On a Portsea clifftop, our custom pendant honours weather, vines and the slow turn from day to night – earning peer recognition from Australia’s lighting society for its coastal engineering and dark-sky sensitivity.
There’s a unique quality to twilight on the Mornington Peninsula. The way the last light catches the Moonah trees. How the sea turns silver, then pewter, then black. At a private residence in Portsea, that transition from day to night has become something to celebrate, thanks to a lighting installation that has just earned peer recognition from Australia’s lighting professionals.
The Portsea Cliffs Feature Pendant, designed by our team at Light on Landscape, received a Commendation at the 2025 IESANZ (Victoria/Tasmania) Lighting Awards. But the real story isn’t about the award. It’s about what happens when you approach outdoor lighting as a design challenge rather than a product selection exercise, and why that distinction matters for both people and place.
Where the wind shapes the trees
Garden designer Lisa Ellis had created something special here. The clifftop site centres on a landmark Moonah tree visible from the coastal walking trail below – one of those gnarled, wind-shaped natives that speaks to decades of survival in harsh conditions. The garden she designed honours that character, embracing the littoral landscape rather than fighting it.
Our clients had fallen in love with this environment, with its deep connection to the sea and the coastal margins. They wanted to extend the pleasure of their outdoor dining space well into the evening, particularly for family gatherings. The brief to our designer Amander Flaherty, was clear: create a beautiful ambience and a flamboyant feature light that would elevate the nocturnal charm without overwhelming what made the location special in the first place.
The purpose-built pergola structure would frame the solution. Vines climb and drape across the overhead beams, creating a verdant canopy in the warmer months. Below sits a generous dining table where meals stretch late into summer evenings. Both needed illumination, but the kind that feels integral to the space rather than imposed upon it.
Built for weather, not a showroom
Standard fittings don’t last here. The combination of salt spray and wind creates conditions that most decorative pendants aren’t engineered to survive. You see it often enough along the coast – corroded fixings, failed seals, water damage to electrical components. What looks beautiful in a showroom becomes a maintenance burden within two years.
This project needed both uplighting for the vine canopy and downlighting for the dining table, which meant multiple light sources and apertures in an exposed location. Achieving uniform, comfortable illumination across both horizontal and vertical surfaces takes optical precision. And the whole assembly had to hang securely in wind, resist salt corrosion and remain serviceable over decades.
We worked with our manufacturer to engineer the pendant from marine-grade 316 stainless steel throughout. Even the wire mesh inserts and every fastener use the same corrosion-resistant grade. These material choices cost more, but there’s no point building something beautiful if it won’t survive where it has to live.
Summer canopy, winter sky
The lighting itself tells the second part of the story. Our Mini Down Light was selected for its IP68 protection against water and debris ingress, their high colour rendering that keeps the garden’s colours true after dark, and crucially, their asymmetrical beam options. Those optics shaped light precisely – uniform illumination across the dining surface and vine canopy whilst eliminating glare at eye level.
The entire installation draws just 60W. Less than a standard household lamp, yet it illuminates a substantial outdoor room. That efficiency comes from precise optical control, putting light only where it’s needed.
Colour temperatures were chosen deliberately: 3000K for uplighting, 2700K down. Warmer temperatures minimise disruption to the local wildlife that inhabit this clifftop, whilst creating natural-feeling illumination that makes you want to linger at the table as the evening cools.
The dual switching proved essential. Summer and autumn, when the vines are lush and full, both circuits will create an immersive experience – the canopy glows from within, leaves backlit in warm tones. Come winter when the vines drop their foliage and the pergola stands bare, the uplighting can be switched off entirely. So, no light spilling skyward when there’s nothing to illuminate. Dark sky principles can be applied practically, responding to how the garden actually lives through the seasons.
The quiet value of longevity
There’s a deeper philosophy at work here that runs counter to much contemporary thinking about outdoor products. This installation was designed for decades of service, not disposable replacement cycles.
The stainless steel mesh lifts away for seasonal cleaning. Our Mini Down Lights sit in positions where eventual replacement doesn’t require dismantling everything. The entire fitting can be gently hosed or unclipped from the pergola for detailed servicing.
Sustainability gets reduced to energy ratings and recyclable packaging, but longevity matters more. A well-made fitting that lasts decades carries far less environmental impact than disposable versions that go into landfill, regardless of marketing claims about eco-credentials.
That longevity has value that our clients appreciate.
A pendant that belongs to this place
The pendant has become a talking point amongst our client’s family and friends because it feels right for this particular place. Flamboyant in the way they wanted, sculptural enough to anchor the space, yet it doesn’t compete with the garden or the coastal views beyond.
On warm evenings when the table is set and conversation flows late into the night, the lighting simply works. Which is the highest compliment you can pay something designed properly.
Contact Light on Landscape today to learn more about how our premium indoor and outdoor lighting solutions can elevate your next project.