the Code
was presented to HRH. George Cole recalled that as W E Harper stood up to
give his presentation the power supply to the lectern failed. But he had come
prepared, produced a torch, and carried on until the power supply was restored
to the amusement of all including HRH.
A further award was established in 1959 with the IES Gold Medal. The
first recipient was Dr J W T Walsh, a pioneer of the IES and an expert in
photometry.

Returning now to the UK lighting manufacturers. Major early players like

BTH, GEC and Holophane have already been mentioned, and in the 1930s
a new company joined the industry. It was founded by Jules Thorn (later Sir

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

Jules) and later become known as Thorn Lighting Ltd. Thorn was born in
Austria in 1899 and came to Britain in 1923 as a representative of a gas mantle
manufacturer. But by 1926, the company had gone into liquidation leaving
Thorn without a job and in a foreign country. But rather than return to Austria
he decided to try his luck in the electric lamp industry and bought the failing

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Electric Lamp Service Co., based at the Atlas Lamp Works, Angel Rd, Enfield.
The company struggled in the early days against the major lamp manufacturers,
who were all members of the Electric Lamp Manufacturing Association
(ELMA), and who controlled (legally at that time) the lamp price and the
market share of its members. However, by diversifying into the manufacture
of radio valves, which required a similar manufacturing process to lamps,
the company managed to survive. Following the war, with the fluorescent
lamp now in great demand, Thorn struck a deal with an American company,
Sylvania Electric Products Co., who was looking for a European partner. The
deal was for the two companies to share their technology and included Sylvania
helping Thorn establish a modern manufacturing plant for tubular fluorescent
lamps in Enfield, a product that was not controlled by ELMA. This gave Thorn
dominance in the fluorescent lamp market, which provided the finance to
expand into most other areas of lighting by development and acquisition.
Two other actions by Thorn are worthy of mention. One was that because of
the company’s growth, laboratories in Leicester and Enfield were adequately
funded not just enabling the development of lamps but also lighting research.
The second was the launch of the ‘Popular-Pack’ (Pop-Pack) luminaire, which
included the lamp with the luminaire. This proved so popular with customers
that other manufacturers followed suit.
Much later, in 1966, a number of the staff of the research laboratories contributed
to a book Lamps and Lighting edited by M A Cayless and A M Marsden. It was
to provide the lighting industry with a source of information that spanned
the gamut of the subject and became an education standard. The book was
regularly up-dated with the forth edition published in 1997 edited by J R
Coaton and A M Marsden. Another book to emanate from Thorn personnel
was Lighting Fittings Performance and Design by A R Bean and R H Simons. This
book dealt with the technical and calculation elements of luminaires. In 2001
the same authors produced a complementary book Lighting Engineering, Applied
Calculations.

It is worth mentioning that during the late 1950s and early 60s there were
a number of changes to the lighting industry organisations that had been
established to further the development of illumination. In 1957 ELMA, the

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Electric Lamp Manufacturers Association, was replaced by the Electric Lamp

Industries Council, (ELIC). At the time of the dissolution of ELMA it was
feared that the Lighting Service Bureau at 2 Savoy Hill, which had provided
successfully a ‘shop window’ for all aspects of lighting, would come to an end.
But in the event it was replaced by a new organisation: the British Lighting

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Council (BLC), in Lancaster Place, London. ELIC, the Electricity Boards,
and a number of individual lighting equipment manufacturers supported this.
The new BLC comprised a lecture space with demonstration facilities. Also,
there were areas for building mock-ups of domestic and commercial interiors,
showing examples of good modern illumination solutions. The organisation also
arranged lectures and produced a number of lighting information publications.
Unfortunately after about ten years it too came to an end, presumably because
of a lack of funding.
However, a number of the staff went on to join the Electricity Council in
London and at other sites around the country, and continued to promote
lighting through publications, lectures and other activities. These included
the early UK lighting design competitions, which focused initially on energy
efficiency, but in time came to embrace all aspects of lighting design. John
Baker of the Electricity Council, in conjunction with the Lighting Industry
Federation (LIF), led much of this work.
The Electricity Council also established a Research Centre at Capenhurst in
Cheshire, which included lighting, perhaps not unnaturally, since lighting
was a major electricity consumer. Dr P R Boyce was responsible for lighting,
which was included in the Indoor Environment Group. Its aims were: 1)
Developing new understanding, 2) Solving problems and 3) Evaluating new
building types. The lighting research element of the Centre existed for over 20
years and during that time was responsible for a large range of topics including
task illumination with consideration to recommended task illuminances, and
dealing with the problems of reflected glare, particularly in computer screens.
The lighting of open-plan, landscaped offices was also investigated. Security
and emergency lighting was another area of research. Much of the work of
the lighting unit resulted in Electricity Council and IES publications, which all
helped with the development of lighting in Great Britain. Much later, in 1981,
Peter Boyce produced a book Human Factors in Lighting. This was a publication
that focused on the relationship between light, lighting and human response,
and it addressed a subject, which the illumination profession desperately needed
to embrace. The second edition was published in 2003.

It is clear that in the years after the war much effort was applied to developing
electric lighting. And by this time gas lighting had been reduced, mostly, to a

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

declining number of road lighting installations. But just like electric lighting,
daylighting was receiving considerable attention, mostly by the architectural
profession, prompted by the lighting team at the Building Research Station
(later the Building Research Establishment).

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In addition to the guidance available from the BRS, advice was also offered by
a major British glass manufacturer. This was provided by the Daylight Advisory
Service (DAS) at St Helens, Lancashire, led by Thomas A Markus, and was
part of Pilkington Brothers Ltd (established in 1962). The rationale being
that while there were already professional consultancy services available for
the mechanical, thermal and acoustic characteristics of glass, there was lacking
similar advice relating to daylight design.
The DAS daylight laboratory was set-up by J A Lynes and opened in 1963. The
centrepiece was a 6.6m diameter dome artificial sky. The laboratory, in addition
to providing a design service, was used to develop predictive tools for daylight
distributions and sunlight penetration. These were ultimately incorporated into
the publication Windows and Environment, edited by D P Turner (1969). And
Principles of Natural Lighting by J A Lynes (1968).
There is no doubt that the DAS team contributed greatly to the development
of illumination, which included, among others, W Burt, C Cuttle, G K Jackson
and J A Lynes. These were also the authors of a landmark piece of work ‘The
flow of light in buildings’, which was published in the Transactions of the IES (1966)
and presented at the CIE conference in Washington in 1967 entitled ‘Beyond
the working plane’. This was the first serious attempt to describe numerically the
interaction between light, objects and modelling, using the innovative proposal
of the Vector/Scaler Illuminance Ratio.

A further development in the lighting industry occurred in 1963 with the

opening of the British Standards Institution, Photometric and Lighting Fittings
Test Laboratory at Hemel Hempstead. This followed an approach from the
Electric Lighting Fittings Association (ELFA) to provide photometric facilities,
particularly for smaller manufacturers. The laboratory was set up by H F
Stephenson from the GEC Illumination laboratories. The facilities provided
independent photometric testing of luminaires and enabled manufacturers and
clients to assess the performance of items of equipment. The test equipment
included a two-mirror distribution photometer for luminaires up to 2ft
(600mm) in length and a beam photometer for luminaires up to 5ft (1500mm)
in length. It is believed that this was the first photometer in Great Britain to
offer this facility. Environmental test facilities for temperature and humidity
testing, and equipment for water and dust ingress tests were also provided.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

These services were engineered to support the British Standards relating to

lighting equipment. At the time these included BS3820:1964, Specification
for Electric Lighting Fittings, BS1788:1964, Specification for Street Lanterns, BS
161:1956, Specification for Tungsten Filament (GLS) Lamps and BS1853:1960,
Specification for Tubular Fluorescent Lamps.

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There were also facilities for testing vehicle lights and retro-reflective units and
materials.

Returning our attention to lighting education, it is clear that at the time

when the IES was formed special lectures were offered on light and vision,
photometry, illumination calculations and lamp technology, all of which formed
the elements of the City and Guilds courses and latterly the IEE endorsement
course. But due to the interest of architects and the expansion of the British
universities in the 1960s lighting became an element of architectural education.
It is not clear exactly where this started, but in 1965 R G Hopkinson joined
University College London to take up the new chair of Environmental Design
and Engineering, in the School of Environmental Studies (previously known
as the Bartlett School of Architecture, a name it was to resume some years
later). The head of school was Professor Sir Richard Llewelyn Davies who
led the school in embracing all aspects of architecture and planning, including
engineering and building. Professor Hopkinson, whose aim was to teach
architects to consider the acoustic, illuminated and thermal environments
within a building, led the Environmental Design and Engineering section.
Eventually his department had an extensive suite of research laboratories,
particularly for lighting and acoustics.
Other schools of architecture followed suit, all with their own individual
view of environmental design. But although the teaching of light and lighting
enhanced the education of architecture students they did little to improve the
education of lighting engineers.
Following this development a number of polytechnics and universities started
to offer courses on Building Services that included lighting, which gave
academic status to the subject. Through all of the changes in education of
lighting the Borough Polytechnic (later to become the University of the South
Bank) continued to provide illuminating engineering courses that were taught
by D C Pritchard, J F Pickup and Dr J W Frost. Dr A R Bean offered similar
courses at Medway and Maidstone College of Technology. Northampton
College (later to become City University) also offered courses taught by Dr
C A Padgham. There were almost certainly others, but at this time the details
have been lost.
In 1972 P T Stone of Loughborough University delivered a paper to the IES

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

entitled, ‘Proposal for a new undergraduate education in lighting’ (Lighting Research

and Technology, 4/2, 57-66 1972). In the discussion of the paper many queries
were raised. Generally it received enthusiastic support, but no clear way
forward was proposed.

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But what about lighting design as a practice or profession? From the very
beginning the IES had recognised the need for experts to be able to design lit
environments that satisfied all aspects of illuminating engineering, including
daylighting. The IES had organised joint meetings with the RIBA to try to
develop a way where lighting could form an element of architecture, and many
of the post war architecture education programmes included some element of
illumination. But it was in the 1960s that the idea of lighting design consultants
began to be recognised. Derek Phillips was almost certainly one of the first in
Britain to lead the way in developing lighting design as a profession. Phillips
had trained as an architect at Liverpool University and at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in North America. In addition, he worked with
BTH and AEI, gaining experience in electric lighting and luminaire design. In
1958 he formed Derek Phillips and Associates (DPA), architects and lighting
consultants. Fifty years later the practice is now one of the major lighting design
practices world wide, although Derek Phillips has now retired. Early projects
included the interior lighting designs for the Carpenters Hall, London, the
liner the Oriana, and the Town Hall in Hemel Hempstead, which included a
‘permanent supplementary artificial lighting installation’ (PSALI) as proposed
by Hopkinson at the BRE. He also designed the exterior floodlighting of
Westminster Abbey. Derek Phillips was the author of a number of books but
Lighting in Architectural Design (1964) was particularly important in bringing
lighting and architecture together.
Two other lighting personalities of that period deserve mention, although their
time in lighting design was relatively short. J M Waldram at the GEC Research
Laboratories had carried out a study on lighting designed appearance, which
was published in the Transactions of the IES in 1954 and was also presented
at the CIE Symposium in 1955. In the work J M Waldram describes light
modelling and the translation of apparent brightness into luminance. Later he
used the work to help him to design electric lighting installations for a number
of cathedrals in Britain (particularly Gloucester and Ely) and the Sydney
Opera House in Australia. A good overall description of the work is given in
Developments in Lighting 1, edited by J A Lynes (1978).
R G Hopkinson also became involved with lighting design through his
environmental design consultancy with his colleague Newton Watson. Their
most notable success was the daylight and electric light design for the Tate

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Gallery (now Tate Britain) 1978 extension. To ensure that the paintings
were kept in the correct conservation conditions the design incorporated
the automatic control of external louvres that excluded direct sunlight when
necessary, and sensors to manage the level of daylight and electric light.

