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2024 Sept
The Principals exchanged views about the Matter Protocol with the CEO Casambi. We really appreciated Mark McCleary’s investment here.  We agreed on lots but agreed to disagree about Matter adoption. We hold strongly to Timo Pakkala, Casambi’s Founder, that Matter is a global opportunity to revolutionise smart homes and beyond.

We are currently published in the international Arc Magazine (Aug/Sept) and queued for publication (Oct/Nov) about our own smart home use-case. However, our draft article: DALI’s euology or Matter, matters pushes boundaries.

With 1990s foundations for lighting controls, Matter represents a serious threat to products like: KNX, Dynalite, Cbus and DALI. Hundreds of companies profit from them and sponsor relevant media outlets. The Gillard Group may turn to tech journals to share our views here. If you would like to know more about Matter and lighting controls, please contact us.

2024 Aug
The 51st Annual IES Illumination Awards were held on 16 August in New York. The Gillard Group was advised that its entry, St Mary’s Church, received a Merit Award for its lighting design. Over 600 national award winners were received by the IES. We were one of only 43 international award winners. Our lighting design has already won State, Australasian and an international heritage lighting Awards and featured in several articles.

The international ARC magazine’s Aug/Sept issue, from page 107, features our article about fast-unfolding events, tomorrow’s luminaire and impacts on lighting designers.

2024 July
Gillard Group investors and prospective clients enjoyed a night out on us. We hosted a table at the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. The annual event inducts a handful of State-based entrepreneurs and businesses. About 800 attend the black tie evening hosted by the Convention Centre. Our long search for a nearby office is almost over. Respective solicitors are well advanced closing the deal. We intend to update the space ready for business 2025.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024 June
The International Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) 51st global award program will be held 16 August 2024 in Times Square New York.  623 submissions from national award programs were received for 2023. 211 have been short-listed to receive Awards of Merit, including Australia’s last remaining candidate – our lighting of St Mary’s Church Warwick. Only 11 of 211 will receive an Award of Distinction.  Some may receive an Award of Excellence, Special Citation or Section Award. To be short-listed, against hundreds of outstanding and impressive works-of-art and as Australia’s best performing submission, reflects very well on our practice. Our success and progress is being shared nationally via IES AUSNZ’s Bulletin.

2024 May
A quiet month of business-as-usual and planning for mid-year. Various articles pend publication or advance in draft and business presentations and events loom June. One of those rare moments we can enjoy the winter sun and take a deep breath.

2024 April
Principals Jenni and Mark have been invited and funded to attend an exclusive networking conference in September in Thailand. The Gillard Group drafted an article for the prestigious ARC international lighting magazine.  The article was accepted and is queued for publication in the June/July edition. The Editor provided very positive comments and opened the door for more collaboration. We will link you to ARC when the article is published.

2024 Mar
We met two executives from ASM Global and discussed a wide range of potential collaborations. On 25th, our business partner Mark Lloyd broke his back. He crushed L2 disk. On 26th he underwent surgery. Pins and rods were inserted into L1 and L3 creating a protective bridge over his collapsed disk. On 31st he was discharged to recuperate until mid-May when he commences physiotherapy. We are all helping his recovery and thank you for your well wishes. He is upright, walking, researching and writing!

2024 Feb
As we predicted many years ago, all roads lead to light; nothing practical is faster, stores as much or scales. The global data network already relies on digitised photons. As the physical limits of transistors and chips slows Moore’s Law, science is leveraging and inventing more light-based technologies. Photonic computing took a leap forward recently when MIT successfully integrated photons and electrons to enable dramatic processing speeds for devices using machine-learning. These include language and image generation and ChatGPT. However, this is just one milestone of many advancements where the properties of light are central.

2024 Jan
We ended 2023 with another lighting design award and started 2024, with new work, including a major church and residential home (and carry over projects). The partner’s personal house, pioneering many advanced and novel lighting, HVAC and technology features, continues to attract attention from key clients. A major commercial redevelopment draws closer to commencement. We look forward to receiving drawings and preparing our input.

2023 Dec
The Gillard Group, partners and staff wish all our clients and suppliers and their families a fantastic Christmas and New Year. We recommence work January 2024.

2023 Nov
The Gillard Group won the Illuminating Engineering Society’s Australia/New Zealand lighting Excellence Award for St Mary Church (Warwick). On receipt, we will publish the head judge’s summary comments. The church lighting has already won an international award and continues to attract positive media attention.

The Gillard Group has won more awards than years of operation (2005). The results reflect our professionalism and team effort and ability to listen to and deliver on client’s objectives.

2023 Oct
The formal presentation to IES ANZ panel of award judges for St Mary’s church went well.  Father Franco mastered the video conference by smart phone. He did a great walk around job. The presentation went long enough to capture the church lighting at night – spectacular.  We have three more churches at various stages and these will see us through into 2024.

A builder visited our home and was impressed with the gallery lighting and various innovations. We sent him our fee proposal for his latest house – his own! Much larger projects are earmarked for 2024 and we look forward to sharing them as and when they unfold. We have business in New Zealand and return early December.

2023 Sept
Arriving back 24th from Asia, Jen and Mark are full of energy, resumed business with clients and are excited about 2024. Already an international lighting design award winner, St Mary’s church (Warwick) has been short-listed by Illuminating Engineering Society judges. Father Franco will help us present to them mid-October.

The global Matter Protocol continues to gain pace. The Principals’ home is Matter-ready. The house is one of the first in Australia to incorporate this game-changing smart home automation solution. If you want to know more, please contact us.

2023 Aug
In January, we advised that the Principal’s 1901 Queenslander would be renovated and incorporate novel solutions.  The home should be largely complete end-September. We will start to show you photos of clever light-based solutions very soon. Visitors are already amazed at the day-lighting solutions. We will also look to the feature the home in various journals.

Jenni and Mark will be overseas mid-Aug and return mid-Sept.  Hence our writing now. It is their first significant holiday in six-years. The Gillard Group, having advised clients, has temporarily scaled back operations. We look forward to accelerating business on return.

2023 July
This was the month of resurrection: the owners of the Leichardt St Church, who had to suspend work, reconnected with us to finish the lighting design; and the farmer in Tiaro, sent us photos showing that their new home for their son’s family is well advanced and requiring lighting. We were delighted to receive these unexpected surprises.

Meanwhile we transition two separate city church icons from design to lighting construction. Significant electrical work is required to deliver on design intent and make good on old electrical infrastructure. There are the usual funding, heritage and compliance challenges to contend with, but nothing too unusual.

This month we said goodbye to Thomas, our Senior Lighting Designer, who is is going to do his PHD.

2023 June
The Principals attended the IESANZ Light in Focus Event, Sydney. There were some excellent speakers. We really enjoyed hearing updates from Robert (Bob) Karlicek about Time of Flight and other light-based technologies and taking him to dinner. We were also inspired by the Harvard Medical School speaker about the many positive outcomes from the proper application of blue enriched white light.

Principal, Mark Lloyd, was interviewed and asked to contribute to IES’s new quarterly journal. Jenni caught up with IES management and fellow legends of architectural lighting, like Dr Kit Cuttle. At the Conference, it was very clear how the tech-world is fast-reshaping the lighting industry.

If you would like to know more, please contact us.

2023 May
Last month we discussed daylighting initiatives at our residential test site. However, when completed, the home will also showcase art-gallery lighting, mini-data centre, consolidated luminaire drivers and novel HVAC solution. In addition, the property will be Matter-Standard ready with some installed Matter compatible white goods.  Critically, the faster Matter gains traction; the faster the imperilment of competiting standards and control systems.

Matter is underpinned by Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung and others. These behemoths create their own event-horizon in market-spaces. Relevant competition is inexorably sucked into a black hole leaving only a dimming trail of their existence.

For example, DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface), an international standard used for digital lighting control was conceived in the 1980s. While the lighting industry continues to invest in DALI, all standards (and systems), have a life. Matter is a real threat to DALI and lots of well-known control solutions used in the smart home and built environment.

Tridonic, a significant global lighting-industry player, has not only committed to Matter-compatible lighting solutions it has already launched Matter-compatible product. Accordingly, Tridonic products become networked and voice-controlled with other Matter-compatible white goods, entertainment systems, HVAC and safety products, to name a few.

