Designing with Light: How Circadian Rhythms Shape Restaurant Ambience and Customer Experience.

Lighting plays a crucial role in shaping the atmosphere and functionality of a restaurant. Beyond its practical purpose, light impacts our emotions, behaviour, and even biological rhythms. By aligning restaurant lighting with natural circadian rhythms, operators can create spaces that enhance the dining experience, influence how long guests stay, and even affect how they perceive their food. Understanding the science of light and its connection to human behaviour is not just a design choice but a strategic necessity for modern hospitality.
On 21 December 1879, a full-page article appeared in the New York Herald announcing Thomas Edison’s lightbulb as “the great inventor’s triumph in electric illumination,” producing a light “like the mellow sunset of an Italian autumn.” This came as a great relief to the numerous seed investors in Edison’s new start-up, The Edison Electric Light Company, who had grown wary of his numerous failures in finding a commercially viable filament that would burn for longer than a few minutes. Whilst this news sent the stock prices of the Brooklyn Gaslight Company plummeting by 15% overnight, the $100/share in Edison’s company rocketed by 450% to $4500.
The next step was to design an appropriate electrical grid to secure a big enough demand for his patent. To this end, a young, eccentric Croatian engineer and physicist, Nikola Tesla, arrived at Edison’s factory in 1884. Edison promised Tesla $50,000 for an improved DC (Direct Current) dynamo design. When Tesla finally produced the solution and asked for the money, Edison remarked, “Tesla, you don’t understand American humour.” Tesla resigned shortly after and started the Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company the very next year in 1885, where he developed an AC (Alternating Current) motor and transmission technology. Although history shows that Tesla was famous and respected, he never achieved the fortune or success of Edison. His legacy, though, remains in the AC system that became the global standard for power transmission.
Apart from being an eccentric inventor, Tesla was equally eccentric about his eating habits. Conscious of his health and weight, he worried about eating anything of which he could not visually judge the size before consuming it. Tesla seems to have been ahead of his time with almost everything in his life, as recent studies by Scheibehenne, a psychologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, also suggest that people eat with their eyes to count calories rather than their stomachs. These studies also suggest that manipulating visual cues can control, enhance or decrease, our food consumption. For example, in dim light, studies have shown that people readily misestimate the amount of food they consume, as dim light interferes with our perception of satiety. It also lessens our inhibitions, causing us to feel more comfortable finishing off larger portions.
Apart from the practical application of artificial light, allowing us to see in the dark, it also has biological and psychological effects that impact our emotional health and well-being. In addition, light quality or type determines our quality of sleep, cognition, and mood. It can also disrupt or stabilise a thing called circadian rhythms (circadian comes from the Latin word circa diem, which means "around a day"). What is a circadian rhythm? It is our internal body clock that helps to tell us when to sleep, rise, and eat. This internal clock is set by thousands of years of evolution. It’s the way we rose and went to sleep in line with the movement of the sun. Morning sun, blue light suppresses levels of melatonin, helping us wake up and stay alert, while evening or setting sun increases levels of melatonin, helping our bodies prepare for bed.
Understanding and applying this natural human behavioural reaction to restaurant design is not just a need but a must. In line with our body clock, restaurant lighting should change during the different parts of the day. In the morning, for example, we prefer bright temperatures that mimic natural external light. Similarly, at noon, we want a slightly yellower light, and in the evenings, a far warmer spectrum of light, akin to a lit candle. A warm light set to the right spectrum also influences patrons to stay longer. The opposite is true for bright light, similar to what is seen in fast-food establishments. Additionally, warm-spectrum light enhances the appearance of food.
Humans behave very differently during various parts of the day, and as such, lighting should be designed to accommodate those needs and peculiarities.
Breakfast:
As mentioned above, our body clock requires bright temperatures. Our behaviour in the morning is distinct from other parts of the day. We have high energy and are preparing for the day, checking our phones, perhaps answering emails on a laptop, or reading the newspaper, all requiring bright, natural “morning” light.
Lunch:
Now the lighting needs to have a yellower spectrum in line with the sun, softer and more considered to invite people to linger longer. It should not be too casual, as in most fine dining restaurants, where lunch is a midday pause. The day is still moving at pace. Perhaps people are meeting to conduct a business transaction. Conversely, for fast-food establishments, lighting needs to remain bright to encourage faster turnover of customers.
Dinner:
The day slows down and moves towards its end. We want to relax. It’s social time. We are primed to be more engaged with one another, most likely meeting friends or a loved one. We want to look and feel our best. Not only does a warm yellow light frame this behaviour, but it’s also the light spectrum where we look the healthiest and where food appears most appetising.
Lighting is a critical yet often overlooked element in restaurant design. By aligning lighting with human behaviour and circadian rhythms, restaurants can create spaces that enhance comfort, influence dining habits, and elevate the overall experience. Thoughtful lighting design not only boosts customer satisfaction but also strengthens a restaurant's appeal and success.
Information Reference Index:
The Impact of Light on Human Behaviour and Health.
Circadian Rhythms and Lighting Design in Hospitality.
Light for Wellbeing: How Lighting Design Enhances Experience.
Lighting Design for Restaurants: Creating Mood and Atmosphere.
The Science of Light: How It Shapes Human Experience.
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