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Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s the IES flourished. In 1952 the Summer
Meeting was held in Eastbourne. Then they were held every two years until
1966. However, by 1968 hotels had become expensive and it was agreed to
move the event to a university, which were much cheaper and provided better
meeting facilities. The first IES National Lighting Conference was held at
Churchill College, Cambridge. National Lighting Conferences continued to
be held every two years from 1968 –1978. It is interesting to note that although
they were labelled national lighting conferences many visitors from overseas
regularly attended them, providing an international input. The topics and
research presentations covered a wide range of issues, but equally important was
the opportunity to meet with other members both professionally and socially.
As has already been mentioned the IES Technical Committee was established
to further the development of illumination and to provide technical support
and information for the education of the membership. The period 1958-78
was particularly rich in producing a number of Technical Reports covering
a wide range of topics, with additional information in Monographs and the
Codes for Interior Lighting.
IES Technical Reports
TR 1, Lighting in Corrosive, Flammable and Explosive Situations, 1958, Chairman
W E Harper. Revised 1965 Chairman J G Holmes.
TR 2, The Calculation of Coefficients of Utilisation – British Zonal Method, 1961,
Chairman W Robinson. Revised 1971, Chairman H E Bellchambers.
TR 3, Lighting of Building Sites and Works Engineering Construction, 1962,
Chairman J Gordon-Scott. Revised 1966 Chairman A H Young and 1975
Chairman S L Lyons.
TR 4, Lighting During Daylight Hours, 1962 Chairman R G Hopkinson. Revised
1972 Chairman D W Durrant.
TR 5, Lecture Theatres and their Lighting, 1963, Revised 1973 Chairman H
Hewitt.
TR 6, Floodlighting of Buildings, 1964 Chairman M W Peirce.

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

TR 7, Lighting for Sports, 1965. Chairman P Hartill. Revised 1974 Chairman

W A Price.
TR 8, Lighting of Libraries, 1966. Chairman A H Olson.
TR 9, Depreciation and Maintenance of Interior Lighting, 1967. Chairman H R

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Ruff.
TR 10, Evaluation of Discomfort Glare: The IES Glare Index System for Artificial
Light Installations, 1967. Chairman E Rowlands. Additional Data 1972.
TR 11, The Calculation of Direct Illumination from Linear Sources, 1968. Chairman
H E Bellchambers.
TR 12, Hospital Lighting, 1968. Chairman W J Wellwood Ferguson.
TR 13, Industrial Area Floodlighting, 1969. Chairman W Imrie-Smith.
TR 14, Lighting Art Galleries and Museums, 1970. Chairman J B Harris.
TR 15, Multiple Criteria Design: A Design Method for Interior Electric Lighting
Installations, 1977. Chairman P A Jay.
IES Lighting Guide No 6: The Outdoor Environment, 1975. Chairman J B
Harris.
IES Monographs
No. 1 Inter-reflection and Flux Distribution in Lighted Interiors, by J A Lynes,
1959.
No. 2 Average Illumination on the Vertical; and Calculation of Zonal Multipliers for
Continuous Distributions, by R Croft, 1959.
No. 3 The New Approach to Inter-reflections, by R O Phillips and S J Prokhovnik,
1960.
No. 4 The Concept ‘Road Surface Luminance’ and its Application to Public Lighting,
by J B de Boer, 1962.
No. 5 Factors Governing the Light Output Ratio of Lighting Fittings, by R H
Simons, 1962.
No. 6 Measurements of the Luminance Distribution of the Sky near Sydney, Australia,
by D Paix, 1963. Also, Exact Determination of the Daylight (Sky Component) from
Rectangular Sloping Window Apertures with a ‘CIE Overcast Sky’, by R Kittler and
S Ondrejicka, 1963.
No. 7 Flux Distribution within a Sector Solid and Total Flux from a Linear Source,
by A R Bean, 1963.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

No. 8 Graphical and Tabulated Data for Routine Illumination Calculations, by A R

Bean, 1964.
No. 9 A Theoretical Study of the Problem Presented by Depreciation of the Luminous
Flux in Interior Lighting Installations, by E Wittig, R Krossawa and D Matanovic,

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1965. Also, Transmission and Reflection Characteristics of Diffusing Louvers, by A R
Bean and R H Simons, 1965.
No.10 A Simplified Method of Calculation for Luminance Ratio and Designed
Appearance Lighting Installations, by D C Coomber and P A Jay, 1967.
IES Codes for Interior Lighting
1962, Chairman W E Harper.
1968, Chairman H Hewitt.
1973, Chairman J B Collins.
1977, Chairman J B Collins.
Mention has already been made of the 1962 Code, which included information
on the Glare Index system.
In 1968 the Code went further. As well as artificial lighting design (electric
light) it included the principles of daylight design and how to integrate the two.
It also explains the metric system, newly introduced into the UK, and the need
to understand metres, lumen/m2, and candela/m2. It also promoted the idea of
considering illumination beyond the working plane, based on the work of J A
Lynes and his colleagues at Pilkington Brothers Ltd.
The 1973 Code developed lighting further by considering the preferred
illuminance for working interiors. It also highlighted the importance of light
source colour performance (colour rendering and colour appearance), as well
as emergency lighting.
In 1977 a new Code was published to take account of the then, dramatic
increases in energy costs and dealt with installed loads, choice of lighting
equipment, installation maintenance, maximum use of daylight and control
systems. (Does this sound familiar?)
A further development for the IES was the launch of the journal Lighting
Research and Technology in 1969. Until now the Monographs had provided
an opportunity to cover specialist topics but were often slim in size and easily
lost. The IES Transactions had been published to record the papers delivered to
London Sessional Meetings together with the discussions. There were also some
contributed papers. All papers were subject to close scrutiny by referees and
the papers committee. George Cole suggested that the IES should combine the
material published in the Transactions and the Monographs to form a quarterly,

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

international lighting research journal. G F Cole was particularly keen for the
journal to be distinctive and suggested the bright orange cover. The result was
Lighting Research and Technology, which has been published continuously since
then.

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There is little doubt that the technical publications throughout this period
provided valuable education for the members and a considerable status to the
Society. They also provided a welcome contribution to the IES finances.

Throughout the 1960s and 70s the lamp industry worked to provide better
quality and more efficient light sources. First on the scene was the tungsten
halogen lamp with increased efficacy and life over the GLS lamp, but with
similar colour performance and controllability. Then there was the high-
pressure sodium lamp, which provided a golden glow to many an exterior,
and signalled the end of the low-pressure sodium lamp with its unappealing,
though efficient, monochromatic yellow light. Developments were made to
high-pressure mercury lamps with the addition of halides into the discharge
tube improving their colour performance.
The latest development from Thorn Lighting was the Kolor-rite fluorescent
lamp. Although it offered improved colour performance it suffered from a
reduced efficacy compared to the existing fluorescent lamp technology. There
was however, anecdotal evidence that installations using the lamp appeared
brighter than measurements indicated. This led H Bellchambers to investigate
the term ‘visual clarity’ and prove the effect numerically (Lighting Research and
Technology, 1972), but the results were inconclusive. A further development in
fluorescent lamp technology was the introduction of tri-phosphor and multi-
phosphor lamps, which had better colour performance without reducing
efficacy.
Another major occurrence within the industry was the coming together in
1963 of the Electric Light Fittings Association (ELFA) and the Electric Lamp
Industry Council (ELIC), previously ELMA, to form the Lighting Industry
Federation (LIF). The new director was J H Campion, who together with the
council, aimed to provide a forum for members to meet and discuss matters of
mutual interest. The LIF was eventually to set up an office in Balham.

During this time the IES continued to expand. The membership continued
to grow and the number of publications being handled increased. This,
together with the organisation of London Sessional Meetings and the biennial
conferences, required extra staff. Derek Wilson was employed as assistant

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Editor of Light and Lighting. After him came Walter Gundrey and David
Dowle. Doreen Norgrove joined the organisation as secretary/administrator
with assistance from Pat Sullivan as office junior. In 1973 Jonathan David was
employed by the IES to help with the publications. Much later he would take
on the role of Secretary to the Society of Light and Lighting.

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Then, in 1963, the IES office moved from Victoria St. The lease was running
out and the landlords wanted to demolish the block, so they gave the IES
notice to quit. According to G F Cole ‘after much searching a new office was
found at York House in Westminster Bridge Rd. The following Christmas the
Victoria St offices collapsed into the road; apparently the demolition people had
removed the inner walls, which were part of the structure’ - but it had been
the home of the IES since 1909. However, the new premises were bigger and
allowed the provision of a meeting room come library, which was christened
the John Dow Library.

In 1959 the IES celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a dinner held at the Criterion,
the same restaurant where it had all started 50 years earlier. According to G F
Cole there were about 500 members and guests present with an impressive list
of eminent speakers. The IES arranged with the GPO (now BT) for G F Cole
to give a running commentary of the event, over a landline to the Regional
Centres and to members in South Africa, something that had apparently never
been attempted before. A special issue of Light and Lighting was produced which
summarised the development of lighting and the IES since 1909.
Ten years later in 1969 the IES celebrated its 60th birthday. The jubilee was
celebrated throughout the country with special meetings and events arranged
by the Regional Centres. Congratulations were received from eminent people
including the Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, and the presidents of the
Royal Society, the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Institution and the RIBA.
They all spoke highly of the Society’s contribution to the welfare of man.
Two lectures on the theme ‘Light and the Community’ were presented in
the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank. A H Willoughby dealt with
evolution of electric lamps and J M Waldram with the growth of lighting.
In 1971 W R Stevens became President of the CIE, an honour richly deserved.
W R Stevens had started his lighting career at the NPL under Clifford Paterson
and John Walsh, and then went on to establish the Illumination Laboratory
at the GEC Research Laboratories, a unit responsible for many of the early
developments in illumination for times of war and peace. He was also a prime
mover in the IES and was its President in 1953, as well as being President of
the APLE in 1966. Stevens was the second Briton to hold the CIE Presidency

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

and as a fitting tribute to his term of office the CIE decided to hold the18th
Quadrennial Conference in London.
The IES took on the responsibility of organising the technical meetings at
Imperial College London. Robin Aldworth, of Thorn Lighting Ltd, headed a

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team of stewards to make sure that the speakers got to the right lecture room
together with the right equipment – every thing seemed to go very smoothly.
There were nearly 600 full-time delegates from 33 countries. At the opening
session Mr C Dykes Brown, Chairman of the British National Illumination
Committee, welcomed the CIE to London. In his address he referred to
the 1975 Outdoor Lighting Award Competition, which had been devised
to draw attention to the CIE conference and to lighting. The Countess of
Dartmouth had chaired the awards sponsoring committee and HRH The
Duke of Gloucester presented them. The winning installations were Salisbury
Cathedral, Elm Hill, Norwich, and St James’s Park, London.
In addition to the technical programme there was a full programme of social
events, culminating in a banquet at the Guildhall, City of London, in the
presence of the Lord Mayor of London.

In the mid-1960s people were starting to consider the built environment as a

subject that embraced the acoustic, illuminated and thermal environments in one
package. It has already been mentioned how the architecture schools began to
embrace this approach but the subject became too large to handle with any real
success beyond an introduction. However, the IES formed an environmental
group, which included daylighting and electric lighting specialists together
with environmental psychologists. Although these subjects had obvious links,
to weld them into a design approach proved elusive. Nonetheless, in 1970 Light
and Lighting became Light and Lighting and Environmental Design and its first issue
included an article ‘The environmental problem’ by Peter Jay. This explored the
link between the internal environment provided by the fabric and design of
buildings of the 19th century, and what was possible through the addition of
technology for the 20th century and beyond.
Professor Reyner Banham (a member of the academic staff at University College
London at the time) took a similar approach in his book The Architecture of the
Well-tempered Environment (1969).