If you have not read about Matter, we urge you to find out more or contact us.

2023 April
We continue to advance a world-leading passive daylight harvester. Conduit has been installed at our domestic test site, a splendid 1901 Queenslander home.  We have bought special fibre optics and liaise with our local partner and international sources. While daylight harvesting solutions are not uncommon, they are motorised, use software, track the sun and are very expensive. Creating a fixed position solution is rare and none are yet commercialised. We look forward to sharing more about this ground-breaking initiative.

2023 Mar
Our projects continues to grow and we were delighted to appoint Anika, an electrical engineering graduate with several years experience working in the UK on industrial lighting. She liked lighting design so much, she found us.

Last month we shared lovely feedback from a Brisbane based residential client, here’s another from this month, a regional farmer:

“Absolutely delighted. Guests on weekend went straight to paintings. The art had previously not attracted as much attention. Thank you so much.”

2023 Feb
Our lighting design for a significant regional church was very well received. The client also referred us on to adjoining work. We look forward to building out the program of activities and onward to construction.

After extensive flood damage, another client has been progressively rebuilding her wonderful riverside home in Brisbane. We have been working alongside her reinventing spaces and creating illumination magic:

“I just want to give huge compliments for your selections, the kitchen is awesome; the ensuite lights are fabulous. Thank you for your considered planning for our home, it is such an upgrade and we are delighted.”

2023 Jan
Staff returned from leave and the engine of business accelerated.

The Gillard Group is renovating a Principal’s 1901 Queenslander. It will have state-of-the art gallery lighting and novel daylighting solutions. This project will complete end year.

Did you know that over 50% of NZ’s apartments failed minimal daylighting provisions?  While most of Australia receives abundant light, this does not always translate into built structures. The more you know about the value of good design, the more likely you will do business with us.

The international award winning St Mary’s church (Warwick) continues to attract positive media attention.

2022 Dec
Well the month is not complete and here we are posting about its conclusion. Staff have taken annual leave and return mid-January.

Two Principals will continue to work over Christmas because there has been no slow down in demand for our services. We should be able to share more exciting news 2023.

The Gillard Group wishes all our clients, supplier network, artisans and your friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

2022 Nov
KO&Co Architecture referred us to their client rejuvenating the iconic London Woolstore Apartments in upmarket Teneriffe, Brisbane. Our bid to do the lighting design was successful and we look forward to working with everyone 2023.

Similarly, we have begun to interview builders to renovate our spaces. We have to find a new temporary office location. Next year looms as a very busy but ultimately rewarding period for the business.

Lastly, Jenni and Mark spent a morning with Bond University experts exchanging ideas and solutions and partnership opportunities. We look forward to updating you about potential outcomes next year.

2022 Oct
The Gillard Group is awash with diverse projects. Most recently, a farming couple want to relight their South East Queensland home, especially the art work and obtain a lighting design for a to-be-built off-the-grid property for their son and family. All the recent rain has transformed the area to emerald green and fat cows meander about in lush paddocks.

Meanwhile, we are drafting new Lighting as a Service contracts and completing a lighting and electrical audit on a church. We have appointments with a cooperative organisation for a major makeover of their large retail centre and a Doctor with his house and separate medical complex.

Various major institutions predict the useful end of traditional lamp technologies end 2025. Time is evaporating for owners of large lighting portfolios to migrate to low-energy LED. Contact us now.

2022 Sept
The Gillard Group is delighted to re-contract and promote Thomas O. following his return from and completion of his Masters in Lighting from the prestigious course in Wismar Germany. Already an Architect graduate, the Masters course deepens his understanding about lighting design. The combination makes a valuable contribution to the business and as a Senior Lighting Designer he takes on more end-to-end project responsibilities.

In this business quarter, the Gillard Group passed 100 projects since launch in 2005. It is just over six projects a year, but in fact, the business has steadily accelerated.  In 2022, a dozen projects have been completed or are underway. We have never actively marketed. The business grows from reputation, client referrals and happenstance. We have also accumulated more awards than years of operation. But what we most value is our relationship with our loyal clients.

2022 Aug
Just as one restaurant relighting job is put on temporary hold, another commences, a beautiful French Restaurant. The owners are excited about the solutions and concepts we tabled. Lighting of the magnificent St Mary’s church (Ipswich) accelerates. Old paper-based drawings have been converted to digital plans and from Imperial to metric. Provisions are being made for spectacular options downstream. The residential sector continues to provide us business. Like most things, the lighting industry is not immune from the impact of the pandemic.  Costs and timely supply of product remain volatile. Sourcing skills is also problematic. We continue to help our clients through challenging times.

Special
Jenni Gillard’s solo art exhibition ran over 29-30th August 2022. On 30th 6-8 pm she hosted a social event with wine, food and songs performed live by fellow artist Dooley Zantis. Over fifty people attended the evening and more over the two days. In this video clip GG Art Show MOV_7102 you can see some of her abstract work and her two bronze horse head sculptures, each a series of ten. Apart from sales, she was commissioned to do a sculpture of a dressage horse.

Her works reflect decades of mentoring by Lola McFarlane and practicing the arts of conception, composition, drawing, painting and sculpting. She exhibits her art here and abroad and runs a small group of local artists. Jenni’s passion for art and architectural lighting are complimentary and form part of the award-winning success of the Gillard Group. Here is Jenni with partner Mark before opening night:


2022 July
When it came into force 1 July 2021, only 2% of Financial Advisors were independent relative to section 923A of the Corporations Act. Lighting industry professionals are not regulated and most lighting product suppliers are not independent. However, if the lighting industry was subject to 923A, the Gillard Group would satisfy the test, because we:

  • do not receive commissions
  • do not receive gifts/benefits from product suppliers
  • have no restrictions regarding the products we recommend, and
  • do not own, are not owned by, and do not have any interests or associations with any lighting product suppliers.

Our lighting designs satisfy clients’ briefs and compliance obligations using optimal numbers of quality lighting product. The more that you know about the variable quality of LED, upfront and downstream costs of lighting and NET positive outcomes we achieve, the more you will appreciate engaging truely independent lighting design firms, like ours.


2022 June
Jenni, Mark and Thomas all contracted and recovered from COVID. We managed to keep the production wheels turning. In July, Jen and Mark are in NZ, returning mid-month.

A Spanish company found us. They want an Australian test site for their circadian-friendly lighting solutions. An Italian lighting designer and Assistant Professor working in Milan wants to work for us. Both overtures are early days.

Jenni and her cadre of artists and sculptors successfully held a four day art exhibition at Randall Gallery including two formal evenings over nibbles and wine. Over a hundred and fifty patrons attended. Jenni and fellow artist Dooley Zantis, will also co-show at Randall’s in August. Jen’s passion for art and lighting know no bounds.

Interestingly, a substance called perovskite when layered over silicon super-charges solar cells. Perovskite absorbs a different part of the light spectrum than silicon. The two elements boost electric conversion from 29 to 39%. Unlike silicon, which requires 1,000 degree celsius during its purification process; perovskite requires less than 200 degrees.

Just as ever-greater efficiency is critical to renewable energy; light and lighting are fundamental in driving down costs and lifting ecological benefits.


2022 May
Mid-May we delivered a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) inclusive of indicative costings and delivery timelines for the giant Gifu lantern we conceived and discussed in April. The client’s build design team is now engaged to complete the project.

Chaotic global events continue to disrupt business. One employee is down with COVID and supply chains remain fickle.

Earlier in the year, we audited and prepared a detailed report on the status of a major church and provided a quote for lighting and electrical rejuvenation. We concluded it was not “if but when” it would catch fire or electrocute someone. The building caught fire recently, but it was quickly extinguished. Our engagement has accelerated and we look forward to turning the church into a safe, functional and exciting place to worship.


2022 April
We are engaged to shape one of Australia’s largest lanterns and one of the world’s larger luminaires. End month, we presented five potential solutions and an out-of-the-box product from a 3rd party. We created scaled 3D models of the space and built and hung each solution. Our client chose a Gifu inspired Lantern.

We have too much work to go to Greece to pick up our latest international award in the heritage lighting category. We could have had our photos taken in front of the Acropolis, a co-award winner!

