Position a Louis Poulsen PH 5 at 60 cm Above a Dining Table

Measure the 60 cm from the shade rim

Set the clearance between the dining surface and the lowest point of the PH 5 shade. The ceiling canopy and the centre of the pendant play no part in that measurement. The PH 5 has a total height of 26.7 cm from canopy to rim, so the visible drop already includes the metal shade body before any exposed cord is counted.

With a standard 74 cm dining table under a 240 cm ceiling, the lower rim lands at 134 cm above the floor. That gives 106 cm from ceiling to rim. After subtracting the 26.7 cm fixture body and the canopy depth, the exposed suspension cable comes out at roughly 76 cm. Most European-market versions of the PH 5 ship with around 3 metres of fabric-wrapped cord, with the surplus taken up at the canopy or coiled inside it.

Raise the ceiling to 260 cm and keep the same table-to-rim spacing, and the exposed cord length moves to about 96 cm. The 60 cm gap remains fixed, while the cord is the site-adjusted part of the installation.

Concrete, hooks, and the fixing that carries the pendant

A painted steel PH 5 weighs in the region of 2.5 kg. A properly seated concrete fixing carries that static load easily. Repeated sideways pull, caused by a table being moved below the pendant or by the cord being brushed, is the movement that usually tests a ceiling fixing.

In a poured or precast concrete slab, use a 6 mm steel expansion anchor or a 6 mm chemical resin anchor. The same principle used to hang a heavy mirror in concrete gives a pendant an even larger working margin: the anchor passes the load into the surrounding mass.

Drill with the hammer setting and a 6 mm masonry bit. For resin, clear the hole with a blow-out pump before setting the anchor, then allow the cure time stated by the manufacturer before hanging any load. With an expansion anchor, the fixing is set as soon as the cone draws up.

The junction box deserves the same attention as the anchor. The PH 5 hangs from its canopy, and that canopy fixes to a recessed box or a ceiling hook rated for the load. A pendant hook rated at 5 kg or more, screwed into the seated anchor, gives a working margin of double the fixture weight.

A slab can still complicate the job at the exact drilling point. Rebar, conduit, or a hollow precast core may sit where the pendant is meant to hang, which is why the neat figure on the drawing and the real ceiling can diverge as soon as the bit enters the surface.

Plasterboard changes the fixing choice

Most suspended ceilings, and many upper-floor ceilings, are made from plasterboard fixed to timber or metal joists. The board is typically 12.5 mm thick. A 6 mm anchor set into the board face alone gives very little resistance once the pendant is moved repeatedly.

The most secure route is to find a joist and drive the screw or hook directly into timber. A joist detector or a fine bradawl probe can locate the framing centre. Common spacings are 400 mm and 600 mm.

If the pendant position falls between joists, a timber noggin fixed between the joists becomes the anchor point. That usually means access from above or a small opening cut into the plasterboard so the timber can be installed in the void.

Where the void cannot be reached, a spring-toggle or gravity-toggle fixing spreads the load across the back face of the board. A metal spring toggle rated for 10 kg or more in 12.5 mm plasterboard gives a wide margin for a 2.5 kg pendant, provided the hole is sized to the toggle body and kept tight. The wings open behind the board and spread the pull across a broad area.

That is the same blind-fixing logic used for a picture ledge on plasterboard. The load is carried by the opened metal wings bearing on the rear of the board, so the drilled hole size and the rating of the toggle matter.

No-drill adhesive blind fixings are sold for hanging art and small fittings without penetrating the board. Their ratings cover static shear on a wall. A PH 5 pendant needs a mechanical fixing into framing or a toggle, and adhesive pads have no role as its ceiling support.

The table sets the first boundary

The 60 cm clearance assumes a single pendant centred over a dining table up to about 90 cm wide. On a wider or longer table, the main problem becomes coverage, and one PH 5 gives insufficient light at the ends.

Longer tables usually need a row

A 200 cm dining table lit by one PH 5 at 60 cm leaves the ends underlit. The 50 cm shade throws its useful pool roughly within its own diameter plus a margin, so a single fixture suits a table of around 90 cm to 120 cm in length. Past that range, the ends fall away from the useful pool.

For longer tables, the usual layout is a line of PH 5 pendants along the centre. Two pendants over a 180 cm to 200 cm table sit with their centres roughly at the quarter points. On a 200 cm table, that puts the centres about 90 cm to 100 cm apart and around 50 cm in from each end.

Three units over a 240 cm to 280 cm table divide the length into even thirds. Each pendant still keeps the 60 cm rim-to-table clearance, since the vertical relationship to the eating surface stays the same as fixtures are added.

Multiple pendants from one ceiling position need a multi-outlet canopy, or each pendant needs its own canopy and fixing point. Individual points are stronger, because each anchor carries one fixture and each cord rises to its own canopy. A single multi-canopy bar puts two or three fixtures onto one fixing, increasing both the load and the lateral moment at that point.

In concrete, that concentrated load remains well within the usual margin. In plasterboard, it points toward a noggin or a joist directly behind the bar.

For a row of pendants, the wiring usually runs through the ceiling void to a single switched circuit. Cord lengths should be measured from the finished tabletop because ceilings are rarely level across a 240 cm run. A 10 mm difference in ceiling level across the row creates a visible 10 mm mismatch at the rims unless each cord is set independently.

Spacing and height decide whether the row reads as deliberate or accidental. Even thirds, matched rims, and a consistent 60 cm clearance carry the arrangement.

Cord length, dimming, and the wall behind the pendant

The PH 5 uses its three-shade reflector to hide the lamp from direct view at normal seated angles. Glare control therefore depends partly on rim height. If the pendant is set too high, a seated person can look up into the lower aperture. The 60 cm setting keeps that aperture above the sightline of a seated adult in a standard dining chair.

Lamp choice sits inside the shade. The PH 5 takes an E27 base in most variants, with the maximum wattage printed on the lampholder. A dimmable LED at around 2700 K gives a warm tone over an eating surface, and a trailing-edge dimmer matched to the LED driver avoids the flicker that cheap dimmers can produce at low output.

Wall colour changes how the same pendant reads. Farrow and Ball hallway and dining tones often run deep and matt, and a deep wall absorbs spill, making the pool under the PH 5 read as a brighter island against a darker surround. A pale wall bounces spill back and flattens the contrast.

Both treatments can work. The important point is visual: the same lamp, at the same height, looks markedly different against a deep matt wall than it does against white emulsion. That difference is worth seeing before the cord is cut to its final length.

The drawing gives dimensions; the ceiling gives the answer

The Louis Poulsen technical drawing gives the 26.7 cm fixture height and the 50 cm diameter, and the 60 cm clearance is the convention every fitter applies. The sheet cannot say how one ceiling will behave when a 6 mm bit goes in, because the slab or void may hide rebar, conduit, timber, or a hollow core exactly where the pendant is meant to hang. The unresolved part sits above the plaster or concrete, around the exact point chosen for the pendant.