Project Overview
LED step lighting defined the architectural circulation of a new-build private villa inside Marbella’s La Zagaleta gated estate. Senfey supplied the complete LED step lighting package — built around our COB LED strip platform — for four distinct staircases across the home: a floating marble feature stair in the double-height living room, a curved oak guest stair, a back-of-house service stair, and a basement gym stair, together with continuous cove accent and handrail integrated lighting. The brief was uncompromising: zero visible dots, no hot spots on the riser face, fully hidden drivers and cabling, and a motion-triggered cascade scene on the feature stair that lights step-by-step as the user descends.
Project at a glance
- Building type: 1,400 m² private villa, three floors plus basement
- Lighting scope: 4 staircases + cove accent + handrail integrated LED
- Total run: 246 metres of dot-free COB strip
- Color: Warm white 2700K, CRI ≥ 95, R9 ≥ 70
- Signature feature: PIR motion-triggered cascade on the floating marble stair
Products Supplied
| Model | Type | Specification | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| SF-COB320-24V-CRI95-IP65 | Outdoor-grade COB LED Strip | 2700K, 8 W/m, CRI ≥ 95 / R9 ≥ 70 — under-tread wash for marble & oak stairs | 148 m |
| SF-COB480-24V-CRI95-IP20 | Indoor COB LED Strip | 2700K, 10 W/m, CRI ≥ 95 — cove and handrail integrated wash | 74 m |
| SF-COB320-24V-CRI90-IP65 | COB LED Strip | 3000K, 8 W/m, CRI ≥ 90 — basement and service stair | 24 m |
| SF-ALP-STEP-16 | Step-Nosing Aluminum Profile | 16 mm channel with frosted PMMA diffuser, anodized black | 52 lengths × 2 m |
| SF-CTRL-PIR-CASCADE-12 | Motion Sensor Cascade Controller | Dual PIR + photocell, 12-step sequential cascade, adjustable delay | 1 set |
| SF-CTRL-DMX512-4CH | DMX Decoder | For cove and handrail zones, 16-bit PWM dimming | 2 pcs |
| SF-PSU-150W-24V-IP20 | LED Power Adapter | 150 W, 24 V DC, indoor Class-2, hidden in service cavities | 5 pcs |
Project Challenges
1. Zero-dot uniformity on raking marble
The floating marble feature stair is viewed from below at a sharp raking angle, where any single LED dot or pitch line in the LED step lighting strip becomes immediately visible. A standard SMD 2835 or 5050 strip would have been unacceptable; only true continuous-emission COB technology could deliver the required smoothness.
2. Hot-spot suppression at the riser face
Conventional under-tread LED step lighting tends to create a bright hot spot on the riser face directly behind the strip. The interior designer’s reference required an even gradient across the full riser height — closer to the recommended uniformity ratios in IES guidance for interior stair illumination — with no visible source point.
3. Motion-cascade timing on the marble stair
The signature scene was a sequential step-by-step light-up as the user descends, with each step illuminating just before the foot lands. The cascade timing had to feel intuitive at average walking pace — neither lagging nor pre-empting — and reset cleanly when the user paused mid-flight.
4. Fully concealed drivers across three floors
The interior designer specified that no driver, cable, or junction box could be visible anywhere in the home — a constraint we previously solved at scale on the other lighting project. Every power lead had to terminate inside dedicated service cavities, with sufficient ventilation to keep driver temperatures below 50 °C in summer.
5. Four staircases, one consistent light quality
The four staircases use different materials — marble, oak, painted timber, polished concrete — but the LED step lighting had to render each material with the same warm, natural light quality. CRI and CCT consistency across all 246 metres was non-negotiable.
Product Highlights
1. True dot-free COB emission
SF-COB320 places 320 LED chips per metre under a continuous phosphor layer — a chip-on-board construction that produces a single uninterrupted line of light with zero visible dots at any viewing angle — the only LED step lighting profile that survives raking-angle scrutiny on polished marble.
2. Step-nosing aluminum profile with frosted diffuser
The SF-ALP-STEP-16 profile recesses the strip into the step nosing and adds a second frosted PMMA diffuser, eliminating the riser hot spot and producing the even gradient the designer specified. Anodized black finish disappears against the marble shadow line.
3. CRI ≥ 95 / R9 ≥ 70 across all material surfaces
The high-CRI COB strip renders marble veining, oak grain, and skin tone naturally — critical for a home where the staircase doubles as the primary architectural feature in entertaining areas.
4. PIR cascade controller with intuitive timing
SF-CTRL-PIR-CASCADE-12 uses dual PIR sensors at top and bottom of the stair plus a photocell for ambient-aware operation. The cascade timing is field-adjustable from 80 ms to 400 ms per step, calibrated on site to the homeowner’s natural walking pace.
5. Single-bin sourcing for all 246 metres
All 246 metres of LED step lighting COB strip were committed from a single LED bin in one production run, holding CCT inside ±50K and CRI variance below 2 points across the entire home — the four staircases read as one continuous light quality.
Result
Fabrication and pre-cut closed in three weeks. On-site install was staged with the villa’s overall finishing schedule:
- Week 1: Profile recess preparation on all four staircases, service cavity preparation for drivers
- Week 2: COB strip installation, driver placement, cove and handrail integration
- Week 3: PIR cascade calibration, DMX scene programming, final hand-off to the homeowner
The villa lighting commissioning closed in May. Six weeks of daily owner use later, the LED step lighting system has logged zero service calls, zero hot-spot complaints, and no measurable CCT drift across the four staircases. The interior designer has since specified the same SF-COB320 and SF-ALP-STEP-16 combination for two additional La Zagaleta villas now in design phase — extending a track record that also includes our broader Senfey residential project portfolio.
