Façade lighting: which light for which building

Start with what the façade needs to do: show the threshold, highlight a shop window, line a path. Then place a wall light on either side of the door, two low points at step height, and a single spotlight angled downwards for the surface.

How do you light a house façade?

Start at the threshold, then work in layers. A pair of wall lights frames the door, two low points light the path, an adjustable spotlight handles the wall section. Count three sources for a house, four if the garden enters the frame. Each layer switches on separately.

Before ordering, note three things: the width of the porch, the height of the windows and doors, and the position of existing conduits. These landmarks prevent duplicate purchases, and they also help frame your outdoor lighting project as a whole.

Which outdoor wall light for a villa?

Three criteria decide before style: weatherproofing, material and light source type. Our wall light collection has 6,535 references as of 5 October 2026, enough to match the width of a door frame to the centimetre.

• IP65: essential on a wall exposed to rain. In a sample of 247 references from this catalogue as of 5 October 2026, only 5% declare this rating.
• Glass and metal: aluminium holds its colour, glass does not yellow in the sun.
• E27 or integrated LED: a socket to choose the bulb yourself, LED to stop thinking about it.
• Up and down diffusion: two arcs on the wall, very readable from the street.

On a solid west-facing wall, look first for a housing declared weatherproof: IP65 outdoor wall lights last the season, an unprotected decorative wall light does not.

On a narrow entrance, between two door frames, entrance wall lights play the same card with a tighter design.

At what height should a wall light be installed on a façade?

Two landmarks are enough: the threshold and the path are not installed at the same height.

The rule shifts with the width of the door frame: the wider the door, the lower the two wall lights. To adjust according to the wall, the height of a wall light is read on site rather than on a plan.

What is the most efficient outdoor lighting?

The wall light, because it places light at eye level without projecting the beam towards the sky. The spotlight reaches further but hardens shadows and dazzles from an angle. The bollard handles the path, nothing more. The most efficient approach combines the three families instead of pushing just one.

The same housing gives two atmospheres depending on its orientation. A wall light that diffuses upwards lights the wall, one that points down lights the step, one that does both lights both halfway. The family classified as wall-mounted outdoor lantern covers this dual use from a single fixing point.

We cover indoor and outdoor under the same roof, and customer reviews remain public on Designix's Google listing.

Façade lighting for homes and commercial buildings: what changes?

Commerce lights to be seen, a home lights to be lived in. A shop window requires even illumination, with no dark gaps, bright enough to read a display from the pavement. A home tolerates strong contrasts, discreet sources and a lower level.

Which colour temperature for a shop window?

Neutral white at 3000 K for a shop window, warm white at 2700 K for a house entrance. Cool white at 4000 K is only justified for merchandise where exact colour matters more than atmosphere.

The figure does not say everything: a light-coloured stone turns grey under cool light, wood cladding turns orange under very warm light. To decide between warm or cool light, look at the wall at dusk.

How many lumens to light a façade?

Count by use, never for the entire façade.

• Threshold: 200 to 400 lm per wall light, enough to see a lock without dazzling.
• Path: 100 to 200 lm per low point, enough to read the ground.
• Shop window: evenness before power, two medium sources are better than one strong one.

A wide façade does not require more lumens everywhere, it requires more points. The question of how many lumens for outdoor lighting is therefore decided by the surface a point actually covers, not by the length of the wall.

Detection, on the other hand, changes commerce more than homes. A shop window that lights up as you pass attracts the eye without staying on all night. The setting depends on range and delay, and lighting with a detector can be installed as a wall light as well as a bollard.

Outdoor wall lights with a motion detector integrate the sensor into the housing, which avoids an add-on box on a well-finished façade.

If your façade combines an entrance, a shop window and a path, the distribution of points and the protection ratings deserve a second look: this is the moment to have your installation plan validated before ordering.

What are the 3 types of lighting to combine on a façade?

Marking, accentuation and signal. Marking runs along the ground and guides the step, accentuation climbs the wall and reveals the material, the signal marks the threshold or the shop window. A façade that uses only one remains flat: it is the layering that creates depth.

Marking the path

Low points, evenly spaced, 0.40 m from the ground.

• Bollards: 40 to 80 cm high, they light the ground without dazzling the neighbours.
• Recessed lights: set flush with the slab, invisible by day.
• Spacing: one point every 1.5 to 2 m on a straight path, closer on a curve.

A poorly marked path is betrayed by the shadows cast by the steps. Garden bollards are chosen by height rather than by output, and lighting a garden path often comes down to adjusting the spacing.

Accentuating a wall section

A single spotlight angled downwards, or two crossed to smooth the shadows.

• Angle: 30 to 45 degrees relative to the wall, never 90.
• Distance: 60 cm to 1 m from the wall for a readable cone.
• Material: stone reflects a hard light, wood softens it.

A terrace or a roof overhang is treated like the wall: designer outdoor wall lights for terraces apply the same principle with a lower housing.

What is the lighting standard for businesses?

There is no single value. What can be checked on a spec sheet is the protection rating, the colour temperature and the wattage. The rest depends on local planning rules, which vary from one municipality to another and should be checked with the town hall before installation.

What a product sheet must declare

• IP: the only figure that truly distinguishes an outdoor fixture from an indoor one.
• Kelvin: the colour temperature, to be matched across all the sources on the same façade.
• Wattage: in watts, to be related to the luminous flux, not the size of the housing.
• Warranty: the line that matters when it comes to maintenance.

What the municipality may require

Light colour, late-night switch-off, lighting of shop windows after closing: these points are settled with the town hall. They should be planned when installing outdoor lighting, not once the holes are drilled.