The draft of the National Construction Code 2022 is circulating for comment. We look forward to updating you.


2022 Mar
We are very busy with lighting design work with more queued. Like the construction industry, cost of materials, certainty of supply and inflation, apply to lighting product. Further, obtaining price, specifications and photometry from suppliers, often half-staffed, is challenging. We keep our clients regularly informed of progress.

Cree, a dependable supplier of LED chips for decades, recently sold down this part of its business to Smart Global Holdings, now SGH. Cree had already sold down its LED lighting and bulb division. The company has rebadged itself as Wolfspeed. Like the fate of the lighting divisions of GE, OSRAM and Philips, Cree is another casualty of creative destruction hastened by LEDs rapid global uptake. It should be of no surprise that the latest buyer (SGH) is a tech-company. The name Cree will live on for now, as a SGH product name.

As we advised, there is a global paradigm shift underway as we accelerate towards the Internet of Light and enter the Photonic Millennia. Many more firms will fall and form over the next decade. Light-based technologies will underpin the digital world and beyond. We are well-prepared and very excited about our continuing good-fortunes.

2022 Feb
Sekisui House, the world’s largest supplier of residential properties, found and engaged us. We delivered a consulting report about confidential lighting matters. We were subsequently engaged by them to do concept and lighting designs for two towers. 2022 has kicked off where we left off and we look forward to the year ahead.


2022 Jan
Happy New Year everyone. Work resumed and despite the pandemic, staff shared stories of gifts and mayhem. Shipping delays exacerbated supply of luminaires to sites and joined the queue of other construction material in high demand and short supply.


2021 Dec
Merry Christmas everyone. Apart from Christmas Day, we must keep working to satisfy demand. We may find little windows to get away. Most staff will take leave. The whole team wishes you all the best for the festive season and New Year celebrations. Regards, Jenni


2021 Nov
St Mary’s church won the international LIT Award for Heritage Lighting. From design to energy saving awards, continuing independent judgement helps vindicate the value of our professional services.

We have been contracted to do lighting on another church used for corporate purposes, await a decision on another church similar in scale to St Mary and been invited to bid on a third. It certainly feels like Christmas. More doors also open for our Lighting as a Service (LaaS) business.

The Gillard Group runs two business lines: design and LaaS. LaaS contracts sit under Aglow. Even though the two businesses are conjoined, we have reached a stage where we must market via separate web sites. We received our first Aglow web site and continue to work with the developer. This site will rely on video content. Production of content is scheduled for the New Year.

We re-engaged Chris, a product design specialist. He is focussed on creating various 3D based luminaires and other challenges.

2021 Oct
The Federal Government was anguishing over commitments to zero emission initiatives in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow. As we rank last in the developed world in this area, we understand why it might bedevil our political leaders. These were the same leaders who brandished a block of coal in Parliament and sustain over $10B in fossil fuel subsidies.

Exporting coal generates $50B Aus dollars per annum. Successive governments have failed to diversify beyond our primary revenue sources: coal, gas and iron. Australia runs the 93rd least complex economy in the world. We are trapped. If we commit to reduce coal and gas production, we cannot diversify our economy fast enough to recover lost revenue. Hence political reliance in technologies, that are either embryonic, discredited or yet to materialise.

If only our political class could pivot faster to re-afforestation, renewable energies, tech-industry and value-added manufacturing. Regarding lighting, here they would find, like India, the potential for massive energy and carbon reductions from rapid uptake of LED. Ignoring product suppliers need to up-sell, we could reduce the volume of light points and rationalise over-lit existing spaces. If we regulated, like France, a national illumination policy aimed at returning the night sky, we would improve human-amenity and help re-cover insect and migratory creature populations. If we could design and manufacture our own LED products and educate young people in photonics and light-based technologies, we would start diversifying our economy and provide jobs required tomorrow.

Small positive steps in areas making a difference are better than political rhetoric, the PM’s gas led recovery and faith in magic wands.

2021 Sep
From 1 September, the EU ban on fluorescent commences. Over 12-18 months, this artificial lamp technology will be banned from further sale. The EU estimates saving 60 tWh of energy and 9 tonnes of toxic Mercury per annum. Unbelievably, it also decided to continue to sell fluorescent to non-EU states. The EU is happy to pollute abroad.

Meanwhile, Australia postponed applying minimum EU standards on LED product. We remain a dumping ground for variable quality product (and EU fluorescent). LED uptake is a fast and effective way to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. LED accelerated from 2000 and most countries in the developed world are closing in on 100% LED use. We cannot find Australia’s LED take up rate.

2021 Aug
Work continues, primarily on residential lighting, a franchise restaurant chain, LaaS and R&D.  St Mary’s church featured on the cover and fifth page of the Southern Downs Daily Journal as a “stunning lighting display …. of Warwick’s key landmark.”  We also organised professional photography for early September and progress new support arrangements for our MinMin Light System.

As all Australian quality luminaires are imported, the pandemic’s disruption of the global supply chain worsens. The whole chain, from factory, to ports and especially ships at sea, sow uncertainty and long delays. If you are thinking of building, renovating or underway, please engage us as early as possible in the process. We are hearing lots of builds in trouble and without lights, you cannot occupy spaces.

We have all received our first or second shots and collectively appreciate the psychology lift vaccination delivers.

2021 July
St Mary’s church is a massive Gothic revival style church dominating the regional centre of Warwick in South East Queensland. The Gillard Group were engaged on a multi-stage multi-year project to upgrade lighting. Stage one was safe-passage perimeter lighting; followed by exterior facade; then the interior; and finally the Bell Tower and spire.  Father Franco Filipetto said:

“Jenni and her team are very professional in the conduct of their design work and with each stage of the project I witness how cleverly they go about crafting a masterpiece using light.”

Back-lighting the stain-glass windows in the bell tower required a very novel solution. As a heritage listed building we were not allowed to screw or nail to the interior. Accordingly, how do you safely run power over many floors from top to bottom and mount luminaires? We were able to resolve these complexities and the final result exceeded expectations.

In other news, a company has moved closer to commercial viable transmission of kWhs of power wirelessly over distance. LED continues to use less electricity to produce more lumens and near and far-field wireless transmission continues to improve. The possibility of affordable wireless LED lighting in the built environment is unfolding.

2021 June
We put down a deposit on an excellent freehold corporate space but it failed due diligence. Our shopping continues. A client is co-funding development of a Lighting as a Service business case. There is a lot of information to collect and analyse and we hope to have it finished and submitted July. If successful we add another five-years of business.

The election of the Biden administration has replaced climate skeptics with evangalists at the head of the Department of Energy. As the world’s largest economy and major resting home for non-LED product, LED uptake will accelerate. While the EU was predicting the end of most non-LED end 2025, we are confident it will now be brought forward. If your business is still using non-LED it is time to change.

Australia ranks last for climate action (2021) out of 193 United Nations member countries and second last (pipped by the USA) in the Climate Change Performance Index 2021.  Biden is embracing the need for change, leaving Australia in the global wilderness. If you have a large lighting portfolio, wish to save energy and money, reduce CO2 emissions and position your business for new light-based technologies, contact us.

2021 May
We have two new partners joining the Gillard Group. Both are recognised technologists who founded, led, built and sold one of Australia’s fastest growing tech-companies. Most is agreed and formalities and announcements to follow. We are all very excited about the fast and vast unfolding future.

By September 2021, Osram will no longer be listed on global stock exchanges. Formed 1919, the venerable lighting company was bought by ams.  Osram’s owners are also selling down her investments in IoT. As we predicted, it is a significant challenge for the traditional lighting industry to pivot to tech. The lighting industry clings to its sockets and other standards, but these too will be lost to the tech and telco giants in due course.

2021 April
Who would believe you have a property bubble in a pandemic? Low interest rates and personal and national debt fuel our housing obsession while record prices for iron ore soften economic impacts. Accordingly, we have picked up more residential business as home owners renovate and move into new abodes.

The Biden administration has grasped global warming, convened a 40-nation summit and set stringent carbon reduction targets.  Central here will be their acceleration of low-energy LED uptake. Progress will bring forward predictions about global LED saturation. Australia remains a backwater.

Using Gartner’s hype cycle, many light-based technologies are moving from the trough of disillusionment and up the slope of enlightenment. If your business is serious about innovation – contact us.

