Your building is doing something at night
A commercial building gets seen by traffic long after the doors lock. A dark building reads as closed, and in a quieter way it reads as not there. Light keeps a building in circulation.None of this is about making the building pretty. The building is the largest thing the business owns that faces the public, and light is what keeps it communicating. It is one of the few exterior expenses that runs every night without further input.
The front of the building
The facade is legible from further away than lettering. Lighting that highlights the shape of the building gives you something people recognize before they can read anything. Brand colors on the facade do a job the sign is not doing.
Entrances, walkways and outdoor seating
An entrance that is hard to find in the dark costs you customers who never mention it. Light the approach, the door and the step so nobody has to look for it. For restaurants, the patio is capacity that only exists if it is lit. Warm, dim and overhead: the same rules as a home patio, with more riding on it.Commercial lighting decisions stay with a building for years, which is a reason to keep the plan on file rather than in somebody's head.
The other commercial category
A neighborhood entrance is the sign for the whole development. Light on the entry structure and its landscaping reads as maintained and cared for. For a homeowners association, this is grounds maintenance with a visible payoff.
The part that takes planning
Technically, the job is not different from residential work. What changes is the calendar. No business wants ladders across the entrance at lunch, so the work gets planned around your hours.
Seasonal color without a seasonal contract
A permanent system gives a business something a seasonal install cannot: the display changes without anybody coming back out. Holidays, awareness months, local events and game days all run off the same install. No annual booking, no crew on site, no seasonal line item.
The approach
Between the parking space and the front door there is a walk somebody has to take. A dark lot or an
https://evercrestlighting.com/contact/ unlit path from the car is the last impression of the evening and the first one on arrival. Lighting the route does not photograph well, and it does more for how a business feels than the facade does.Worth saying: a commercial plan can be phased. Start where the return is most visible, then move to the parts customers walk through.
Getting your building assessed
Every commercial building gives you a different set of surfaces and sight lines, so the plan follows a look at yours. EverCrest Lighting designs and installs commercial outdoor lighting for storefronts, restaurants, offices and communities throughout Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, based in Greenville. Consultations are free. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].