[Kavallerist]

Of course, the building of this fabulous building will take years... What has started as a simple car port will blossom into a really nice place to work on projects...

In the mean time, the "car port" part is being built, which gives me plenty of time to plan for the various toys.

Here's what I'm starting with: I have a concrete pad 20 feet by 42 feet. The inside ceiling will be twelve feet high. Above that is a loft made with attic trusses on a 10/12 pitch, allowing me a working space about 12 feet wide and 7 and a half feet high throughout the entire length. There is storage space to the side of that, but of course the ceiling will be lower there.

That will be the limit of the project for this year, probably. We'll see. Next year, the sides will be enclosed, probably in some way that will not make it look like a big industial building. Future plans include a lift as well as some woodworking/boatbuilding space.

In the mean time, here is my question. I need to plan the lighting for the thing. I want really nice lighting. By that, I mean I don't want to hunt through shadows, and I'd prefer to avoid the flicker and poor color rendering of normal flourescent lights. Detail work lights above the benches will probably be halogen to avoid this, but what is the consensus on general lighting? I'm leaning towards metal halide with some incandescent (for instant start ups) supplements. How should I plan for the number of lights and their spacing? Are there newer flourescents that work a little better than the old standards? For the loft (with its lower ceiling) the metal halides are probably not a good idea, but that much space with incandescents is probably not a good idea.

Any suggestions are very much appreciated. The electric load is going to drive other decisions on tools (lift, compressor, woodworking tools, etc.) so I want to have some idea the amp load that I'll have to work with.

Thanks.

Z