2021 Mar
The Gillard Group presented a conceptual model of a clients’ new home. They were very excited to see it rendered and to walk through it, virtually.

We are looking into ITU’s standard for LiFi and made contact with IEEE about their impending release of an equivalent. We watch as various lighting standards fragment as economic powers jostle for the high-ground. Uncertainty reigns. It is what we predicted which gives us an edge navigating ahead or advising clients.

The lighting supply chain continues to be severely disrupted as nations close their economies to manage COVID and companies continue to fold or amalgamate.

2021 Feb
We advance another LaaS arrangement with a CEO and opened the door to a major university.  The market remains a turbulent space; but there are signs of uplift and grounds for optimism.

Tom, our new junior lighting designer, has been modelling a container home. He is also keen to do the daylighting analysis. Narae has done fantastic work on remodelling a Queenslander and together with Jenni, preparing a lighting redesign of a restaurant bar.

A significant home lighting project is almost finished. However, the property market is so vibrant the owner has already sold up. They will move out just as the last lights are installed.

2021 Jan
How time flies. As business picks up we decided to interview for a junior lighting designer. Our new employee commences next month. He is an Interior Design graduate. We have staff now in several countries who can do overflow work while we sleep; it makes for productive outcomes.

We continue to distribute our book the Internet of Light to our LaaS community and influencers and look forward to their feedback. We are also looking forward to feedback from a Swedish company about our proposed use of their day lighting solution and the outcome of our bid for a Government consulting tender.

2020 Dec
Merry Christmas to all our clients. Our primary focus this month was teaming with a second company to bid for a government consulting contract commencing 2021. If successful, we will be researching best practice for lighting in public transport premises, infrastructure and conveyances.

We were also invited by a local company and submitted a fee proposal to light a sports arena in Israel.

We signed up more lighting design work commencing January; a restaurant franchise and a Queenslander. We continue construction oversight on a church and organised 3D printing for replacement parts. COVID continues to make everything skittish and like most businesses, we adapt and adjust.

2020 Nov
Jenni was engaged by the Illuminating Engineering Society to assist a team contributing to an update of New Zealand day lighting standards.

Professional lighting designers must be more than illumination artists and specifiers of artificial lighting product. The role must embrace day lighting and light-based technologies and downstream issues, like maintenance and carbon emission and landfill reduction. Many factors, including profiteering and ignorance, resulted in many modern buildings relying more on artificial than day lighting. Regulations about illumination levels have remained fixed to measures on the floor (lux); even though the bulk of human tasks are performed at desk height.

The greatest role professional lighting designers can contribute is activism, for example, encouraging authorities to: embrace the profession and radically upgrade Codes; encourage good design; leverage new technologies and innovation; and return our dark star-filled night sky. Designers must also convince manufacturers to forget up-selling and the bulb-turnover business model of the last century and embrace ethical and sustainable lighting practices.

2020 Oct
Our book the Internet of Light was published by UQ Press. Co-authored by Jenni and Mark, this version of the book is a small print run targeting clients, prospective clients and influencers.  The book is written for the lay-person, introduces the history of lighting and the invention and uptake of LED, covers many new light-base technologies and discusses problems, benefits and opportunities arising. We love the cover. The photo shows the front and back of the book.

Our bid for a bigger office space was knocked back and we continue to shop. Interestingly, in our area, there are acres of land-banked commercial spaces. Almost all of it has been idle for years. The owners want their price and are happy to sit until satisfied. It also means buyers face a needle in the haystack to find a genuine sale.

2020 Sept
The Gillard Group picked up more work lighting an industrial complex. We commenced the latest stage of relighting St Mary’s Church and visited site. The focus this time is on the bell tower and keeping within strict and approved Heritage constraints. We got to see the interior lighting design post-construction and the client and ourselves are over-the-moon. It looks fantastic.

We put in a bid for a commercial space and will know the owner’s position soon. If unsuccessful, we will keep shopping. Our City Council venture has been well received and we continue discussions. Our innovations are multi-layered and add value beyond illumination. We look forward to exploring how we can help this Council over the coming years.

2020 Aug
The Gillard Group received a grant and we are putting it to good use and continue pre-Covid work. We wait for responses on business ventures in western and central Queensland and applied under an innovation program with a City Council. A major job, in Fiji, and a LaaS opportunity were suspended. It really is a mixed bag these days.

We have used time wisely, consolidating our R&D at our long-term test site, fast-tracked system development with our CTO and got excited about some new light-based technologies that appear game-changers. Tom, one of our long-term staff, flew to Germany to start his Masters in Lighting course in Wismar. He will be another proven satellite resource we rely on to do design work while we sleep; we are not far from becoming a 24-hour production house. Keep safe, stay distant but in-touch.

2020 July
We referred a proof of our forthcoming book, Internet of Light to an independent reviewer, she responded:

“Your book was revealing and actually made me think. It made think a lot, which was great. I loved the anecdotes, I loved the cathedral stories, I loved the Da Vinci insights. The greenie in me loved the potential to reduce emissions. It really is a thought provoking read. The book flows nicely and takes the reader on the journey seamlessly and sensibly.”

The book is currently with University of Queensland and we are very close to producing a small first run for influencers and existing and potential clients.

2020 June
By end year, America should have the first in a series of national standards for the measurement, description and performance of ultraviolet-C devices. In a pandemic, we hope that the Australian Government adopts the standard or creates their own. The breakout of COVID-19 in Victoria and its potential to resurface in other parts of the country, is sufficient to promote conditional front-of-house use of ultraviolet treatments.

Since 2005, our business built itself on reputation and client referrals. A pandemic and depression are special times. We have moved to actively market ourselves for the first time.

2020 May
As part of our Lighting as a Service and ongoing R&D programs, we took delivery of LED and solar panels to install 2 June at our long-term test site, an apartment complex. A LED panel will be installed at the apex of the kitchen and hallway in two apartments. The panels act as artificial skylights.

The solution mirrors external light conditions as the sun cycles through morning, midday and afternoon.  Sensors on the solar panels relay power to and data about the day sky to the LED which then reconfigures light output. Unlike conventional skylights, occupants can switch their LED equivalent, off. The solution is low-cost and ideal for areas where people congregate indoors in spaces lacking natural light. We will monitor the reliability of the solution and seek occupant feedback.

In the same complex, we are upgrading grow lights in the Atrium and continuing to measure the decline in installed LED performance.

If you want to save money and build competitive edges, contact us.

Special report
Viruses (like COVID19 and Tuberculosis) can be rendered inactive and bacteria (like Legionella and MRSA) and mould/fungi illness (or CIRS) can be killed by germicidal light. We first identified this capability 2012, subsequently presented the opportunity to various stakeholders as part of many unfolding new light-based technologies and recite its value in our book: The Internet of Light. Pre-COVID19, we predicted that LED-based versions of this technology would find itself: “in ambulances to zoos.”  

COVID19 has accelerated demand in this area. The use of germicidal light is moving out from air-conditioning and water treatment in backend infrastructure to mainstream lighting applications.  First movers can secure product, or at least be further down the queue. Only good lighting design ensures that luminaries treat air and all surfaces and minimises risks to occupants. Poor design can have serious consequences.

There is no or limited Government legislation applying to this field. Only those, like us, in contact with the relevant scientific research, suppliers and professional bodies possess the knowledge, expertise and professional insurances to implement solutions.

The Gillard Group can design in this capability for greenfield developments and retrospectively. We have software that calculate the optimal dosage and use existing technologies to pulse or sustain treatment. Areas like kitchens, toilets, garbage spaces, common rooms, lifts and escalators and where vulnerable or large numbers of people coalesce, will benefit long-term from extuinguishing contaminates.

If you want to deal with lighting experts and build competitive edges, contact us.

2020 April
Thank you for your kind and supportive words as we rise to the challenges from the impact of COVID19. Although we have the means to ride through downtimes, Jenni claimed under Job Keeper. It was exacting and distracting but well-received by staff and hopefully sustains the economy.

Our CTO released the latest version of the MinMin Light System for us to test and review. It looks very swish and contains many hidden and additional features. Two of our staff were formally accepted as junior lighting designers by the International Architectural Lighting Designers (IALD), the world’s largest organisation of its type. We were all very excited for them.

