Project Overview

The D900 SHX Curve is an adjustable surface-mounted LED downlight that offers customers the flexibility to adapt their lighting scheme to suit renovations and interior updates over the years. Features include:

• A simple surface-mount allowing for easy installation without affecting ceiling insulation and home energy ratings.

• A constant friction hinge, for smooth and effortless light beam orientation.

• Dual-axes flexibility with a 355-degree body rotation and a 90-degree tilt adjustment.

• An aluminium alloy body with integrated driver.

• Minimalist cylindrical design, offering a simple, timeless aesthetic.

• Tru-Colour technology for market-leading colour rendering that improves the appearance of skin tones and interior colours by illuminating more colours on the visible spectrum.

• 70,000hr product lifetime.

Organisation

Brightgreen

Team

The Melbourne-based Brightgreen design team consists of several industrial designers, electrical engineers and an in-house lab technician who work under the guidance of CEO and Head of Product Design, David O’Driscoll.

Project Brief

Brightgreen lights are designed to last up to 70,000hrs, the equivalent of about 30yrs on average daily use. Because of this exceptional product lifetime, it was necessary for the design team to utilise the highest quality componentry possible to ensure that both the fitting, and the light it emits, would not be surpassed by competing technologies before the end of the product’s lifecycle.

The D900 SHX Curve is the first LED light fitting of its kind to feature a constant friction hinge, similar to those used in laptops. The hinge provides constant haptic feedback allowing users to articulate light with accuracy and ease.

The team designed a aluminium alloy casing to ensure the fitting itself was durable enough to match to longevity of the LED technology within. Available in either white, matte black or custom-designed finishes, the design offers a simple elegance – making it versatile enough to complement a wide range of contemporary spaces.

Ideal for installing onto ceilings with hard-to-cut surfaces like concrete, the fitting contains an integrated driver and comes with three M3 screws, wall plugs, and a flying lead fitting.

Project Innovation/Need

With more people choosing LED lighting because of its long product life and environmental benefits, the Brightgreen team set out to create an adjustable product that could stand the test of time both stylistically, and by giving users the ability to update their own lighting design without the need for major electrical work.

Preliminary research showed a growing trend towards surface-mounted lighting in the Australian market and a distinct lack of options that offered both functionality and understated style. The brief for the D900 SHX Curve emphasised minimalist aesthetics, sustainable and user-centric design principles, light quality and product flexibility.

Building on the design and engineering of its popular predecessor, the D900 SH Curve, the Brightgreen design team was required to ideate ways to incorporate the same smooth cylindrical look with the addition of exceptional product flexibility. In increasing the original model’s functionality, the team were also required to maintain the luminaire's light quality and efficiency.

Design Challenge

The design challenge for the D900 SHX Curve was to eliminate the nuts, screws and bolts that are often associated with adjustable lighting. The team focused on creating a genuinely flexible product with simple and intuitive functionality.

The D900 SHX Curve is the first light design of its kind to feature a constant friction hinge. The hinge provides constant haptic feedback, allowing the light to be adjusted with ease and safety by reducing the experience of spatial disorientation. The hinge is virtually unaffected by wear, adding to the longevity of the product and reducing the need for adhesives. In addition to the 90-degree tilt adjustment enabled by the constant friction hinge, the 355-degree body rotation allows users to articulate light at any point in the product’s full range of motion.

After numerous prototypes and trials using different materials and fabrication techniques, the Brightgreen team decided to use aluminium alloy as the primary material in the design – making the D900 SHX Curve incredibly durable and notably easier to recycle. Components of the design are manufactured using laser cutters and CNC machining to ensure precision and consistency.

Sustainability

Brightgreen’s mission to defy planned obsolescence is underpinned by the belief that by designing products with the longevity and efficiency of D900 SHX Curve, the company can help to reduce the carbon footprint of households, offices and public spaces. The D900 SHX Curve is at the forefront of LED technology in both efficiency and light quality, two features that generally contradict each other.

The surface-mount design requires no ceiling cutouts or gaps in insulation, allowing customers to increase their property’s overall thermal efficiency. Its exceptional 7-year warranty makes the D900 SHX Curve a truly reliable and sustainable choice.

The D900 SHX Curve is free from heavy metals, including hexavalent chromium, mercury and lead, which are found in CFL lights and other LED lights. The design is primarily made from recyclable materials, and when the D900 SHX Curve does eventually reach its lifespan, Brightgreen will recycle it for the customer through its buy-back-scheme.