In conversation with HiddenWires, Xander Cadisch highlights how residential integrators can cultivate atmosphere around light and biophilic principles.
Considering his words carefully, Cadisch pauses before delivering yet another incisive insight into architectural integration: “AV installers tie all the vital strands of a building together,” he reflects. “They are at its epicentre, uniquely positioned to treat the home as a living system.”
Not easily defined, Alexander ‘Xander’ Cadisch began his journey at family company Phos Lighting. Not only does he help lead the manufacturer in his day job, but he also heads up Light Tribe by Phos: a research arm that collaborates with neuroscientists and designers to improve indoor health.
“I originally wanted to be a chef,” he laughs. “I was hugely inspired by the impact of smell and taste as a child, especially how ingredients brought them together. But with time, my focus turned to facts about light, and how it can unlock wellbeing.”
With his curiosity taking root, Cadisch published his first book on biophilic design, human behaviour and the power of wavelengths in 2024. Now he travels the world delivering education on the effects of lighting on the human body. Occupying his busy schedule earlier this year was ISE, where system longevity and other design-led themes dominated the show floor.
Curating atmosphere
Cadisch begins: “I visited ISE because I think integrators deeply understand multisensory systems in the built environment. With their knowledge of sound, content and climate, they are well equipped to translate neuroscience into residential design. They are, to put it simply, curators of atmosphere.”
In a panel with CEDIA and Lutron on the Smart Home Technology Stage, Cadisch explored how lighting is a fundamental element of integration. As a researcher and public speaker, his bitesized science – or “pub facts”, as he calls them – turned the conversation towards the relationship between biology and technology.
“By the age of 40, we would have spent 37 years inside,” he says. “And it’s known that we put more thought into zoos than spaces for human beings – designers create our habitats, yet they don’t have a single biology lesson in their extensive years of studying.
“We also design for what’s seen rather than felt. For example, we’ve become used to lighting floors instead of walls and this disrupts our orientation. But if you add zoning and shadowing, the room’s texture lifts and becomes a place that feels enchanting, even dramatic.
“In this vein, beam angles are perhaps the most overlooked aspect of residential lighting. Integrators should pay more attention to setting the scene. It’s like being in a dark theatre, with a single spotlight on the spectacle: the space is suddenly pregnant with contrast, atmosphere and narrative.”
Lighting as ingredient
After a traumatic incident at age 16, Cadisch developed PTSD and a heightened sensitivity to harsh environments. “As a result, some places would instantly trigger me,” he recalls. “I’d get tightness of breath, headaches, and feel overwhelmed.”
It was only after spending time learning about biophilic design that he realised lighting can be a form of care. “We’re conditioned to see it as a function rather than an ingredient in design,” he says. “I feel the discomfort we all do in the wrong indoor environments, but at a chronic level. Did you know a bright blue pump of light is equivalent to a cortisol injection to your body?”
Over the past 15 years, the shift to energy-efficient LED has transformed residential lighting. While LEDs have made major sustainability gains, some early versions introduced higher levels of short-wavelength or ‘blue-rich’ light into homes. Researchers now say the timing, intensity and spectral quality of this light can influence circadian rhythms and sleep.
“At night, we're having too much blue light while in the morning we’re not getting enough of it,” Cadisch highlights. “In many cases, we only recognised the consequences after adoption at scale. Poor spectral quality combined with poor lighting design increases visual strain and flattens atmosphere, whereas good light supports depth, comfort and emotional coherence.”
He explains that red, conversely, is the first colour we experience at birth and naturally conveys a sense of calm through familiar tones like leather, bricks, skin and wood. “High-quality LEDs that produce deep, vibrant reds while maintaining good spectral balance do exist,” he stresses. “But the problem sits at the lower end of the market; cheap LEDs tend to be high in blue and weak in red. The effect is comparable to lighting a space with a phone torch – sharp, cool, and fatiguing.
“Additionally, lux levels and glare are also worth noting. Two fittings can use the same power but produce very different results depending on the interior finish. A black interior absorbs more light and can reduce glare, while a white interior is highly reflective and often flattens the visual effect. Warmer metallic finishes, such as copper or brushed brass, soften the reflected light to make it feel more natural.”
Tomorrow’s architectural standards
Through talks and authorship, Cadisch advocates for standards that value human-centric lighting alongside energy efficiency. “When artificial light is pushed to deliver more output from the same electrical input, trade-offs appear,” he says. “Spectral richness can be reduced. Red content is often stripped back. Efficiency improves on paper, but biological completeness can fall away.
“Integrators can start asking their clients questions more about light, including what they’re lighting, who it’s for and their general age range. Light sensitivity changes dramatically across a lifetime, with a 90-year-old receiving only around 10% of the light they perceived at age 10.”
And so just as the right ingredients would add health in a recipe, carefully chosen design elements can do the same in a home. “AV installers have the most options available to add health,” Cadisch insists. “Of all building professionals, they have the most influence with clients to apply those ingredients.”
Pictured: Cadisch, credit to Georgina Phillips