International multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, Cundall, has expanded its services in Singapore to include Specialist Lighting Design with the appointment of Matt Marshall, Head of Cundall Light4 in Singapore to lead the service. In this interview, Matt tells us about his role and the architectural lighting trends ahead.
SEAB: Congratulations on your appointment as Head of Cundall Light4 in Singapore. Can you briefly tell us about your role?
MATT: With Cundall Light4 looking to expand its offering of specialist lighting design services in the SEA region, I am heading the new service line here. I will be creating awareness of the importance of not only good lighting design, but in addition how lighting needs to form a part of the net zero strategy in projects. Cundall has achieved carbon neutral as a business and now we’re setting ourselves a new, even more ambitious goal – by 2030 every project we design will be zero carbon.
SEAB: What was your journey like to get to where you are now?
MATT: Having worked in all sectors of the lighting industry I would say I have seen it all. I started the road to where I am now with a set of pliers and screwdrivers as my tools of trade installing lighting systems. Moving on from there saw me completing Illumination Engineering studies at RMIT Melbourne. This brought me to my current direction. The lighting industry allows people to work in many roles and it is my belief that the more versed an individual is, the more they can offer to their clients and projects.
SEAB: You have worked on many projects ranging from resorts, hotels, commercial developments, and luxury residential properties across the APAC region. Which are your favourites?
MATT: By far the most satisfying project that I undertook was The Nautilus in the Maldives. I recall sitting on the pool deck programming DMX systems for an underwater lightshow in the blazing sun with the payoff being when the sun went down watching the results in real-time.
SEAB: Cundall is mainly a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy. Why did it expand its services to include Specialist Lighting Design?
MATT: Cundall Light4, our lighting specialism, operates in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Australian offices currently, so to add the service to the Singapore team is a natural progression. We see strong demand and growth in the market and the Singapore office is on an ambitious plan to increase our offerings in various sectors in addition to our core engineering services.
SEAB: You have been in this industry for a long time. What trends do you see emerging in the architectural lighting industry for Singapore and the SE Asian region?
MATT: I believe there will be a shift, not just in SEA but globally, to a reduction in carbon emissions as the world is working towards zero carbon targets. We will see a need for a shift towards not only energy efficient designs and fittings but also a fundamental change in the core direction that we approach lighting design. With the emergency of LED technology came the ability to over design and misuse the benefits of reduced power consumption and heat dissipation, this is now going to be needed to be rethought to allow for real savings in carbon emissions due to both usage of lighting and the processes employed to manufacture the equipment needed on our projects.