2020 Mar
A very exciting month upended by COVID-19. We had to send staff home to work and initiate long term projects. Our new fast web site (and corporate email) should be available April. Our CTO continues on software upgrades and enhancements.

Regarding LaaS, we commenced documenting our research and development. Keep safe everyone.

2020 Feb
Our book and print marketing brochures are well-advanced. The web site has out grown our current ISP and is being migrated. We welcome back our Chief Technology Officer. He has begun migrating our system to the latest version. We are also adding and refining features.

Jenni’s team has commenced lighting design on a house with another in the queue, lighting construction is underway in a Hotel and another phase of Church lighting is in design, to name a few. We are in discussions with exciting potential jobs in NZ and Pacific Islands.

2020 Jan
The new National Construction Code comes into force 1 May. Much lower energy footprints and greater complexity apply to architectual lighting designs. We have been achieving these targets for several years and this is why last month we won the global LIT Energy Saving award.

Our visit to New Zealand was productive. We met architects and church and art gallery authorities. We are doing a lighting design for a home in the South Island. We also bid to light a civic building.

NZ is buzzing, especially Auckland, as it prepares to host the America’s cup.  We lunched with a tech-CEO who relocated his business from Brisbane to Auckland to lower costs and leverage superior broadband (103 mbps). Speedtest Global Index for fixed broadband speeds shows Australia (41 mbps) has fallen from 62nd to 68th place. Australia now ranks with Vietnam, India and Kazakhstan!

2019 Dec
Jenni and Mark were VIPs amongst 2,400 attendees at the Australian Computer Society’s impressive Reimagination Conference and Digital Disruptors Awards at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Post-event highlights appeared in an eight-page supplement in The Australian Financial Review 17 December.

Tech-start ups, here and abroad, are reimagining and disrupting the status quo. The traditional lighting industry and those involved in, or reliant on, lighting design services, should plan for more storms ahead.

We closed on a high, winning the 2019 LIT International Lighting Design Award for Energy Saving for the Thornhill Apartment Complex. A Russian tower block and an American church also joined us on the podium.

The win vindicates our focus on providing sustained value to our clients. We wish all our clients a very Merry Christmas.

2019 Nov
The tailwinds of many lighting design projects draw closer to conclusion. Jenni and the team have also been updating and upgrading photos on our web site and are looking forward to posting more 2020.

We have started professionally packaging our R&D. Our main test site, an apartment complex, has served us well. The Executive Summary will be written 2020 and reflect our hard work over many years.

Yuval Harari says in his book Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow:

“Humans can see only a minuscule part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The spectrum in its entirety is about 10 trillion times larger than that of visible light. Might the mental spectrum be equally vast?”

As shared below in September, once you unlock both spectrums, you appreciate why mankind is entering the Photonic Millennia.

2019 Oct
In a bizarre turn of events the President of the USA, Donald Trump, commander of the world’s biggest economy, came out in support of the incandescent bulb.

The fact that this lamp is very high-energy, environmentally unsound, dumb, designed deliberately to have a very short-life and makes no economic sense over cost-of-life – appears irrelevant.

The decision also flies in the face of the global momentum to LED and smart-LED and gives a lifeline to the remaining legacy industries churning out fossil burning old lamp technologies.  Interesting times.

2019 Sep
A Principal of the Gillard Group, Mark Lloyd pens speeches and articles for others as a ghost-writer and himself.  This ongoing work finds its way into various media outlets here and abroad. Here is an excerpt from a recent article:

“…. Just as the Stone and Iron Ages defined humanity’s industry, leveraging the electromagnetic spectrum is the key resource defining our way into the next millennia. …..

Mankind’s new-world industries rely increasingly on the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum. The unfolding Internet of Light and our creativity accelerates opportunities exponentially – we are entering The Photonic Millennia.  As mankind reaches for the stars, it is now possible to imagine, that one day we could use the resources of infinite space and restore our finite Earth. This is an exciting vision to unite a planet.”

Jenni is also advancing the Gillard Group’s book with the publisher and we look forward to sharing it with our Lighting as a Service clients.

2019 Aug
The Gillard Group attended the Lighting Summit in Melbourne. Finally, the bulk of conversation has moved from lux/lumens to technology. Representatives from various City Council were the dominate client-attendees. They were trying to define next best steps through digital disruption – our speciality. Several expressed value listening to speakers from nascent smart cities.

A highlight was the presentation from the representative from an American city. This city appears to have taken bold steps with technology to improve the experiences of ratepayers and reduce costs. We caught up with the speaker over dinner and look forward to corresponding.

Understandeably, Councils are drawn to technologies that can be used on street light poles and by association, suppliers of lighting technology. Despite the lighting industries recent embrace of technology, the tech-industry will overtake and dominant this space. When the music stops, many Councils and cities may find themselves locked into proprietary solutions, exposed by security vulnerabilities and holding obsolete investments.

2019 July
The Gillard Group celebrated its Principal, Mark Lloyd, at the annual gala dinner held for Advocates of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.  Advocates comprise academic and industry leaders.

Mark became a founding Advocate after winning the rights to host the World Computer Congress, bringing 1,200 delegates to Brisbane and in recognition of his ongoing contributions to the global tech-industry.

As also a paid ghost writer, Mark’s views continue to be published in national print media, professional magazines and social media forums.

Mike, another Principal, is on secondment preparing Australia’s $50 billion AUS bid to host the Olympics in Queensland. Meanwhile, Jenni is arranging further business opportunities here and abroad.  Our collective investments keep our client’s at the leading edge of technology, lighting and value creation developments.

2019 June
The  Gillard Group is running eight projects simultaneously. All are in different stages, from design to commissioning. The projects include churches, commercial spaces, a healthcare space and homes.

We were delighted to obtain Form 15 for an office space in the golden triangle of Brisbane. The next phase is construction (2020).

We visited St Mary’s church in Warwick, a town and administrative centre for the Southern Downs Region. The church dominates the town. On-site, the furniture had been removed. Cherry pickers and scaffolding were operating inside. Painters and electricians were scrambling to get things done. The lighting outcome will be amazing.

At another church in Bundaberg, our master electrician is busy wiring up our lighting design.

2019 May
The  Gillard Group is busy on multiple fronts. We picked up several new projects, made new leads on areas of focus here and abroad and continue our research and development. We also put in offers for several commercial spaces. We can afford to wait for a good deal.

We attended an IES briefing on the impending National Construction Codes (2019). We already exceed these much lower energy targets. Accordingly, we offer clients NCC 2019 compliant designs.

2019 April
The  Gillard Group appointed Narae Jo as a new lighting designer. She has a degree in Interior Design and was DUX of her graduation year. Narae was born and raised in South Korea and started on home lighting designs.

A new client has given the Gillard Group a small but challenging Yoga Centre overlooking the Brisbane River.

The updated National Construction Codes, incorporating many changes to lighting, apply 1 May 2020. Enforced lower energy footprints for lighting will challenge ‘design’ pretenders. As predicted, artificial illumination combined with light-based technologies, is making design complex.

Our designs already achieve a much lower energy footprint than the new NCC 2019 demand.

2019 Mar
The  Gillard Group progresses several mutually beneficial partnerships with entities here and abroad. They are interested in our LaaS, design and installed LED management leadership and network and research. We are interested in their ground-breaking light-based technologies or tech-skills.

As raised last year, the Gillard Group is the feature article of the international Arc Feb/Mar 2019 edition (pp40-49). We were recognised for our new global services (even though we launched LaaS, for example, 2015). It just shows how strong our leadership position has become.

We are also looking forward to posting photos of our latest commissioned designs.  

2019 Feb
The  Gillard Group is commissioning lighting for a number of sites and progressing a commercial space in the golden triangle in Brisbane.  We were engaged to design the space, project manage and deliver a turnkey lighting design.

The layout has been approved and design work has commenced.  Half a dozen specialisms will help deliver a state-of-the-art work space over looking the Brisbane River.

We also finished design work for a bespoke mount for lights for a church. The mount design is in keeping with church iconology and a clever solution to resolve a challenging lighting location.

2019 Jan

The Federal election will most likely take place in May. The Australian Governments have been laggards in accelerating LED uptake, banishing high-energy traditional lamps and applying minimum LED standards relative to most of the advanced nations in the northern hemisphere.

