Lighting seems very much to be the topic du jour across the channel as a Parisian creative arts centre has seen its dome fitted with 4,480 LED lights, in a scheme masterminded by London-based designer Tiphaine Treins.
The designer spoke to Lighting Magazine about the finished retrofit project for The Elephant Paname Arts and Dance Center, commenting: "The RGB white LEDs give us the possibility to have very pastel tones and a rich palette of whites as well."
This follows recent reports that the Parisian metro and RER rail networks are in the process of seeing an extensive LED retrofit rolled out across 302 Metro stations and 66 RER stops, comprising one million sq m and 250,000 LED units - totalling £9.6 million worth of contracts.
In other news, the French government is passing legislation making it obligatory for businesses to switch off their lights overnight, in order to cut unnecessary spending on wasted electricity bills and reduce their carbon footprint significantly.
While the Telegraph ran an April Fools' story claiming that our government would be appointing a lights Tsar to go around switching off lighting which was not being used, it would seem that the French are paying an awful lot of attention to lighting at the moment.
Indeed, the British government is driving ahead with initiatives to make our nation more green and cut public spending. As a result, streetlights and signage up and down the country - to name just a couple of examples - have had LED makeovers and our national electricity bills should hopefully be increasingly going down.
Therefore, home and business owners who are yet to pay attention to the benefits of lighting retrofit projects - and who are guzzling power with outdated ceiling light fittings and poor quality outdoor lighting, leaving a far larger than necessary carbon footprint - should perhaps stop and consider investing in one.