By the early 1970s the IES membership had reached 2700, but, as G F Cole
described, the role of the honorary treasurer was an onerous one. The IES had
always been run on a shoestring and had at times been grateful to its Sustaining

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Members for their help in ensuring a smooth and successful operation. The
staff of the IES, together with the army of volunteers, worked tirelessly to
create a successful focus for lighting, both as a subject and a profession. The
publications it produced are witness to that, but times were moving fast and
there was talk of change and a possible merger with the Institute of Heating

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and Ventilating Engineers (IHVE).
It is difficult to say with any certainty now exactly where this proposal of a
merger came from. But drawing from George Cole’s recollections, part of it
might have come from this idea of bringing environmental subjects together for
the good of all, and the IES and the IHVE appeared to have a common interest
in this respect. The Property Services Agency (PSA) also had an interest. A joint
institution would provide an opportunity for the establishment of a ‘building
services engineer’, which would, apparently, satisfy the career structure of
the PSA. Also, at some point a ‘carrot’ was introduced: a merger of the IES
and IHVE could have the possibility of a Royal Charter, which would lead
to some form of professional recognition – something that members of both
institutions aspired to. John Holmes for the IES and Copeland Watts for the
IHVE carried out a feasibility study and concluded that there was no obstacle
to amalgamation ‘if there was a willingness by both parties’. But opinions were
divided, particularly as IES interests ranged further than ‘building services’.
Also at this time, again from G F Cole, ‘there were protracted negotiations on
the fusion of the IES and the APLE. W R Stevens (a Past President of both
organisations) investigated the possibility as ‘honest broker’. But the APLE
council rejected the idea of a merger, mistakenly believing that it was simply a
means to ‘bail out’ an impecunious IES – which was far from the truth.’
Apparently there ensued many years of discussion, meeting after meeting,
chaired by Ralph Hopkinson and later by Hugh Johnson (PSA) with the result
that an IES Extraordinary General Meeting was called for the 7th December
1976 at Imperial College, London. At the EGM members were asked to vote
on the proposed amalgamation of the Society with the IHVE to become
the Chartered Institution of Building Services (CIBS). The result was an
overwhelming vote for the motion to be carried.
And so the process of amalgamation began. The IES members were to transfer
to the Lighting Division of the CIBS with the intention that the work of the
IES would continue within the new institution.
In 1978 the IES moved into the IHVE offices in Cadogan Square, SW1, and
the last issue of Light and Lighting appeared in June the same year. Lighting
would be incorporated into a new journal entitled Building Services, which was
to be led by Stephen Ashley, with Jonathan David as Assistant Editor.

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 Chapter 3 1946 – 1978 Time of Development and Change

In the last issue of Light and Lighting a number of people recorded their
appreciation for the journal, and of George Cole as Editor and Secretary of the
IES. M B Clark was the last President of the IES and his concluding remarks
are reproduced.

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‘My last comment must, however, be reserved for the man who is today,
perhaps, a little sadder than any of us. And if he is who can blame him? For
over 30 years members have learned to value the editorial rights vested in the
majestic use of ‘we’ and ‘us’ in place of the mere mortals’ use of the singular
tense. Controversial when there was the need, but conciliatory when the
circumstances demanded. Thank you, George, for those many column inches
of wise guidance or explosive comment.’
George Cole retired from lighting in 1979 and moved to Chipping Camden
in the Cotswolds. There is no doubt that the lighting business and the lighting
profession owe George Cole an immense debt of gratitude for guiding lighting
from 1946 – 1978 and to the present day the profession records their thanks.
George Cole died in 2005.

IES President Michael B Clark (third from left) with IES

staff (left to right) George Cole, Doreen Norgrove and
Jonathan David, 1978

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Chapter 4
1979 – 2008

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Time of Consolidation

CIBSE Lighting Division, Lighting Award trophy donated by M J E Frye

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

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ollowing the merger in 1978, the IES moved
into the offices of the IHVE, at 49 Cadogan
Sq, London, SW1. Together they formed the
Chartered Institution of Building Services (CIBS),
later to become the Chartered Institution of Building
Services Engineers (CIBSE).
Although one can see advantages in welding these
elements of the built environment together (and
perhaps there had been the expectation that other
elements would merge with them, forming a cohesive
institution that represented all aspects of environmental
design) there was in fact little integration, or even
much collaboration, certainly in the early years. It
was more a case of two organisations sharing the same
premises.
Not surprisingly George Cole, who had managed and
encouraged the development of the IES for over thirty
years, was very disenchanted. In his recollections of
the times, written in 2004 not long before he died, he
said ‘our reception could have been better. None of
the senior staff came to my office to make us welcome
and the IES staff seemed to be ostracised – not partners 49 Cadogan Square, London
in a new organisation. The IHVE President (now
CIBS President) passed my door several times a day
– but didn’t call in. … I was disillusioned with the
organisation and the ability of the former IHVE, and, sad to say with the way
the IES had handled matters. At an early CIBS council meeting the treasurer
put the increase in expenditure down to ‘these lighting people’; none of the
Lighting Division members present said a word. … (I was not permitted to
speak unless spoken to).’
When he decided to retire in 1979 George Cole was asked to continue as Editor
of Lighting Research and Technology but he declined, claiming that it would be
impossible from afar. He wrote ‘I am sorry now to have left them holding the
baby but they were good chaps; they did well and continued to do so. Long
may they and their successors succeed – and with the orange cover.’

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

There is no doubt that the development of lighting, particularly in Britain, as

a science and an art, was very much enhanced by the work and personality of
George Cole. And without his untiring enthusiasm for the IES it is doubtful
that it would have achieved so much. All those involved with lighting will be
grateful for his contribution.

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It is also because of his wisdom in establishing Lighting Research and Technology,
and publishing eminent research reports, not just from Britain but also from
around the world, that G F Cole should be remembered. Lighting Research and
Technology is now considered by many to be the worldwide premier lighting
research publication.
One of the major casualties of the merger was the loss of Light and Lighting.
Although it was expected that the coverage of lighting would be continued
within the new Building Services Journal it fell short of the ideal.
But in other ways it was business as usual; the work of the IES continued
albeit with a new name. The Technical Committee carried on producing new
publications, and the biennial national lighting conferences continued with the
first one being held in 1978.
It is a little ironic that the first lighting guide, published under the CIBS in
1979, dealt with Shipbuilding and Ship Repair. Unfortunately the publication
appeared at the time when the British ship building industry started its decline,
so sales were less than anticipated.
Despite the upheaval of the merger a number of the IES features were
incorporated into the work of the IHVE branch of the CIBS. The quality of
the IES technical publications was noted and learnt from, an H&V technical
conference was initiated, and the Building Services Engineering Research and
Technology (BSER&T) journal was established, mirroring Lighting Research and
Technology.
Following the retirement of G F Cole a new Secretary for the Lighting Division
was needed and the Institution was fortunate in gaining the services of Andrew
Ramsay. Andrew took up his post in the spring of 1979, and although he had
no experience of lighting he was enthusiastic, and proved to be a good friend
to the lighting community in smoothing the course between the old IES and
the new Lighting Division of the CIBS. Andrew records that Mike Clark, the
last President of the IES, helped him settle into the job. Dr Mike Marsden, Dr
Bob Bean and Tony Willoughby also gave him help in those early years.
In the early discussions of the merger it was the expectation that the new
institution should include ‘engineering’ in its title. In the event the Council
of Engineering Institutions did not allow this. This was extremely annoying as
clearly both the IES and the IHVE were engineering based institutions, and

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

were internationally recognised as such. However, this dispute was eventually

overcome and in 1985 the CIBS became the Chartered Institution of Building
Services Engineers (CIBSE).
There were further problems to be resolved. The IES had always allowed

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membership to include those with good academic qualifications in science,
medicine and engineering. It also awarded membership to those who were
less well qualified but were important in the development of lighting and the
work of the IES. In the event, due to the ruling of the Academic Commission,
some members were denied the membership grade that they, and others,
believed they were entitled to. As a result there were some resignations and
much bad feeling, which was a pity. And in a few cases it was never forgiven
or forgotten.
As time went by some of the wounds healed and the new Lighting Division
got on with providing its members with an education programme of meetings,
conferences and publications.
The existing IES staff moved with George Cole to the new institution. Doreen
Norgrove continued to assist with the administration of the Lighting Division,
and Pat Sullivan joined the main
CIBSE administration team,
where she continued until her
compulsory retirement some
years later. Jonathan David
became Assistant Editor of the
Building Services Journal and
joined the Builder Group. But
49 Cadogan Square proved to
be too small and the lease was
sold allowing the purchase of
222 Balham High Road. The
building was refurbished, and
in September 1979 the CIBS
moved in. 222 Balham High Road, London

The Lighting Division Technical Committee continued producing publications,

quickly picking up where the IES had left off. When IES publications were
revised attempts were made to use the original Technical Report number,
resulting in some confusion with the numbering system. However, the
following list indicates the continuing obligation to keep members informed
about current issues, and particularly about lighting different applications.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

LG Shipbuilding and Ship Repair, 1979, Chairman C C Veitch.

LG 8 Libraries, 1982, Chairman W Yeadon.
LG 12 Hospitals and Health Care Buildings, 1979, Chairman A L Critcher.

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LG 14 Museums and Art Galleries, 1980, Chairman J B Harris.
Lighting in Hostile and Hazardous Environments, 1983, Chairman P A Stewart
(this Guide was labelled an Application Guide).
CIBS Code for Interior Lighting, 1984, Chairman Dr P R Boyce.
The new Lighting Code, as earlier versions had, aimed to enhance the way
lighting was provided and help designers achieve more successful solutions. It
gave a greater weight to daylighting with recommendations for average daylight
factor. It also provided a flow chart to enable the adjustment of the ‘design task
illuminance’ to become a ‘service illuminance’, which was based on conditions
within the particular environment. It strove to show how important it was that
it was not a ‘one state fits all’.
Lighting appearance was also included. This was to encourage designers to
consider the illumination of the whole room and not just the task area.
Light source colour rendering performance continued to be an important area
of concern, and the idea of the light source ‘colour gamut area’ was suggested
as a possible alternative to the widely accepted CIE Colour Rendering Index.

In 1978 the first Lighting Division National Lighting Conference was held
at Churchill College Cambridge. It provided the first major opportunity
for members to come together after the merger, and was organised by the
remaining IES staff, led by Doreen Norgrove. Over 200 delegates attended
with around 40 from overseas, travelling from places as far away as Singapore,
South Africa and Melbourne, Australia.
There is not space here to list all the contributions, but 23 papers were presented
on a range of topics that included the following: Aircraft approach landing aids
using projector lights, Medical uses of radiation from lamps, and Lighting for
the elderly. There were also a number of papers on lamp development.
The technical programme was complemented by a social programme, which
allowed members to ‘network’ with fellow lighters. The conference was
deemed a success and formed the model for the National Lighting Conferences
that were held until 2004.

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

The loss of Light and Lighting was a serious blow to the Society as it had provided
a regular source of information on all aspects of lighting development and
discussion. It also reported Institution events and news of its members. Regular
evening lectures continued in London and the Regions, but communication
suffered without Light and Lighting as a regular focus.

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Lighting Research and Technology offered something of a substitute. But it was
not enough since it was only available as an option to members at an additional
cost.
The following list offers a sample of the topics published in Lighting Research
and Technology and in the CIBSE Lighting Division Conference Proceedings
during the 1980s. It provides some indication of how lighting application and
research was developing.
L Bedocs and his colleagues at Thorn Lighting were suggesting the use of air
handling luminaires as a way of combining lighting services with those for
heating and ventilating (Lighting Research and Technology, 9/1, 1978).
A W Stockmar (a regular visitor from Germany) presented a paper at the
National Lighting Conference describing how computers could aid lighting
design. It showed graphical plots of illuminance and luminance based on
computer calculations. (National Lighting Conference Proceedings 1980)
J E Baker and his colleagues at the Electricity Council carried out investigations
into the use of illumination as an aid to security (Lighting Research and Technology,
10/1,1978).
 plighting was another topic receiving renewed interest, mainly due to the
U
development of improved high-pressure sodium lamps with a relatively high
efficacy. Bedocs et al, (NLC Proceedings 1982) and (NLC Proceedings 1984).
‘The preferred lighting of paintings’ by Loe et al (Lighting Research and Technology,
14/4, 1982) helped to set standards for the lighting of museums and art galleries.
There was also a paper by Cuttle on the degradation of paintings due to light
exposure (Lighting Research and Technology, 20/2, 1988).
Daylighting was a subject of continuing interest with much of the work of this
period being carried out in the UK at the Building Research Establishment
under the direction of Dr V H C Crisp. Dr Crisp had taken over from J B
Collins, who, in turn, had taken over from R G Hopkinson. Much of their
work proved that illuminance from daylight was a useful component of task
illumination. J A Lynes and C Cuttle carried out additional work on solar
screening ‘Bracelet for total solar screening’ Lighting Research and Technology, 20/3,
1988).

