When a downlight's cone of light hits a nearby wall, the top edge of the beam forms a bright arch with a dark area between each fixture, giving a row of scallops. Designers sometimes use them deliberately as a rhythm along a corridor, but more often they are a sign the fixtures are too close to the wall or have the wrong optic. Moving fixtures out, using wall wash trims or tightening spacing reduces them.
Look at the scallops on the hallway wall, those cans are 12 inches off the wall, we drew them at 30.
Also heard as
- scalloping
Related terms
Downlight
A ceiling luminaire, usually recessed, that directs its light downward, known regionally as a can or pot light.
Wall washing
Lighting a wall evenly from top to bottom with asymmetric luminaires set back from it, to make the surface glow uniformly.
Uniformity
How evenly light is spread over an area, expressed as a ratio such as minimum to average or maximum to minimum.
Beam angle
The angle across a light's beam at which intensity has fallen to 50 percent of its center value.