We recently completed a consultancy where hundreds of cheap LEDs flickered. Our findings showed incompatibilities between the building control system and LED and deficiencies in the LED products themselves.  Australia could be a leader in the Internet of Light, but wallows in the dark. Consumers are left battling and baffled.

Pioneers, like ourselves, continue to fight against lack of momentum and resistance to change. Smart organisations who realise what is unfolding and act, will gain a competitive advantage.

2018 Dec
Jenni, Mike, Mark and the team wish our clients and LaaS community a Merry Christmas. The Gillard Group will operate over Christmas on half-staff arrangements.

As reported November, we have a range of projects carrying over into the New Year and others gearing up. Thank you for your business and ongoing patronage.

Australia lags most of the northern hemisphere in LED uptake but this will accelerate 2019. New light-based technologies continue to emerge. The world is just 2.5 years away from international ratification of a global standard for LiFi. Once ratified, the Internet of Light will be officially born and high-speed Internet connectivity using ubiquitous LED, will unfold.

Prepare now – join our Lighting as a Service community.

2018 Nov
The Gillard Group progresses lighting activities for: Hotel (Stage 1), Churches (Stage 2), Apartment complex (construction), College (retrofit) and residences (design). Some projects will carry over into a promising New Year.

Owners of another major Hotel called us in to resolve a big lighting problem impacting business. The issue centres on the products they bought versus  limitations of a well-known control system. We also advised a client that installers had compromised expensive products invalidating ten-year warranties.

The rapid uptake of LED and fast-evolving luminaries is driving up complexity. Old ways of doing business are falling short. Many more businesses and Body Corporates are going to be caught out.

Prepare for tomorrow, today – join our Lighting as a Service community.

Special
Companies with strong top down focus on great design outperformed industry-benchmark revenue growth by as much as two to one. The outcome remained true across industries.

McKinsey, the worldwide management consulting company, published the findings October. The report reflects a five-year study into the design practices of 300 publicly listed companies in multiple countries and industries.

If you want to engage a world-leader in lighting design, Lighting as a Service and achieving NET positive outcomes, contact us.

2018 Oct
Jenni Gillard accepted the role of international lighting judge on a panel for Darc architectural lighting awards. She assessed over 200 entries across four categories. The panel’s short-list is now posted for the world’s lighting design community to vote on.

As the year draws to a close, the Gillard Group finds all but two of its lighting designs in construction. We were also delighted that after an eternity, our design for a former Bundaberg church was accepted by heritage authorities. Only loose ends need to be addressed with the owners to relight this beautiful space for commercial purposes.

The world’s fastest camera freezes time at 10 trillion frames per second allowing us to analyse the interaction between light and matter. Like Hubble, being able to see and simplify the complexity of light at such a micro level, opens new doors.

Prepare for tomorrow, today – join our Lighting as a Service community.

2018 Sep
Prof Froth and Dr Caldwell from the Queensland University of Technology have finalised a refereed paper titled More-than-Human Media Architecture. The paper will be published in Proceedings of the Media Architecture Biennale, Beijing, China ACM 13-16 November 2018.

The paper challenges current human-centric architectural practices and presents examples of humanities capacity to design more-than-human friendly spaces. The Gillard Group’s pioneering planet-friendly lighting design initiatives at SEA Aquarium Singapore is cited. The authors also thanked Jenni Gillard:

“for an in-depth discussion and her constructive feedback and suggestions from an applied lighting designer’s perspective, which enabled us to test some of our thinking and ideas with a long-standing industry professional.”

Advances in 3D printing has allowed construction of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or smart dust. MEMS contains miniature sensors which can detect light, vibrations, temperature and movement and store, process and transmit data. The implications of MEMS for humanity, is mixed and untested. Digital disruption accelerates.

Prepare for tomorrow, today – join our Lighting as a Service community.

2018 Aug
The Editor Mondo Arc, the international lighting magazine, confirmed the Gillard Group will be the special feature story for the Feb/Mar edition. Our leadership in Lighting as a Service attracts growing attention.

We commenced negotiations for long-term support and development of our MinMin Light System and shopping for a larger commercial space. The company also won business with an international Hotel chain.

October 2017 our employee Kate had to return to England. We met her again in London at the Darc Awards in June this year. We now have her working for us part time. A qualified Interior Designer with lighting skills, Kate contributes while we sleep.

2018 July
The LUX Life Magazine, distributed globally, has 238,000 High Net Worth and Ultra-HNW readers. Following our successes, most recently Spectrum, LUX announced the Gillard Group as: Most Astounding Lighting Designers – Queensland. When you consider the State has a similar population and GDP to Singapore – it is not a bad accolade.

Speaking of Singapore, Jenni Gillard’s designs and views feature in their Lighting Today (Vol. 3, July/August 2018, pages 76-79).

The Federal Government’s 2019 National Construction Code sets tough targets for energy use for general and decorative lighting in buildings. If enacted, the Code is an unsophisticated club on new builds. Only the best lighting designers will be able to extract the energy savings required to provide headroom for decorative additions.

2018 June
The Darc Awards (Decorative) were held ‘underground’ in London. It was an exciting event oozing creativity and full of mad-cap designers. We met and lunched with a CEO successfully selling LiFi ready solutions into the UK and Europe. The CEO is already establishing non-lighting partners in Asia and Australia.

The EU and key Asian countries accelerate in this critical area. In Singapore, light poles will soon host non-cooperative facial recognition systems. India, China and Japan race towards LED saturation. Australia continues to export coal briquettes; and import sub-standard LED.

When it dawns on our nation that the globe relies on light-based technologies, including ubiquitous LED luminaires, foreign companies will own our market. Our communications with Government leave us disheartened. Only smart Australian businesses stand to benefit from the changes we have shared in our News since 2012.

Concluding, have a look at what we have achieved for the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and Thornhill Apartments.

2018 May
Two of three Principals here in the Gillard Group will be overseas on business (28 May – 18 June). Mike Goodman and the team will be running the Office. We look forward to sharing some of the intelligence we gather from other global leaders.

LUX Designer Awards 2018, announced Spectrum as: Best Multi Residential Design, under the citation;

“the most spectacularly lit, low-lit-energy, aged-lit-friendly affordable housing complex in the world.”

Royal Philips, after selling off Philips Lighting, required the latter to rebadge itself. On 15 May, Philips Lighting announced its new name – Signify. Signify will still use Philips brand name for products. Just as GE announced late last year its withdrawal from lighting altogether, traditional lighting parents are off-loading their lighting businesses. The IoT and LED continues to disrupt the past and create a new smart future.

Japanese telecommunications company Sangikyo Corporation has launched a backend short-range high-volume optical-based LiFi solution. Called Backhaul, the system will standardise with IEEE 802.15.13 and communicate with LED light. Just another technology contributing to the global construction of the Internet of Light.

2018 April
After commissioning Stage 1 in 2016, we have commenced Stage II lighting of St Mary’s Church. On completion, St Mary will be the dominant night-wonder for the town of Warwick.

We delivered concept-designs to another client. As per the brief, there was a no-frills cost-sensitive solution and a grand-design. We look forward to hearing which direction they will take. We continue to help clients on many fronts and look forward to sharing further highlights.

On 20 April, the COAG Energy Council announced phase out of inefficient halogen and remaining incandescent light bulbs in Australia and minimum standards for LED. LED will align with revised EU standards expected 2018 and apply September 2020. The introduction of LED standards in Australia and New Zealand, even minimal, cannot be soon enough.

A US firm developed a bi-directional LiFi panel using industry standard white LED. The solution covers 48 m2 and services 15 users simultaneously. Given the rate of release of new light-based technologies, we can never do justice here by these emerging opportunities. As shared since 2012, digital friendly LED and digitised photons (light) will become a primary gateway between our physical and digital worlds.

2018 Mar
Noting the Internet of Things (IoT), IBM is working on a computer 1mm x 1mm with a price tag of about 10 cents. Such devices can drive even more LED-based services. In space and backed by Boeing, Aussie startup Myriota is establishing an IoT network of shoebox size satellites 500km above Australia. Overlap Australia’s Sky Muster and US approval for SpaceX to launch half of 12,000 satellites at 1,150km within six years and ubiquitous global broadband becomes a reality.