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Hargroves & Simons proposed ‘Advances in road lighting design’ (NLC

Proceedings 1982). This work led to a new code of practice for lighting traffic
routes (Hargroves, Simons & Simpson, Lighting Research and Technology, 18/4
1986).

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 team from the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, UCL, led by
A
E Rowlands, demonstrated a new portable luminance scanner that measured
the luminance pattern of a visual
field (NLC Proceedings 1984).
This equipment was to form an
important part of an extensive
programme of research in
lighting appearance carried out
at UCL throughout the 1980s
and 90s. See Loe et al (Lighting
Research and Technology, 26/3
1994 and 32/4 2000).
Lamp colour continued to be
an important issue. Although
the fluorescent lamp was now
well established, its colour
performance was often not
good enough for use in colour
critical applications. Aston and
Bellchambers, back in 1969,
Luminance scanner head, Bartlett, UCL investigated the colour rendering
of fluorescent lamps with respect
to ‘visual clarity’. The aim was to see if a good colour rendering performance
lamp could provide good ‘visual clarity’ but at a lower illuminance than normally
recommended, and therefore compensate for a lower efficacy. But the results
were inconclusive. See Aston & Bellchambers ‘Illumination, colour rendering and
visual clarity’ (Lighting Research and Technology, 1/4, 1969). However, by the late
1980s the Tri-Phosphor lamp had been developed which had a good colour
rendering performance together with high efficacy. The British National
Health Service was keen to use the new lamps and commissioned a series of
experiments to check their performance under clinical trials. The project was
led by P J Lovett of the NHS, and was carried out by a team led by Margaret
Halstead of Thorn Lighting. See Lovett et al, ‘The Effect on clinical judgements of
new types of fluorescent lamps’, (Lighting Research and Technology, 23/1 1991). The
result was an acceptance of the lamps by the NHS.
Other topics included a new visual performance model by Dr M S Rea of the

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

National Research Council of Canada (NLC Proceedings 1986), and single-

ended compact fluorescent lamps by W Veenstra of Philips, Eindhoven (NLC
Proceedings 1986). There were also papers dealing with different lighting
applications.

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By the early 1980s the Lighting Division of the CIBSE, with its new Secretary
Andrew Ramsay, was operating effectively. The National Lighting Conferences
were proving to be popular and informative events. They were organised by a
Conference Committee, which selected the papers and organised the refereeing
process. Anne Gibbins, from the CIBSE administrative staff, acted as its Secretary.
Anne also proved to be a great asset in organising the conferences. Her work
included arranging the venue, the social programme and the publication of
the proceedings. The stage management of the conference programme was
organised by Iain Maclean, together with John Baker, Dick Walsingham and
Bob Anderson, all part of the team. The conferences became the focus for
many lighting professionals and encouraged papers on a wide range of subjects
from industry and academia, and from all over the world. The success of the
conferences was in no small part due to the management team who deserve a
vote of thanks, for without them the conferences are unlikely to have achieved
the success and status that they did.

In 1984 Peter T Stone, Reader in Vision and Lighting in the Department

of Human Sciences, Loughborough University of Technology, became
Chairman of the Lighting Division. In his Chairman’s address he discussed
issues regarding the UK lighting profession and the CIBSE Lighting Division,
and outlined the changes he believed were necessary for the industry and the
Institution to develop. He reported that since the establishment of the CIBSE
the membership of the Lighting Division had dropped from a peak of around
2700 in the late 1970s to around 1800. He compares this with the situation in
the USA, Japan, Australia and Holland. He suggested that part of the problem
was due to the new membership grades and requirements following the merger
with the IHVE, which may have caused problems for the IHVE members
too. Nevertheless, the important issue for lighting was that the new grades
tended to discourage professionals like architects, biologists, psychologists and
many others who were qualified in their own sphere, from becoming senior
members of the Lighting Division. It is interesting to note that the data for the
IESNA at this time also shows a decline in membership, but this may have been
due to a reduction in the manufacturing industry, which was now declining
after its marked increase following WWII. Whatever the reason, the loss of
these other professionals hampered the growth of knowledge in lighting.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

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Lighting society’s membership numbers, P T Stone, 1982

Peter Stone then turned his attention to lighting education, reporting that
there had been a serious decline in lighting education opportunities. This had
been brought about by a decreasing demand. The demise of the City and
Guild lighting courses was an example of this. He also showed the changes
in lighting research, in that whilst there had been an increase by academia
and government institutions, there had also been a decline in industry-based
research. He continued by stressing the need for a better understanding of the
biological and subjective aspects of light and humans. In his conclusions Stone
made the plea for a degree course in lighting, which would raise the education
level of lighting professionals and the status of the subject.
Following the presentation, discussions were started between the Bartlett
School of Architecture, University College London and the CIBSE Lighting
Division. Under the chairmanship of Peter Stone a syllabus was devised, and
with a course structure designed to accommodate both part-time and full-
time students. A further outcome was that the Bartlett was willing to establish
an MSc programme in Light and Lighting to enable students who had an
education in science, engineering or the arts, and particularly architecture,
to specialise in lighting. It transpired, however, that although the school was
already well equipped with facilities and staff to undertake much of this, it
would require additional outside funding, as further facilities and visiting
lecturers were necessary to achieve its aim of addressing both the art and the
science of lighting, including daylighting.
After much discussion Philips Lighting agreed to support the course in the first

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

instance, and the persons who need to be recognised for this decision are M
Goodwin and A Spalding in London, and S H A Begemann in Eindhoven.
There is no doubt that without Philips’ assistance it would not have happened.
The course accepted its first students in October 1987 with David Loe as
course director, with help from E Rowlands and Professor Newton Watson.

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
With students from the UK and around the world, over 200 have graduated
since 1987. In 1995 David Loe stood down and the role of course director was
passed to Andre Tammes, an independent lighting designer. The course is now
under the direction of Dr Kevin P Mansfield, and it is pleased to receive some
financial support from the Lighting Education Trust as well as additional help
from people within the industry by way of equipment and guest lectures.

At the 1986 National Lighting Conference, held in Nottingham, David

Pritchard, recently retired from the Polytechnic of the South Bank, presented
a paper ‘Lighting education - a fresh approach’ (NLC Proceedings 1986). In it
he describes a new lighting education initiative to be sponsored by the UK
lighting industry through the Lighting Industry Federation (LIF), although later
it became self-financing. The aim was to provide a basic lighting education,
which would lead to successful students receiving the LIF Certificate. The
course started in 1984 under the direction of David Prichard. In 1986 the
course was expanded to include an Advanced Certificate to enable students
to extend their lighting knowledge. The course was unique in that it was a
combination of taught elements, offered as short modules, with course work
undertaken through a distance learning approach. In 1993 David Pritchard
stood down and the responsibility for the programme passed to Dr John Frost.
The courses continue to this day with the estimated number of students gaining
the LIF Certificate to be around 2400, and about 500 students receiving the
Advanced Certificate. Recently John Hugill, formerly of Thorn Lighting, took
over as the new course director.

The Lighting Division, Technical Committee continued to produce lighting

publications and included the following:
Application Manual, Window Design, 1987, Chairman G K Jackson
LG 1, The Industrial Environment, 1989, Chairman A Wilson. Revised 2002.
LG 2, Hospitals and Healthcare Buildings, 1989, Chairmen A L Critcher & P A
Lovett.
LG 3, Areas for Visual Display Terminals, 1989, Chairman P R Ruffles.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

LG 3, The Visual Environment for Display Screen Use, 1996, Chairman P R

Ruffles.
LG 4, Sports Lighting, 1990, Chairman M D Simpson. Revised 2006.
LG 5, The Visual Environment in Lecture, Teaching and Conference Rooms, 1991,

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
Chairman A W S Tarrant.
LG 6, The Outdoor Environment, 1992, Chairman P T Le Manquais.
LG 7, Lighting for Offices, 1993, Chairman R L Gardner.
LG 8, Lighting for Museums and Art Galleries, 1994, Chairman D L Loe.
LG 9, Lighting for Communal Residential Buildings, 1997, Chairman A W S
Tarrant.
LG 10, Daylighting and Window Design, 1999, Chairman G K Jackson.
TM 12, Emergency Lighting, 1986 revised 1999.
TM 14, Standard File Format for Transfer of Luminaire Photometric Data 1988.
CIBSE & ILE Publication: Lighting the Environment: A Guide to Good Urban
Lighting, 1995, Chairman M D Simpson.
CIBSE Code for Interior Lighting, 1994, Chairman R C Aldworth. Plus an
Addendum 1997 Chairman P R Ruffles.
The 1994 Code for Interior Lighting was the most comprehensive produced and
ran to nearly 300 pages. It comprised six main parts:
1. Visual effects of lighting.
2. Recommendations.
3. Equipment.
4. Lighting design.
5. Appendices
6. Glossary, abbreviations, references and bibliography.
Robin Aldworth of Thorn Lighting chaired the drafting-panel of the 1994
CIBSE Code for Interior Lighting. The document was well received and Robin
was awarded the CIBSE Gold medal for his efforts.
The 1994 Code was to be the last to be issued solely as a printed document.
Later editions were produced in an electronic format to facilitate a faster
production and dissemination of information. It was also felt that members
would appreciate the facility of on-screen access. However, the 2002 edition
had some of the material published in hard copy to accommodate the ‘older’

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

members of the Society. Peter Raynham, of the Bartlett Graduate School,

UCL, is currently responsible for the revisions and production of new issues, in
conjunction with the SLL Technical and Publications Committee, all of whom
deserve credit for their work.

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
Returning to the National Lighting Conferences. In many ways these became
the main vehicle for lighting education and development for the membership
of the Lighting Division. Many people have said that it was the networking
that was the most valuable part, but the social elements were always much
appreciated.
Universities had now become the favoured venue and the 1980 conference was
held at Kent University, Canterbury. The university dinning room overlooked
the city and during the conference dinner the floodlit cathedral could be seen
on the horizon – a fitting backdrop to such an event. Throughout the 1980s
the conference was held at Warwick (1982), Cambridge (1984), Nottingham
(1986) and Cambridge (1988).
The following information highlights some of the topics covered.
In 1980 there were two papers on computer-aided design. The first was by
A V Cale, which considered road and area lighting, and the second, by A W
Stockmar, covered interior lighting.
The 1982 conference included a number of papers dealing with daylighting,
of which there was ‘Daylight calculations for real cloudy skies’ by Tregenza and
Waters, ‘Designing for daylight availability using the BRE average sky’ by Littlefair,
‘Maximum daylight penetration with a given glass percentage’ by van Bergem-
Jansen and van der Schaaf, and ‘Modelling daylight availability’ by Page and
Thompson.
Exterior lighting was given prominence in 1984 with a section on its own.
Some of the papers were ‘Airport lighting systems’ by Johnson, ‘Colour in airfield
slope indicators’ Halstead et al, and ‘Subjective appraisals of road lighting’ by Gordon.
There was also a paper by D Clark from Norwich City Engineering Dept.
entitled ‘Lighting and the environment’, in which he indicated his concern about
the reduction in quality of city lighting.
Lighting applications seemed to be one of the main issues for 1986 with papers
on lighting for offices by Le Manquais and Greene, also by Van Ooyen et al,
and a further paper by Worthington. Wood-Robinson spoke about Churches;
Spiers, about the Sheraton Hotel, Norway; and Bedocs, about Emergency
lighting.
Colour was also included in papers by Pointer and Hunt, entitled ‘Measuring

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

what we see’. Richard Corth presented a paper ‘The effect of illuminant spectral
composition on the perception of surface colours’, and Lovett and Halstead presented
a paper ‘Measurement of the skin colour of babies in hospital’.
The 1988 Conference Proceedings list 49 presented and poster papers. These

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
divide nearly equally between UK and overseas authors. The overseas authors
were from as near as mainland Europe but also from the extremes of Australia
and North America. This illustrates how important the National Lighting
Conferences had become. Lighting applications were once again covered,
with papers on museums and art galleries being highly evident. Webber et
al, from the BRE presented a paper on ‘Photo-luminescent markings on escape
routes’. Lighting controls were represented with a paper by J W S Aston, and a
paper ‘Fluorescent lighting, headaches and eye strain’ by Wilkins et al, introduced
the potential benefits of high frequency, solid state MCF control gear. J D
Kendrick from Australia described the ‘International Daylight Measurement Year’,
while J Krochman from Berlin outlined equipment for that purpose.

