Searching for lighting online can get a little technical. For industry experts, the complicated language of parts and specifications for each fixture can translate pretty easily. However, some terms are more misleading than others and can baffle even the most seasoned lighting professionals. After navigating the intricacies of footcandles, color rendering indexes, Kelvin temperatures, photometric data, etc., it is easy to overlook something as simple as the color of the light fixture you’re ordering. But that’s why we’re here—to help explain every little detail so you know what you’re ordering and you get exactly what you want.
Access Fixtures is able to provide fixtures in a variety of materials and colors, with custom RAL options available for the more colorful projects. With color, it is important to set the right expectations, especially when buying online. Every phone, computer screen, and tablet has a unique ability to render color; this means that the same shade can look different when viewed on various devices.
Some paint colors are more contentious than others. Ask for a black wall pack and you have a pretty good idea of what you’ll get. Order a white bollard and you aren’t likely to be surprised. But what about “turquoise blue” or “wine red”? These are a little less universally recognizable. This brings us to what may be the most challenging (and popular) color of all: architectural bronze.
What Do We Mean by “Architectural Bronze”?
Architectural bronze is a tremendously common color in the lighting industry. For the average consumer, the word bronze brings up images of coppery statues and shining third-place Olympic medals. Customers frequently expect their new “architectural bronze” fixtures to fit these images, though that isn’t necessarily the case.
In actuality, architectural bronze, dark bronze, and bronze are all names applied to architectural products such as lighting fixtures, window frames, commercial doors, door frames, sheet metal, flat commercial roofing, and more. In its simplest form, it is a paint type applied to metal surfaces, most often die-cast aluminum. Architectural bronze light fixtures from Access Fixtures are made of die-cast aluminum with a powder coat finish over a chromate conversion coating.
Architectural bronze got its name because of its popularity in architectural projects. Manufacturers of architectural products, such as commercial and industrial lighting, use similar bronze colors to help ensure consistency among all fixtures.
Most variations of bronze will complement each other, but, depending on the sheen of their finishes, the type of light hitting the fixtures, etc., two different bronze products may only look right in certain locations. To ensure products will be a close match, RAL finishes should be used with similar sheen, and even then, two different products finished by different companies can still have vary in color.
Custom Color Options to Suit Any Lighting Project
Because architectural bronze is often a powder coat finish over a chromate conversion coating, it does not look like the Olympic-medal bronze one might expect. An architectural bronze wall pack will not add a shiny sheen of copper to your commercial property. It is more realistic to describe its color as a dark, grayish brown.
Speak to an Access Fixtures Lighting Specialist
If “dark, grayish brown” doesn’t fit with your project, you’re in luck! Access Fixtures can provide the same long-lasting, corrosion-resistant durability in any RAL color you’d like. Call us today and let our lighting specialists help you find the right fixture—in the right color—for your lighting project! We are passionate about lighting and love what we do—we’ll find the best solution for your project. Call us today at 800-468-9925.