While radio frequency currently dominates, laser, LED and other light-based solutions will prevail. The Internet of Light (IoL) is being built organically, globally and rapidly. Photons have too many advantages over electrons. Photons consume a factor of a thousand less in energy and can offer 10,000 more frequency spectrums. As billions of devices inter-connect, the foundation will be light.

The Gillard Group can give your business NET positive results and great lighting designs now. Simultaneousluy, under our Lighting as a Service, we continue to add value while preparing your business for tomorrow.

2018 Feb
The Gillard Group commenced lighting designs for 24,000 m2. We are also designing a dozen massive soft-fabric luminaries for another client, amongst other work. The Gillard Group continues to expand.

Globally, Japanese engineers have built a tiny electronic light. Named Luciola, the light has a 3.5 mm diameter and emits a red glimmer. However, 285 micro speakers, emitting ultrasonic waves, allows the light to hover. Engineers hope to add simple functions to create new display capability and other services.

The global uptake of digital-friendly LED and inventions like Luciola, combine to build the Internet of Light (IoL). We foresaw the IoL underpinning the Internet of Things, and began preparations 2012. In short, nothing is faster than light and few are better prepared for the assimilation of technology and lighting industries, than ourselves.

2018 Jan
Great design is central to achieving optimal lighting outcomes and sustained value. We are product independent and use less lights, watts, energy and cabling to meet your brief and Code compliance.

Under Lighting as a Service, we also collect additional data during design (when it is most cost-effective to do so) and use it to manage installed LED environments, predict life and create a rolling capital replacement program.

Below is an example of design-outcomes for a major retailer. Contact us.

Net present value $82,399

Payback

2.69 years
Savings (5 years) $216,563
Existing lighting 1,016 luminaires
72,397 Watts p/h
New lighting 704 luminaires
19,248 Watts p/h
Reductions 31% luminaires
73% Watts p/h

2017 Dec
Seasons greetings. Thank you all for your good business 2017. Our office reopens 8 January 2018. The Principals will continue to monitor contacts.

Santa told us that Spectrum won LUX Global Designer Awards 2018: best multi-residential design. The complex will feature in a special global awards publication. The award citation reads:

“Spectrum is the most spectacularly lit, ambient, economical, energy-lit-efficient and aged-friendly-lit affordable housing complex in the world.”

We are so excited about the New Year and trust our clients and friends had a terrific Christmas.

2017 Nov
Spectrum wins Urban Development Institute of Australia award for excellence – three in a row (Bowen Court and Caggara). We have entered Spectrum into international lighting award programs run in the northern hemisphere.

More doors open for our Lighting as a Service offering. The Gillard Group wins another apartment complex contract. Our Christmas hamper is full of business.

The Australian Government’s proposed 2019 version of the National Construction Code proposes significant reductions to illumination power density values. The proposed Code sows many unintended and delitorious consequences.

General Electric announces the sale of Current and the end of GE’s involvement with lighting. This confirms our predictions made 2012. More turmoils await the lighting industry. Risks for unsuspecting owners of large lighting portfolios grows. The time to contact us, is now.

2017 Oct
Feedback from Federal Government legislators and the Illuminating Engineering Society over Government efforts to update national lighting regulations continues.

As advised May 2017, our view holds that the update will not be significant enough to really accelerate uptake of quality LED in an optimal way. We are pessimistic that the parties will arrive at a sensible outcome. When you visit a house in a remote Indian village made out of Buffalo dung and see it is lit with LED and Australia’s uptake of LED languishes at 8%, you get the picture.

The Gillard Group signed up multiple new jobs with a major new international client. Another major job grows closer and we look forward to telling you about it soon.

Pictured (L-R) Jenni, John, Chris and Kate working on a Light Audit.

Sadly, recent changes to Australian Federal Government legislation, forced Kate to return to England. However, Tom, an under-graduate architect student with a love for and majoring in lighting, found us and recently joined the team.

2017 Sept
Principal, Mark Lloyd presented to ICT representatives from fifty countries at a global Conference hosted by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) in Colombo. The Conference theme was: Towards Digital Prosperity. Mark’s topic: Digital lighting and light-based technologies (a $110B+ dollar opportunity for technologists).

LED uptake continues to build the Internet of Light which will underpin the Internet of Everything.

The downstream opportunities for innovative organisations to create transformative new client experiences through new products and services using light, is limited only by our imagination.

Accordingly, the Gillard Group continues to attract attention from major corporations with our world-leading Lighting as a Service offer and MinMin Light System.

The speed of these developments means the paradigm-shift takes awhile for potential clients to assimilate. Once they commit and become part of our LaaS community, the benefits become self-evident, says Mark.

The CSSL sent us this brief post-Conference video promo in which Mark’s presentation is cited as a highlight.

Jenni and Mark appreciated the Conference opportunity to better understand what is happening in ICT globally and its implications for our clients and deepen our network of subject-matter-experts. The range and acceleration of digital-based change is breathtaking, concluded Jenni.

Pictured (LtoR) Yohan Ramasundara, Secretary General SEARCC; Dr Nick Tate, President SEARCC; Mark Lloyd, Principal Gillard Group; and Yasas Abeywickrama, President CSSL.

2017 August
The Gillard Group picked up several new exciting lighting design jobs from Brisbane to Cairns. We have even bigger Lighting as a Service prospects under negotiation. As reported February, Principal Mark Lloyd (and Jenni Gillard) depart for a speaking engagement at a major computing Conference in Sri Lanka. Mike Goodman and the team will carry on business as usual.

2017 July
The Gillard Group is pleased to announce the full-time appointment of Mike Goodman. He has already confirmed positive NET savings resulting from our Lighting as a Service.

For a commercial site, we reduced wattage 76% and lights 39%, achieved 5.2 watts per square metre and used only 30 watts for night-security. ROI is three years. The client said:

“Jenni and her team did a fabulous job. We still cannot believe the difference changing the lighting has made to the look and feel of the office. Definitely worth dealing with the experts.”

For a new home, the client said:

“…. we both can see the value that we are getting and consider ourselves so extremely lucky to have found you!!!”

For Spectrum Apartments, the client said:

“The external lighting is spectacular and highlights the building and the internal lighting is perfectly functional and creates great ambience in all units.”

For lighting as a service or great lighting design contact us and save money.

2017 June
The Gillard Group has entered a most exciting phase of growth. Clients have opened their doors to lighting as a service and our ground-breaking system. The next quarter is demanding, as we pull together LaaS offers. Our vanguard clients accelerate maturation of our solution. We are ably supported by a CFO specialising in Finance, Audit, Governance and Corporate Services. He is transitioning from oversight of $2 billion (AUS) in project value, to join our business. Contact us and save money.

2017 May
The Gillard Group Principals attended the Sparc-FMA International Lighting and Facilities Event (Sydney) and visited the Vivid Festival. The Conference attracted local and international speakers. The lighting industry’s woes deepen from digital disruption and market and LED manufacturing liberalisation. The Delegate of the EU to Australia provided an excellent overview of the EU’s success with LED uptake and energy and emission reductions. Australia is lagging badly

Pictured: Jenni (white dress) and Mark in the centre of the Sparc reception function.

The Vivid Festival now attracts over two million visitors and re-introduces the public to the power of light, at least for facade and decorative lighting.

The Principals also met Government Legislators and Lighting Council Australia representatives and contributed our views. The Government’s new draft lighting legislation is close. We trust it will be tough enough, broad enough and prescient enough to help consumers avoid bad market behaviour and poor quality LED. We doubt design and or lighting designers will be regulated. Without formal recognition, controls and penalties, poor design and bad practice will continue to erode consumer confidence.

The Gillard Group has become a world leader in lighting as a service. Our offering is unique. We are price leaders and seek to accelerate and deepen this part of our business. We seek forward-thinking owners of large lighting portfolios. Contact us and save money.

2017 April
The Gillard Group alerts you to the Consultation Regulation Impact Statement – Lighting (Nov 2016) produced by the Governments and Territories of Australia and New Zealand. The report highlights “the problem” associated with the low uptake of energy-saving, long-life quality LED.  The report finds: bad market behaviour; zero, false and/or misleading information; too many poor quality LED products; consumer ignorance; dated and inadequate regulations; and limited consumer protection. The report also finds “split incentives” encouraging developers to continue to install the cheapest lighting product, without fear of downstream consequences.