Turning back to the topic of lighting research. In the early years of the IES
most of the major industrial players, for example GEC and BTH, together
with government institutions, which included the NPL and the BRS (later
BRE), participated. But by the 1970s when the British universities had begun
to expand, they too started to play a part and complemented the work of
industry and the government bodies. Although there may be others that
have been overlooked, the universities involved included the following:
Bath University; Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL; Cardiff University;
City University, London; Institute of Ophthalmology, London; Liverpool
University; Loughborough University; Medway College of Technology,
Newcastle University; Nottingham University; Sheffield University and the
University of Strathclyde.
It is impossible to list all the research, or the individuals concerned who worked
in the above establishments, but the best source of information is the archives
of Lighting Research and Technology and the CIE conference proceedings of the
period. It is sufficient to say that considerable effort was made in Britain to
increase the knowledge of lighting across a broad range of topics, including
daylighting, lighting calculations and measurement, lighting appearance,
lighting design, and vision. But perhaps the most important question should
be: how much influence did it have on lighting practice?
Another question to ask is how many of these establishments have continued
to work in the area of illumination and its related subjects? One thing we can
be certain of is that where they have, the academics and their students will have

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benefited through an enhancement of their knowledge, but if this does not

feed into practice then much of the effort will have been wasted.
The lighting industry, including the design practices, has not been very
good at keeping up to date with research output. This can be seen by the

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
limited number of lighting professionals who subscribe to Lighting Research and
Technology, claiming that research is not for them. Another comment made
is that the researcher should make the results more palatable to practitioners
– well perhaps they should, but then they may be putting a greater emphasis on
the results than can be justified. It would seem that the only way around this
is for there to be a greater collaboration between researchers and practitioners,
even to the point where researchers and practitioners collaborate in carrying
out investigations using trial installations to prove, or not, a research result. If
this perceived problem is not addressed then it is difficult to see how lighting
will develop to improve the quality of the lit environment for the people it
serves, or to improve the energy efficiency without damaging the lighting
quality in the attempt.
Although there have been few changes in lighting practice since the linear
fluorescent lamp was introduced, there have been improvements in lighting
equipment, particularly in lamps including lamp control gear and the ways
lighting can be controlled. The linear fluorescent lamp was first available as
a T12 diameter tube – 12 being the number of 1/8 ” in the tube diameter
of 1½ inches. Fluorescent lamps are now available in a range of smaller
diameters, and the lamp ballast is now usually a solid-state device operating
the lamp at high frequency, facilitating reduced energy consumption. The
high frequency operation also means that
flicker is imperceptible and therefore is
now not a problem to users. In some cases
the combined lamp and HF control gear
means that 100 lumens/watt efficacy is
possible, which is around a 100% increase
since the 1940s.
In the 1980s the compact fluorescent lamp
(CFL), incorporating an integral control
gear, was introduced as an alternative to
the incandescent lamp. However, due to
difficulties in operation like a slow run-
up time, a less than acceptable colour
performance and an inability to easily
regulate the light output, its uses were not
Schematic diagram of an early Philips Compact
as wide spread as it had been hoped. This
Fluorescent Lamp 1980

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

was a pity since the CFL efficacy was a considerable improvement over the
incandescent lamp with a ratio of typically 5:1.
Perhaps, as a result of the CFL drawbacks there has been an increase in halogen
versions of some of the incandescent lamps. While these do not have an

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
efficacy as high as a CFL they are higher than the ubiquitous GLS lamp and will
therefore help to reduce carbon emissions – but this may only be a temporary
solution.
Hopefully, in time, the CFL will improve in performance, but this will require
more development at a time when the lamp industry is tending to focus its
attention on the Light Emitting Diode (LED).
It appears that there is still some way to go before this technology will replace
modern discharge lamps for general illumination. However, many successful
decorative lighting solutions are in evidence, and their effective use as indicator
lamps for signs and vehicle lights is undeniable.
High-pressure discharge lamps, both mercury and sodium, have also been
developed resulting in improved colour performance and efficacy. Some of
them are now much smaller than was once possible, allowing them to be
optically controlled to great effect and efficiency. This enables effective display
lighting using metal halide lamps.
Automatic lighting controls are now available to provide sophisticated
operations involving daylight penetration and occupancy. But often the
building’s users do not embrace them with enthusiasm because they feel
that they are not sufficiently in control of their environment. Therefore the
expected energy savings are not achieved. But controls do have the potential to
save energy – so more work is required to make them acceptable to the users.
The obvious answer would seem to be a combination of user and automatic
control complementing one another.
There is no doubt that the lighting industry has made great strides in improving
lighting equipment in terms of quality and efficiency over the period since
electric light was discovered. However, one of the remaining areas still to
be fully understood is the human requirement for illumination – not just
for function but also for amenity, which in turn may relate to health, well-
being and performance. It must also be recognised that man now receives
less light exposure during the day than his forefathers – but is this important?
Unfortunately we do not seem to know the answer, but with the modern day
work pattern expecting increased human activity indoors, a better understanding
of the human need for light and lighting needs to be addressed.

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Just as in the lighting industry there were continuing developments in the

CIBSE Lighting Division. In 1985 Bernard Hodges, the IHVE Secretary,
and after the merger the CIBSE Secretary, retired, Andrew Ramsey filled the
vacancy. Andrew was the obvious choice and a benefit to both the H&V and
Lighting sectors. Paul Rolfe filled the position of Lighting Division Secretary.

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He had a mild and quiet approach to the job, but was nonetheless effective in
the administration of the Lighting Division. When he decided to stand down
in 1988 Debbie Rowe took his place, she only held the post for a relatively
short time. Karl Pike from the LIF then took up the post.
Karl’s work with the LIF had included organising the administration of the
EMILAS competition. This was a competition to reward owners of good
energy efficient lighting installations. The competition judging was organised
by John Baker on behalf of the Electricity Council who was one of the
sponsors. The initial format lasted for a few years but the judges always felt
uncomfortable in seeing an installation being rewarded only on the basis of the
amount of electrical energy saved. Eventually the format was changed to take
into account all aspects of the installation, which included the lighting function
and appearance, as well as energy efficiency. The LIF promoted the results of
the annual competition widely and therefore encouraged more entries with
good quality lighting. As a result it became an excellent advertisement for UK
illumination design.

Unfortunately the demise of Light and Lighting was still seen as a serious loss to
the CIBSE Lighting Division. In some cases it may have been pure nostalgia,
but looking back it is clear that without a regular communication between the
different parts of the design profession and the lighting industry via the Lighting
Division, the strength of the lighting community was reduced. Also, the sense
of belonging to a community that had the aim of improving lighting was lost;
the magazine had been the vehicle in which they were able to participate.
Although the issue was regularly aired the answer was always the same, it was
not a viable proposition: a magazine aimed at serving the lighting community,
whether providers or customers, could not generate sufficient advertising
revenue.
In 1990 the Lighting Division decided to arrange a trial publication of a
Newsletter and two were produced, the first one in January and the second in
September. In addition to his job as the Lighting Division Secretary Karl Pike
took on the role as Editor. The Newsletter had an A4 format of 12 pages and
was published in black and white with red highlights. As the name suggests it
informed members of future events and reported on those recently past. It also
published correspondence and news from members, which included obituaries.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

It is interesting to note that in the first issue it had reports from the East and West
Midlands, Northern Ireland and the Northwest regions. It also drew members’
attention to a special procedure that had been approved by the Engineering
Council. This allowed CIBSE Corporate Members, as determined by the
1976 assessment criteria, but who were not accepted for Chartered Engineer

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Status, to apply for CEng. The individuals concerned were urged to submit an
application before the deadline of the 30th April 1990. At last this gave some
legitimacy to CIBSE members, including Lighting Division members, who
seemed to have lost out following the merger. But as valuable as the Newsletter
was it did not fill the whole need and it only appeared that year.
In 1992 John Proctor, of Philips Lighting, produced a pilot issue of a new
journal entitled Spectrum – The Journal of CIBSE Lighting Division which was
to include the newsletter material as well as technical and lighting design
information. It was, however, to be funded by separate subscription and this
was not agreeable to members.
In 1993 the newsletter was reintroduced. From time to time it was supplemented
by Factfiles, which provided important technical information that did not
warrant a special lighting guide. They included: No 2 Car park lighting (1996),
No 4 EU Directives, Standards and Marks – lighting products and practice (1996),
No 6 Guide syllabi for courses to meet the academic standards in lighting for the CIBSE
Lighting certificate and diploma (1998) and No 7 Environmental considerations for
exterior lighting (1998). This arrangement continues to the present time.
Before leaving this topic mention should be made of the attempt in January
2000 to reintroduce Light and Lighting. The publication was A4 format with
full colour, and included all the newsletter material, together with descriptions
of new lighting installations, technical lighting issues and product information.
It also contained an illustrated list of new products. There were eight issues in
2000 but in 2001 only two were published, and in March of that year it ceased
with the usual claim that it was not viable.

It is surprising in many ways that the Lighting Division continued to be as

healthy as it was without a flagship magazine. But a review of the National
Lighting Conferences from 1990 – 2000 suggests that lighting in Britain was
thriving and developing.
The 1990 conference was held at Cambridge. Derek Phillips opened it with
a paper on the lighting of historic buildings. There were a number of papers
grouped under the title ‘Lighting Appearance’. There was a contribution by
Belinda Collins (USA), which considered the human response to luminance
distributions, and A J Shepherd et al (Australia), whose work addressed lightness,

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

brightness and gloom in interiors. J A Lynes (UK) dealt with the subject of
shadows and striations in the lit environment, while H-J Hentschel (Germany)
delivered a paper on preferred luminance ranges for indoor lighting. The
quantity of countries contributing to the topic underlines the importance of
the subject.

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A number of papers on lighting applications were also presented and included
street lighting, lighting of pedestrian shopping areas, sports lighting, and
museums incorporating daylighting.
There were also presentations on the use of computers for measurement,
analysis and design.
In all 34 papers were delivered, 20 of which were from the UK, with the rest
from America, Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy and Spain.
It was a truly international conference.
The 1992 NLC was held in Manchester. The format was similar to earlier
conferences with a similar range of topics but new ones included the use of
electronic lamp ballasts, and the use of computers in education. Emergency
lighting was represented with a paper on the visibility of exit signs in a smoke
filled environment. A team from Philips in Eindhoven described a new QL
lamp where the light was generated by induction. The QL combined the
benefits of HF electronic fluorescent lighting in a compact size with a life
expectancy of 60k hours.

The number of delegates attending the conferences throughout the 1990s

remained fairly constant at around 150 with a healthy number of overseas
delegates, typically around 30%. But the profile of delegates was changing. In
the period following the merger in 1978 they were mainly from the various
branches of the industry, together with delegates from universities and other
research organisations like the BRE. But from the late 1980s there were more
delegates from independent lighting consultancies and from multi-disciplinary
practices that had specialist lighting teams. This indicates that now lighting
design was being done from outside the manufacturing industry. At times
this caused some friction because the manufacturers were sometimes asked to
provide numerical justification for the lighting installation. The independent
designers often came from the architectural or theatre lighting professions who
were trained in using their eyes and built on this experience, whereas many
in the luminaire companies relied upon calculation and measurement. These
differences caused some conflict, which was a pity because obviously both
routes had benefits and the true solution was a combination of the two.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

It was during the early part of this period that the International Association of
Lighting Designers (IALD) was formed in the USA. Its aim was to represent
independent lighting designers. A requirement of membership was that
individuals were without commercial association to a lighting equipment
manufacturer and therefore free to use whatever equipment they felt necessary.

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The result of this was that, while designers employed by a manufacturer could
absorb the design costs into the cost of the equipment supplied, the independent
lighting designers had to charge for it. Nonetheless, many British independent
lighting designers joined the IALD. Eventually a European society was formed
to represent independent lighting designers in the countries of Europe. Named
the European Lighting Designers Association (ELDA), this was based mainly in
Germany and was set up by Joachim and Alison Ritter and attracted members
from all over Europe including Great Britain. ELDA, however, did not bar
designers who were employed by manufacturers.
Later a merger was proposed between the IALD and ELDA but this failed
because of this difference of allowing, or not, people from the lighting industry
to be members.
The only other development has been that ELDA has changed its name to the
Professional Lighting Designers Association (PLDA) and continues to attract
members, but mainly from Europe. Whilst one can understand the designers’
desire to have an independent association to represent them, whether it be the
IALD or PLDA, it does not encourage association between different parts of the
lighting profession, although it does occur in an ad hoc way. A further problem
is that because of the different organisations, lighting research activities are
not always fully appreciated or absorbed into practice, which hinders lighting
development.
A further complication in Britain is that back in the 1920s some of the IES
members who specialised in street lighting decided that they needed a society
specific to their area of activity and formed the Association of Public Lighting
Engineers (APLE).
Probably the main reason for this was that street lighting was in the domain of
the local authorities, although street lighting equipment manufacturers were
often involved in both interior and exterior lighting equipment.
In subsequent years the APLE felt the need to broaden its appeal by changing
its name firstly to the Institution of Public Lighting Engineers (IPLE) and later
to the Institution of Lighting Engineers (ILE). This last move was in many
ways regrettable since it caused confusion to non-lighting people as to the
difference between the CIBSE Lighting Division and the ILE, and has almost
certainly hindered development.

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

Over the years there have been many attempts to bring both organisations
back together but so far without success – but discussions continue and various
elements of the organisations are exploring ways for better collaboration.
This confusion between the CIBSE Lighting Division and the Institution of

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
Lighting Engineers led the Lighting Division in 2000 to change its name to the
Society of Light & Lighting. The reasons were twofold, the first to give the
Lighting Division a better identity, and the second to attempt to attract a wider
membership similar to that of the IES.
One of the strengths of the IES was that within its founder members there were
not only people who were directly involved with the process of illumination, but
also people who were involved in a secondary way, like architects, ophthalmic
scientists, physicists and different branches of engineering. At the end of the
19th century there was often collaboration across academic boundaries and
informal crossovers were not uncommon, but by the end of the 20th century
this had diminished as spheres of expertise became more specialised and insular.
This is a pity because most topics do not have distinct boundaries, and without
collaboration development can be limited.
However, to engineer the aims of the SLL a new company was formed, which
is wholly owned by the CIBSE. This permits the SLL to have its own classes
of membership independent of those of the CIBSE and to award designatory
letters to those who are suitably qualified and experienced.

Returning to the development of the Lighting Division. Karl Pike remained the
Secretary of the Lighting Division until 1997, when he retired, and Jonathan
David took on the role of Lighting Division Secretary.
During Karl and Jonathan’s periods of office, lighting publications continued
to be produced. They included:
Lighting and Application Guides (published 1978-2008)
LG 11, Surface Reflectance and Colour: Its specification and measurement for designers,
SLL/NPL 2001, Chairman D L Loe.
LG 12, Emergency Lighting Design Guide, 2004, Chairman L Bedocs.
LG 7, Office Lighting, 2005, Chairman P R Ruffles.
LG 2, Hospitals and Healthcare Buildings, 2008, Chairman N Bukorovich.
Other Lighting publications were:
SLL Code for Lighting, printed extracts 2002 + addendum 2004. Chairman P
Raynham.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

SLL Code for Lighting (CD-ROM) 2006. Chairman P Raynham.

SLL TM 28, Benchmark Lighting Design Software, 2000.
SLL Lighting Handbook, 2009, P R Boyce and P Raynham

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CIBSE/SLL Commissioning Code L: Lighting, 2003.
CIBSE and ILE Publication: Guide to Fibre-optic and Remote Source Lighting,
2001, Chairman D Burton.
Lighting Research and Technology continues to be published quarterly providing
the worldwide lighting profession with up to date research information. In 2001
the CIBSE sold the publishing rights to Hodder-Arnold, who in turn sold it to
Sage Publications in 2006. In 2007 the CIE Board of Directors recommended
Lighting Research and Technology to its members as one of three journals it
considered to be the most important in lighting research worldwide. Also,
2007 saw Lighting Research and Technology included in the Scientific Citation
Index Expanded. Its quality and importance had at last been recognised and
thanks go to all those involved over the years and particularly the instigator,
George Cole.
Further, in 2005 Lighting Research and Technology 1969-2000 back numbers
were published in an electronic format on a set of four CD-ROMs. Organised
by the Lighting Research and Technology Editorial Board, Chairman D L Loe.

The 1994 NLC was back in Cambridge, which had become the favourite
venue, particularly with overseas visitors. The conference attracted around 150
delegates with about 10% from overseas. The papers included a performance
description of fibre optics for illumination by P A Timpson, and a paper dealing
with light-pipes and computer simulation by M Ayres and D Carter. Both
these subjects were new to lighting application.
There was also a paper by Warren Julian from the University of Sydney where
he questioned the ‘straightjacket’ of the uniform arrays of ceiling mounted
luminaires. Warren Julian was a regular delegate at lighting conferences and
always had something controversial to say – this was no exception.
The conference programme included a performance of ‘Colour - Music’ by
Fredrick Bentham. Before his retirement, Fred worked for Strand Lighting
Ltd, the stage lighting equipment company, and had been a member of the
IES since the 1930s. Fred’s legacy to lighting is that he designed and built
the first stage lighting control console that enabled one person to control
the stage lighting from a position where they could see the stage; usually in
the auditorium. The console controls were based on those used for cinema

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

organs in the 1920s. Strand had a showroom and

demonstration theatre in Floral St, London, where
F Bentham devised performances of ‘Colour-Music’
to demonstrated the console’s versatility. For this he
used simple stage settings, which were lit in different

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ways, combining light intensity, colour and direction.
The performance comprised a series of changing light
patterns composed as a complement to music, showing
how the two, when skilfully interwoven, provided an
art form in its own right. F Bentham recreated the Fred Bentham demonstrating
performance, gaining enthusiastic applause from an his Strand Electric stage lighting
appreciative audience of conference delegates. console, NLC, 1994

Throughout the remainder of the century, since the IES had been established
in 1909, its replacement the Society of Light and Lighting continued to work
hard in facilitating an organisation that served its members well. It provided
education with its regular London Sessional Meetings, as well as some in the
CIBSE regions.
Another form of education was the introduction of a series of one-day Master
Classes, which were sponsored by members of the industry. These were offered
at venues around Britain, and dealt with a range of topical lighting issues.
The presentations were by members of the industry and design practices. By
taking the event around the country it also helped to serve the regions better.
These were organised initially by Barrie Wilde of BDP and Dr David Carter
of Liverpool University.
Another event, initiated by Mark Ayres in 2003, was ‘Ready Steady Light’. This
was an informal lighting design competition for small teams of SLL members and
guests. In the grounds of Rose Bruford College, in South London, the teams
had to create a lighting scheme in a few hours, using a collection of lighting
tools provided by the industry. The participants were of all ages but mainly
the younger members of the Society, which enabled them to experiment with
lighting effects. Students from Rose Bruford College also took part. These
events were informative and good fun, and continue to the present day.
The National Lighting Conferences continued to provide educational
opportunities through the presented papers and the interaction between
delegates. Bath University was the venue in 1996, then Lancaster 1998 and
York 2000, with programmes addressing a range of lighting topics.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

One difference for the 2000 conference was that it was held in conjunction
with the Institution of Lighting Engineers.
The last conference to be held was in 2004 in Dublin, where the programme
was billed as an International Lighting Symposium, with invited speakers. But

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over this period there was not only a fall in delegate numbers, but also, it seems,
a decline in new research topics.
It is clear that although lighting was still an important issue in providing a
facility that virtually every human environment required, there were less
opportunities and resources to explore new areas of the subject, or to test the
existing boundaries.
The CIE, with its large number of technical committees working on different
lighting and related topics, seemed to be taking ever longer to deliver results
– probably due to the pressures of the commercial world and the reliance
on volunteers. The quadrennial conferences continued to be held and were
another form of education, as well as providing a place for interaction between
different parts of the industry from around the world. Britain had always played
its part in the work of the CIE, but again resources were stretched and the
number of delegates attending reduced over the years.
Nonetheless, Britain provided the CIE President in 1991-95 when Robin
Aldworth of Thorn Lighting agreed to take on the role; he was the third
UK CIE President. In fact he could be seen as the fourth, because Dr Mike
Marsden was President for two years in 1985-86. He took over the role, after
the Canadian, Gunter Wyszechi died during his term of office. But although
Dr Marsden was from the UK he was working in Hong Kong at the time, so
was entered as a Hong Kong President.

In 2007 Jonathan David retired as Secretary to the SLL. Jonathan had been
part of the lighting community since 1973 when he joined George Cole to
help run the IES, working as Assistant Editor to Light and Lighting in the first
instance. His value to the profession is considerable and all involved with
Jonathan missed his presence. Marie Dignan took his place. She had worked
for the Institution of Structural Engineers whose lecture hall in Upper Belgrave
St, the CIBSE Lighting Division and the SLL had used for many years for the
monthly sessional meetings. Marie was no stranger to institution administration.
Although lighting was a new subject for her, she quickly settled in, only to be
promoted to CIBSE Director of Membership shortly afterwards. Fortunately
Liz Peck, a graduate of the Bartlett Light and Lighting MSc programme and
a past employee of Concord:Marlin and Philips Lighting, was attracted to the
post and is quickly filling the shoes of her predecessors.

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To conclude this survey of the last 100 years of the British lighting industry
and profession it would seem appropriate to identify recent research and
technological developments that are likely to influence the ways in which
lighting might develop in the future. In no way is this a comprehensive review,
but a trawl through recent lighting publications uncovered several interesting

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developments.
For example Lighting Research and Technology published a series of papers on the
development work on mesopic vision. The work was carried out at a number
of institutions across Europe and was funded by the European Commission.
See Lighting Research and Technology 39/4 2007. Work on this topic was also
carried out by Dr Mark Rea and his colleagues at the Lighting Research Centre
at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. See Lighting Research and Technology 36/2
2004 and Lighting Research and Technology 39/4 2007. It is possible that this
work will lead the way to improved photometry in the visual range between
photopic and scotopic vision, but time will tell.
Back in 1984 P T Stone drew attention to the mechanism within the brain
which controls the suppression of melatonin by light activating the pineal gland
to control the circadian rhythm. See Lighting Research and Technology 16/1.
In 2003 at the CIE symposium in San Diego, Dr G C Brainard reported his
work on the same subject, including the identification of the action spectrum
with a maximum response at 464nm. See CIE 25th session symposium Proceedings
2003 Vol.1. This research should encourage further work to improve the
understanding of the human biological responses to light and its effects on
performance.
In 2008 Dr Jennifer Veitch of the National Research Council of Canada Institute
for Research in Construction, who has had a long experience of exploring the
effect of lighting on office users, reported on her most recent work. The project
was jointly carried out with Dr P R Boyce, then of the Lighting Research
Centre at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Ms C C Jones of Battelle
Memorial Institute. In it she described how by using a ‘linked mechanism’
analysis process human benefits could be shown through providing, not only
good functional illumination but also by installing lighting that contributed to
the appearance of the space. See Lighting Research and Technology 40/2 2008 also
see Boyce et al, Lighting Research and Technology 38/3 2006.
In the past, although this topic had been considered as important, it had tended
to be shunned because of the lack of firm research evidence of its benefit
and the likelihood of increased installation costs. This result may encourage a
greater consideration of lighting appearance as part of lighting design, which
could in turn improve human performance and energy efficiency in lighting.

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

Ian Lewin’s paper entitled ‘Lighting in outer space: a review of the research and
development of the exterior luminaires and lamps for the International Space Station’,
published in Lighting Research and Technology 36/3 2004, indicates some of the
problems that will need to be addressed when working in this environment.