A good design from a product-independent lighting company like us, using quality LED, pays for itself quickly. Too many consumers are being put off or ripped off and left without recourse; despite LED being a perfectly sound and cost-effective solution.

Until resolved, vested interests continue to lobby Governments to go softly and make concessions to ensure a soft landing. Meanwhile, the cost of electricity continues to climb, short-life product and mercury fills rubbish-tips and the Earth’s temperature rises. Moreover, China, Japan, India, European Union and many other nations have aggressive targets for LED adoption. Lastly, most major lighting manufacturers are no longer investing in conventional lamps – LED adoption is inevitable.

2017 Mar
The Gillard Group has partnered with local technology firm 1ICT to continue development of our ground-breaking system underpinning our Lighting as a Service. 1ICT CEO Satish Naidu says:

“As the Gillard Group’s innovative MinMin Light System is beautifully constructed, we are delighted to accelerate and support its development into the future.”

Kate, a qualified Interior Designer from London, has joined us on a part time trial basis. She has already added value to an important client.

The Gillard Group continues to light an impressive list of landmark buildings. Soon, the exterior lighting for St Mary’s church will be completed in Warwick and sourcing product to complete St Andrews church in Bundaberg is well advanced.

2017 Feb
The Gillard Group partner Mark Lloyd accepted an invitation to speak at a major computing conference in Sri Lanka in September 2017. The Sri Lanka Computer Society is co-hosting their conference with the South East Asian Regional Computer Conference (SEARCC) and accommodating the General Assembly of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). Representatives of IFIP and SEARCC come from around the world and represent some of the world’s leaders in technology research.

The conference theme is Towards Digital Prosperity. Mark will share his research and insights into digital lighting and the exciting opportunities it represents for the world and the way we live, work and play.

2017 Jan
The Gillard Group’s international lighting excellence award for Bowen Court Apartments is published in LIGHTING Art and Science for International Designers Vol. 36, Issue Six, Dec 2016/Jan 2017 page 67. This magazine is published on behalf of the Illuminating Engineering Society (AusNZ).

Pictured with Jenni celebrating the International Lighting Award are fellow Gillard Group Principals Mike and Mark and BHC’s management.

The Gillard Group is also published in a special ten page feature article in the Turkish lighting magazine, KONSEPT PROJELER (Concept Projects) 52nd issue, Jan-Mar 2017. The Editorial team selected many projects from our body of work. In a question/answer format they also explored Jenni Gillard’s lighting and design philosophy and company goals. The magazine has 7,000+ readers from central and western Europe. The magazine regularly features great international lighting designers and architects.

The Gillard Group’s article Lighting Storms is published in INTERIOR FITOUT Jan-Mar 2017 pages 31-33.  The Magazine has 20,000 readers.

2016 Dec
Merry Christmas to all our wonderful clients. Spectrum Apartments opened November. The complex showcases our facade of four three-story high waterfalls of coloured neon light. The rainbow of colours makes a spectacular statement and a dream finish for us in 2016.

In other news, India pushes for all LED 2019 (visit ujala dashboard), General Electric announces it will no longer build Compact Fluorescent Lamps and the European Union has banned Halogen bulbs and floodlights. Conventional lamps are being phased out and uptake of LED continues to accelerate under Haitz Law. We encourage owners of large light portfolios to come and talk to us in 2017 – we have so much to offer.

2016 Nov
Jenni Gillard features in LD+A, the magazine for the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (page 73). She is recognised with others as the first in the world to obtain their Certified Lighting Designer (CLD) credentials. The CLD is the first evidence-based assessment and double-blind test of professional competence over seven domains of lighting practice. As at publication, only twenty individuals in the world have passed this rigorous test.

2016 Nov
The Gillard Group launched Lighting as a Service (LaaS) 2015 and signed long term clients 2016. According to Research and Markets, the LaaS market is estimated to grow at a compounding annual growth rate of 46.3% during 2016 to 2022 to reach a market size of US$934.4M by 2022. As we are the first independent lighting design company to launch LaaS in the world, we are well placed to provide this exciting service to more clients 2017.

2016 Oct
The IESANZ International Lighting Excellence Awards held in Christchurch NZ announced, from winners across Australia and NZ, that the Gillard Group’s lighting design for Bowen Court Apartments had won the ultimate Award. IESANZ Chief judge Professor Emeritus Warren Julian AM concluded: 

“The lighting for this recycled housing project is primarily to produce a safe, efficient and low-cost environment.  It has achieved this but with a bonus that makes very basic dwellings and their connecting and public spaces seem like an upmarket unit block …….”

IESANZ sponsors our project into the world’s largest International Lighting Design Award Program run by the IALD. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner LIGHTFAIR International, Philadelphia, USA May 2017.

Equally exciting, at the Queensland IES awards night, our John Cullen accepted on Chris Jacobsen’s behalf, his win for a student luminaire design. Chris received $1,500 prize money and trophy. Chris, in his final year of a product design degree, and the team, was thrilled with the honour.

2016 Sept
The Principals presented: “As the ICT industry muscles into lighting, what then?” to the Australian Smart Lighting Summit, Melbourne. We revealed some of our earlier research and projected our thoughts about the lighting industry’s future when technology giants come to dance. The presentation generated significant interest and subsequent enquiries from diverse entities.

Pictured: Mark and Jenni doing a joint presentation at the Smart Lighting Summit.

The Principals also met a Melbourne SME doing advanced smart lighting controls, a chandelier specialist and other business interests.

2016 July
The Gillard Group’s two lighting entries (Ann Street Church and Disk Luminaire) are both short-listed by an international judging panel for the European Darc Awards. We submit four entries for the Illuminating Engineering Society’s (IES) award consideration in September. Meanwhile, our 2015 IES award winner, Bowen Court, is being judged, against others, for an international lighting award.

2016 June
The Gillard Group launches its beta version system to support its Lighting as a Service. The system looks like another world-first solution for us. The system will save clients money and bring them much greater certainty about managing their LED-based lighting portfolios, especially downstream. The system and associated processes will commence trials as part of our accelerating research and development program. The system already contains an extensive database. Designed and led by Principal Mark Lloyd in partnership with Jenni Gillard, two c-suit technologists, a c-suit accountant and an experienced programmer the development is in full swing.

2016 May
Aglow, part of the Gillard Group, signs ‘brownfield’ client to a four year Lighting as a Service contract and commences negotiations with another.

2016 Apr
The Principals expand their global network of influencers and suppliers. We continue to compile and contact start-up firms venturing into the new opportunities afforded by digital-friendly LED, digitised illumination and the Internet of Things.

2016 Mar
In New Zealand and Singapore, the Principals do business and pleasure. In Germany, they attend interviews, business meetings, Light + Building Conference (Frankfurt) and CEBIT (Hannover) the world’s largest technology event.

At CEBIT, IBM’s Pepper using IBM’s Watson (Artificial Intelligence) and natural speech technology impressed everyone

Jenni at Light+Building, Frankfurt Germany, noting the latest in retail lighting

2016 Mar
We note with interest the renaming of Smart Lighting Engineering Research Centre (see 2013 Dec below) to Lighting Enabled Systems and Applications (LESA). LESA’s focus on lighting systems that think fits very well with our own research and predictions for what is unfolding 2015-2024. The omnipresent smart LED luminaire will become the end and start point of the global data/service network. You need to start looking at your humble lights differently and preparing for new services in the pipeline – contact us. 

2016 Feb
Gillard Group refreshes web site.

2016 Jan
The Gillard Group features in Interior Fitout magazine, Jan-March edition (ASOFIA) – “Seeing The Light: Advancements in Lighting Design and Technology.”

2016
Our IES award is recognised by the client on their web site and becomes a contender for international lighting award consideration.

2016
The Gillard Group features in Lighting (Art and Science for International Designers) magazine, Dec-Jan edition (IESANZ).

2016
Tech giants leverage their technologies to usher in and supercharge a new lighting and services paradigm, for example: Apple talks. Our 2012 research paper 2015-2024 continues to prove prescient. Aglow’s new services meets early success.