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A paper by J M Torrington and P R Tregenza ‘Lighting for people with dementia’
addressed a topic that will need considerable investigation in the near future to
improve the life of people suffering from this devastating disease. See Lighting
Research and Technology 39/1 2007.
In October 2006 the National Physical Laboratory published an extensive
report entitled Better Lighting for Improved Human Performance, Health and Well-
Being, and Increased Energy Efficiency – A Scoping Study for CIE-UK. The team,
led by Teresa Goodman of the NPL, carried out the study. In the report the
authors identify areas of lighting and related topics that need investigation and
forms a useful guide for future lighting researchers on which to base their work
and improve many aspects of illumination. The report can be obtained from
[Link]/otmn/interest groups-lighting working group.
There is little doubt that improved energy efficiency in lighting will continue
to be one of the main considerations in the near future because of the threat of
climate change caused by carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation
through burning coal, gas or oil. This will require examination of each link
in the chain from the electricity supply, to the light sources, the design and
manufacture of luminaires, and how much illumination is required, but at the
same time maintaining lighting quality, or even improving it.
One of the consequences of this demand for improved energy efficiency is that
governments from many countries have decided to ban the sale of the most
commonly used tungsten filament lamps and replacing these with apparently
equivalent Compact Fluorescent Lamps. Whilst this is acceptable in some
situations there are others where the CFL is not fit for purpose because of the
colour performance, its slow run-up time or the difficulty of light adjustment
(dimming). Sadly the decision appears to have been made in haste and without
proper consideration of all the issues, and many users are aghast at the decision.
However, it is unlikely that the decision will be changed. But there appears to
be a solution provided by the lamp manufacturers who are offering GLS style
lamps, which incorporate the tungsten-halogen process. These have improved
efficacy and life compared to the GLS and offer the performance that the CFLs
lack, which makes them acceptable at least for the present.
In 2009 Lighting Research and Technology will be publishing a special issue dealing
with energy efficiency in lighting and is expected to be issue 41/3, 2009.

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Regarding the Society of Light and Lighting, which grew from the Illuminating
Engineering Society started in 1909, its membership is now about 2000 with
active regions across the UK, as well as in Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia and
New Zealand.

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From the beginning of 2009 all members were given free on-line access to
Lighting Research and Technology enabling them all to keep up to date with
lighting research topics – hopefully improving their understanding of many
issues, and use the knowledge to improve the quality of lighting in general.
This move has been long overdue and is to be welcomed. A better educated
lighting professional has greater confidence and authority when striving to
succeed in what is a complex and fascinating business.
A further educational development of CIBSE and SLL is the offer of CPD
courses and seminars that will enable members to enhance their knowledge in
particular areas, including lighting. The membership and others now have access
to information via the institution websites and electronic communication.
But it is the member’s willingness to participate, volunteering to work on
Society projects, that will provide the way forward for lighting development.
Historically that has been the core of its success.

The Society Lighting Awards and Presidents

Over the years the IES, the CIBSE Lighting Division and the SLL introduced
a number of awards. These were introduced to reward members, and others,
for the work they had done to further lighting development and the Societies.
The following is probably not complete but it serves to indicate the Societies’
appreciation.
The Leon Gaster and the Walsh-Weston Awards
These were both created to recognise the value of people who were important
in the early days of lighting and the IES. Leon Gaster could be described as the
founder of the IES, and J W T Walsh and H C Weston were scientists who
established systems of quantification and measurement. Both the awards are for
papers, either presented, or published by the Society. In the case of the Leon
Gaster award it is usually for papers dealing with lighting applications, while
the Walsh-Weston award is for more fundamental issues. The Society has the
option of awarding each award annually. In recent times the awards have been
made for papers published in Lighting Research and Technology.
The Millar and Young Lighter Awards
Mention has already been made of the Lightmongers, which is a livery

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

company of the City of London, and was formed in 1953. The Lightmongers,
like all livery companies, is a charity for which education and training is an
important element of their work. In 1972 it launched the Max A Millar Award
to recognise the founder and first President of the Company and to encourage
excellence in young people. The award was organised in conjunction with

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the IES and CIBSE LD for the best paper presented to the Society for that
year. As time went on the Lightmongers changed their education priorities
and the award is now known as the Society of Light and Lighting Young
Lighter award, and is held annually. Over the years additional awards have
been introduced. Many senior people now in lighting will have had their first
taste of presenting a paper publicly, and to their peers, through these awards.
The Lighting Award
The Lighting Award was established in 1988 as the premier award of the
CIBSE Lighting Division, and later the Society of Light and Lighting. It was
felt that some people who did important work for lighting and the Society
did not always receive recognition or public gratitude for their efforts. The
original trophy was a clear plastic representation of the CIBSE emblem, which
was donated by President Michael J E Frye. The recipient of the award held
the trophy for one year. Later this was replaced by a glass paperweight and
certificate, which was held by the recipient for all time. Eventually the award
became an illuminated certificate. The fact that the physical appearance of the
award changed over time was for practical reasons, but it is still seen as the most
prestigious award by the Society.
Lighting Award Recipients
1987 J G Holmes 1999 Derek Phillips
1988 W R Stevens 2000 no award
1989 A H Willoughby 2001 D L Loe
1990 J A M Bell 2002 R H Simons
1991 J A Lynes 2003 P R Tregenza
1992 F P Bentham 2004 P R Ruffles
1993 C Stuart 2005 no award
1994 E Rowlands 2006 R Forster
1995 H J Ogus 2007 J Heap
1996 J Procter 2008 P R Boyce
1997 A W S Tarrant 2009 L Bedocs
1998 I F Davies

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IES, CIBSE LD and SLL Honorary Fellow

During the life of the Societies the award of Honorary Fellow has been made
from time to time, but there appears to be no complete record of the recipients,
which is a pity. It seems that it has been used to honour people who are

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not necessarily members of the Society (note particularly the first recorded
recipient), nonetheless, they are people who the Society wishes to honour.
HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1959
John G Holmes 1968
Walter R Stevens 1969
John M Waldram 1973
Howard M Brandston 1995
Jonathan Spiers 2003
Janet Turner 2003
Jonathan David 2007
Derek Phillips 2008
Baroness Betty Boothroyd 2009
The authors would like to apologise if anyone has been overlooked.

IES, CIBSE LD and SLL presidents and chairmen

The following is a list of the presidents of IES and SLL, also the chairmen of
the CIBSE LD. After the merger between IES and IHVE it was decided that
there could only be one president within CIBSE and therefore the title of
Chairman of the Lighting Division was established. It was agreed, however,
that from time to time a ‘lighter’ would fill the position of CIBSE President,
but it appears this has only happened twice. Dr A M Marsden 1979 and M D
Simpson 2009.
IES Past Presidents
1909 Prof Silvanus P Thomson FRS 1927 Sir Duncan Wilson CVO
CBE
1914 Sir William Bennett KCVO
1928 Sir Clifford Paterson OBE
1917 A P Trotter
FRS
1921 Prof Sir John Parsons CBE
1929 Dr J W T Walsh OBE
FRS
1930 The Rt Hon The Earl of
1924 C H Wordingham CBE
Mount Edgcumbe TD

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 Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

1931 Sir Francis Goodenough CBE 1961 W T Souter

1932 H T Harrison 1962 N Boydell
1933 C W Sully 1963 J S McCulloch

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1934 H Hepworth Thompson 1964 J W Strange
1935 A W Beuttell 1965 Prof R G Hopkinson
1936 A Cunnington 1966 A H Olson
1937 S English 1967 H Carpenter
1938 P Good CBE 1968 Dr H H Ballin
1939 F C Smith MBE 1969 J B Harris OBE
1940 Prof J T McGregor-Morris 1970 H Hewitt
1941 W J Jones 1971 C Dykes Brown
1942 R O Ackerley 1972 G P Cundall
1943 H F Buckley 1973 A H Willoughby
1944 E Stroud 1974 D R H Phillips
1945 H C Weston OBE 1975 K R Ackerman
1946 J S Dow 1976 J B Collins
1947 Dr J W T Walsh OBE 1977 M B Clark
1948 J M Waldram Where there are gaps in the date chain
it indicates that the previous president
1949 Dr J N Aldington
stood for more than one year.
1950 L J Davies
1951 J G Holmes
1952 W J Wellwood Ferguson
1953 W R Stevens OBE
1954 E C Lennox
1955 A G Higgins
1956 Dr W E Harper
1957 E B Sawyer
1958 C C Smith
1959 H G Campbell
1960 W S Stiles OBE FRS

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 Chapter 4 1979 – 2008 Time of Consolidation

Lighting Division Chairmen Presidents of the Society of Light and

Lighting
1978 M B Clark
2000 Prof. C M Parry
1979 Dr A R Bean
2001 M D Simpson

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1980 R C Aldworth
2002 M B Wilde
1981 W N Shires
2003 Dr D Carter
1982 M Wood-Robinson
2004 D Burton
1983 P T Stone
2005 Dr G K Cook
1984 M B Halstead
2006 Dr S Cannon-Brookes
1985 Prof. J A M Bell
2007 A A Ownsworth
1986 Dr P R Boyce
2008 P Baldrey
1987 M J E Frye
2009 S Lisk
1988 K Scott
1989 D L Loe
1990 L Bedocs
1991 A Wilson
1992 R H Simons
1993 H J Ogus
1994 I F Maclean
1995 L J Heap
1996 P R Ruffles
1997 A E T Glenny
1998 A I Slater
1999 R G Venning
2000 Prof. C M Parry

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Chapter 5
The Future 2009 – ?

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Schematic diagram of a Luxeon Light Emitting Diode (LED), by courtesy of Philips

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 Chapter 5 The Future 2009 – ?

for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE
aving delved into the past one hundred years of illumination in Britain,
using the Society publications of the times, it would seem reasonable
to draw on this information to try to predict, or at least suggest, how
lighting might develop in the near future. For the purposes of this publication it
will be useful to consider three main headings: the professional illumination
society, illumination education and research and illumination design
and execution.

The Professional Illumination Society

The Illuminating Engineering Society in Great Britain was formed with the idea
of making illumination better for people by considering the art and the science
of the subject. The aim was to provide a focus on which the lighting profession
and industry could develop. The early membership of the IES comprised many
eminent men; sadly, as a sign of the times, it appears that women were not
represented. Many of these men were scientists, experts in the fields of physics,
chemistry and biology. There were also medical practitioners, and included
among their number physiologists and ophthalmologists. The artists worked
mainly in the field of architecture, and as far as we know there were no painters
or sculptures, yet it is artists that have the skill to recognise the way light
interacts with solid surfaces to create meaningful and pleasing images. There
were, however, members who were stage lighting designers, and they have
a similar understanding. There were also people who were concerned about
the cost of illumination either by gas or electricity, which in the early years
was considerable. In addition, artificial light needed the power supply of gas
or electricity and people from this side of the industry were also represented.
However, neither form of power was available for much of the population as
there was no national supply network at this time.
What the IES strove to do was use the particular knowledge of these experts
and develop illumination for the benefit of all.
Today the professional lighting Institutions have lost much of that breadth of
input, which is a pity. Somehow this needs to be corrected. Yet, going back
to those days is unlikely, or even desirable. But the whole lighting community
does need to recognise the importance of all of the parts essential to create
illumination that is greater (better) than the sum of the parts. It is pointless
for the engineers to scorn the designers and vice versa, as they both have
considerable roles to play. But some people are more skilled in one aspect than

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another and their understanding is different, leading to different priorities and

occupations. Also, they often come from different educational backgrounds.
This means that a modern ‘IES’ needs to be able to admit all those involved
with lighting so that all can benefit from their individual skills, which was one
of the aims of the Society of Light and Lighting. And it still is.

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This leads one to the view that an illumination society that does not encompass
all the parts will not succeed. That does not mean that it will fail, but that it
will not achieve the ultimate. Perhaps therefore a professional lighting society
should be a loosely formed learned society with groups within it. This would
allow specialisation as well as the facility for across-group education and
development. Maybe the groups should have their own systems of education
and professional recognition, but the benefit of a larger learned society would
be a membership that has critical mass, making it viable, and have a stronger
presence. Somehow we have to find a way to create a Society that involves
some scientists, engineers, designers and artists.
To encompass this change a regular lighting journal that can serve the breadth
of interest and provide information and education for all the groups would be
necessary. We have seen the problems caused to the CIBSE LD and SLL with
the loss of Light and Lighting, and although the recent involvement of SLL with
the ILE Lighting Journal is to be welcomed it needs to go much further to satisfy
all the elements of ‘illumination’.
From the beginning of 2009 Lighting Research and Technology was made available
to all SLL members as part of the benefits of membership, so all members will
have personal access to modern lighting research information as well as the
work of the last forty years.
But what of a lighting society being part of an Institution that considers the
whole built environment? In some way the CIBSE leans towards this, but it has
not been the success that a wider ranging group might have been. There is little
doubt that the fundamentals of almost any branch of the built environment
requires a firm understanding of the human response to that subject, whether it
be thermal, acoustic or illumination. It is also clear that they each have a bearing
on the others – take for instance daylighting and the provision of windows.
Windows are an essential element for most buildings but they affect the lit,
thermal and aural environments, as well as the amount of energy consumed. If
these elements are treated separately then a satisfactory solution is unlikely, but
by working together benefits should be possible.
Back in the early 1970s there was talk of forming a Chartered Society for
the Built Environment, and in October 1972 Sir Ove Arup, the founder of
the successful multi-disciplinary practice spanning architecture, environmental

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design and structural engineering, was invited to present a paper on his thoughts
on the subject. It was delivered at the Institute of Civil Engineers. The idea
was to foster cooperation between all those involved. However the proposal
included only the existing engineering institutions. It did not include architects,
structural engineers or heating and ventilating engineers (and presumably not

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illuminating engineers). Arup recommended that it needed to embrace all,
and not be the property of any one Institution for it to be successful. This is a
tall order, but at least the environmental aspects could be considered together,
perhaps using a ‘federation’ type approach to provide greater influence within
the building process. It has already been mentioned that successful environmental
design requires an understanding of human needs and preferences in order for
the occupants of a particular environment to be effective and efficient in their
work. And until these different elements are considered more holistically many
buildings will continue to be inefficient in both human and energy terms.
Recently there have been informal conversations between different factions
of the UK lighting industry to see how some form of association might be
achieved. This is to be welcomed, but it is important to recognise that when
the IHVE and IES merged, forming the CIBSE, both parts were necessary to
meet the requirements of the CIBSE Charter and presumably still are.
The easy answer would seem to be an expansion of SLL, to incorporate a series
of equally important specialist groups, and for the members of those groups to
be awarded suitable recognition. In addition, the CIBSE should also consider
changes that provide representation across the built environment spectrum.
This would have the added advantage that the existing inequality between the
heating and ventilating building services section and the lighting section would
be reduced.
For a professional institution to be successful it needs to be relevant to its
members and for that it needs to provide education, professional recognition
(where possible) and professional representation.

Illumination Education and Research

Regarding education for those involved with lighting. Currently the SLL
publishes Guide Syllabi for Courses to Meet the Academic Standards in Lighting
for the SLL Certificate and Diploma and a number of establishments provide
education to meet these requirements, which is welcomed. However, the
existing syllabi and its availability will need to be expanded to meet the
requirements of a wider illumination society. The ideal would be a first-degree
course, but that can only be possible if there is sufficient demand, not just now,
but also for the foreseeable future. This is currently being considered by the
Lighting Education Trust, which is currently chaired by Hugh Ogus, and the

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London South Bank University. LSBU also currently offers a distance-learning

programme in lighting.
Short courses on the lines of those offered by the Lighting Industries Federation,
which are currently taught by John Hugill, are essential. The CIBSE also

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offers short courses in lighting, organised through their Mid Career College.
Both of these fill an important need at technician level, particularly for the
manufacturing industry and electrical contractors.
This leaves postgraduate education. The Bartlett Graduate School, University
College London, offers its MSc in Light and Lighting, which also includes a
research element.
PhD research opportunities in lighting and related topics are available at a
number of UK universities, which include Liverpool, Reading, Sheffield,
UCL and others.
Another route for lighting education is through the drama colleges, where
stage lighting and other forms of entertainment lighting are taught. These
institutions sometimes offer courses covering ‘architectural’ lighting to provide
their students with an introduction to a wider range of career considerations.
This is often the route independent lighting designers enter the profession, but
it is not always recognised by professional lighting institutions.
It is clear that although there are a number of lighting education opportunities
available, there lacks a system of recognition and supplementary courses to
enable people to reach their desired level within the industry/profession. This
will need to be corrected if lighting is to take its rightful place within the
business of the built environment, and will be a challenge for an all embracing
professional lighting society.
Regarding UK lighting research. Over the last one hundred years various
manufacturing companies, some universities and colleges, and government
bodies have carried out lighting research. But one of the problems, besides
the lack of funding, is that there has not been sufficient collaboration between
academia and industry, hence research results have either been slow to be
incorporated into practice, or in some cases not at all. This must change if
lighting is to develop. Also, there needs to be collaborative studies to speed
up the research output. In addition, for academic research findings to be
corroborated more practical studies, like trial installations, need to be set up,
because without these the industry is often unable to appreciate the potential
benefits. The final link in the chain is for the professional institution to promote
the research evidence in their Guides, because without their recognition the
industry is unlikely to carry the developments forward.

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Altering the status quo will be difficult, and without some changes to education
and the institutions it is hard to see how things will improve.

Illumination Design and Execution

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But how will lighting change in the future? To some extent this will be
determined by the ‘needs’ and the ‘means’ of the clients and the times.
Regarding ‘needs’, energy efficiency will be a major consideration, but this
must not be achieved at the expense of quality otherwise a lot of what we have
gained over the years will be lost.
There will always be a need to examine carefully the function, amenity and
energy efficiency of any lighting design, whether it is for an office, a street or
a home. And for this, the blanket solutions of the past will not be appropriate
to satisfy all these elements. This will require better-informed clients, and for
those clients to be prepared to pay more for their installations. But if they can
see that there are benefits for them and their occupants, in terms of efficiency
and productivity, well-being and health, and greater energy efficiency, then
the potential extra costs are more likely to be accepted, at least by some. But
this will need a strong Institution to progress these advances. An individual
company will find it difficult to promote change without research evidence and
the strength of a professional institution supporting it. A strong Institution also
gives specifiers and clients the knowledge to reject unsubstantiated solutions.
Over the years the IES, the CIBSE LD and SLL have published Codes and
Guides to help its members expand their knowledge thus improving lighting
as a facility. It published guidance on task illuminance based initially on the
work of H C Weston and it devised a technique for describing discomfort
glare based on work developed by R G Hopkinson. SLL now needs to provide
practical guidance on visual amenity, possibly based on the lighting appearance
work by the Barlett School, UCL, team and others. It also needs to provide
practical guidance on the efficient use of electricity used for lighting, not only
to combat climate change caused by burning fossil fuels, but also address the
current high cost of electricity and its sustainability. Few countries are self
sufficient in energy.
Some of these issues will be addressed by the improved efficiency of lighting
equipment, including lamps, luminaires, control gear, and the use of external
controls. But it will also require a new look at lighting design; to move away
from the overall blanket approach of providing illumination by a regular array
of ceiling mounted luminaires to a method where lighting is provided for a
particular area within a space, and to consider what is required in that space.
This is a technique used in some retail outlets where a mixture of general
illumination together with accent lighting, where required, is provided.

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The new approach will often have a reduced provision for illumination for
maintenance and security activities. It will also require a greater attention to
lighting being switched off when it is not needed. Currently far too much
light is used when buildings are uninhabited, and energy is wasted. This needs
electricity used for lighting to be quantified (and measured) separately and in

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terms of the average annual power density (av. kW. h/m2 per annum). This
takes account of the efficiency of the equipment used and the efficiency of
the design. It also takes account of the amount of time the lighting is used and
therefore a measure of the accumulated energy consumption over the year.
This can then be turned into an average for the year.
Regarding the ‘means’; new lamps will continue to be developed with improved
colour performance, efficacy and effectiveness. They will also require easy
controlability, allowing users to get the optimum intensity for their use, thus
improving energy efficiency. This necessitates new methods of measurement
that will relate more closely to how humans see. The recent edict to replace all
incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps has already raised concerns,
which indicate that equivalent lumens do not seem to equate to equal seeing. It
is crucial that we understand why this is the case.
The Light Emitting Diode has been around for many years, particularly as an
indicator lamp, but now it is being used as a signal lamp in clusters for traffic
lights and vehicle lighting. It is also being used successfully in display lighting,
particularly because of the colour effects that are possible through additive
colour mixing. It is claimed that these light sources have the potential of long
life and high efficacy but this still needs to be demonstrated by standardised
testing.
There are also some technical problems, like keeping the LEDs cool, that need
to be overcome, and the high cost is also likely to curb their use. There is also
the difficulty with the photometry of LEDs and luminaires using them. Then
there is the problem of creating luminaires using LEDs that can be used for
general illumination, and as accent or spotlights. There is still much to be done,
but the industry is investing a great deal in this technology, so we can expect
progress to be swift.

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Conclusion
Over the last one hundred years lighting has changed considerably, and it will
continue to change through research and the needs of man. But one thing is
clear, there has always been a need for a professional institution to provide

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a platform from which developments can be proposed and discussed, and if
seen to be beneficial will be accepted. Long may the aims of the Illuminating
Engineering Society continue and enabling its membership to progress.

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Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

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 John G Holmes 100th birthday, 31st May 2009

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In this year of the IES centenary John Holmes, a leading member of the
IES, CIBSE Lighting Division and SLL, celebrates his 100th birthday
and the whole of the lighting community would like to congratulate
him and to thank him for his contribution to lighting over his long
involvement.
John’s early career was with Chance Brothers, glassmakers, where he
was involved in designing and developing optics for many areas of
illumination.
In 1946 he became technical director of Holophane Ltd with
responsibility for all aspects of interior and exterior lighting equipment.
On his retirement in 1970 he become consultant to Trinity House,
advising them on the renovation of lighthouse optics and lighting
systems.
He joined the IES in the early 1930s and has served the Society in many
ways, particularly with the technical committee on the production of
several publications. In 1940, because of his great interest in colour, he
helped form the Colour Group (GB).
John was IES President in 1951, awarded the Honorary Fellowship of
CIBSE in 1968, and in 1987 he was awarded the Society’s Lighting
Award.
In 1992, he organised the production of the John M Waldram archive,
comprising four volumes, providing the lighting community with a
comprehensive record of J M Waldram’s work. In 1975 he wrote the
book Essays on Lighting, published by Adam Hilger. This work was a
development of a collection of essays published in the IES journal Light
and Lighting.

Happy Birthday John and Good Wishes from us All.

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Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

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for the sole use of the person making the download. The content remains the copyright property of CIBSE

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Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years of Lighting in Great Britain

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David L Loe
MPhil, CEng, FSLL, FCIBSE, FIESNA
David Loe joined the GEC Illumination
Laboratory in 1959. From 1963–67 he helped
establish the lighting equipment test laboratory
at the BSI. He then joined the Bartlett
Environmental Studies Group, University

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College London, contributing to lighting
education and research activities. In 1987 he
established the Light and Lighting MSc course
and was its director until 1995. David retired as
Honorary Research Fellow UCL 1995. He was
a consultant to BRE 1994–2003. And in 2000
was visiting Professor to the Lighting Research
Centre, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA.
David joined the IES in 1964, and since then
he has contributed to many committees and
publications. In 1989 he was Chairman of the
Lighting Division, and Chairman of the Lighting
Research and Technology Editorial Board from
2003–08.

Rosemary McIntosh
MSc, MPhil, MSLL
Rosemary McIntosh trained as a product
designer and worked for Concord Lighting
in the late 1970s and mid 80s. For over
twenty years she has worked with Designed
Architectural Lighting. She has also worked in
academia, primarily researching the subjective
connection between illuminance and luminance
in work carried out at the Bartlett School of
Architecture and Planning, 1980–83. She was
Millar Award winner 1981.
Although Rosemary was not accepted as a
CIBSE affiliate member until 1986 she was an
avid attendee of Lighting Division meetings
for many years before that. She was Chairman
of the Sessional Meetings Committee 1999–
2004, and has been on several other Lighting
Division and Society of Light and Lighting
committees. She was awarded a CIBSE Bronze
Medal in 2004.
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