The lighting provision at Nottingham City Homes’ Garfield Court and Courtney Gardens has been extensively revamped as part of the ongoing modernisation of its independent living facilities.
The last few years have seen Nottingham City Homes (NCH) pursue a major project to improve the quality of its independent living accommodation throughout the Nottingham area. The latest beneficiary of the ‘Grander Designs’ scheme is Garfield Court in Radford, where multiple common areas — including corridors, day rooms and toilets — have been comprehensively refurbished and modernised.
To date, the Grander Designs programme has improved the living conditions of more than 700 residents. Work is undertaken at around eight sites per year, with the replacement of fluorescent and other legacy lighting systems with the latest LED technologies being a common thread of the refurbishments.
Shane Ainsworth, Senior Electrical Technical Officer at NCH, commented: “On one level there is a broader strategy across [NCH sites] to reduce their carbon footprint, but there is also a specific budget in place for the replacement of older lighting types with the latest LEDs. Integral to that is an emphasis on identifying the most energy-efficient fittings.”
A long-term association between NCH and Tamlite Lighting led to the company being enlisted to work on the Garfield Court upgrade. The existing fluorescent and 2D type fittings were sorely in need of replacement, while the absence of energy-saving measures such as daylight and occupancy sensors also had to be addressed.
SLATE uplight/downlight fittings were ideal for common rooms, to act as spotlights on the walls for an aesthetically pleasing style. WAVE LED modules, which Tamlite worked with NCH to design to their specifications, were supplied for stairwells and other communal spaces. External fittings were also supplied, including HURRICANE EYELID solutions due to their robust design and emergency options. RGB Colour Strips were also used in the balcony areas to provide a visually pleasing lighting design for the balconies.
Tamlite Lighting’s Head of Sales, Marketing and Product Development, Colin Lawson, said: “When systems are primarily manually operated a lot of lights tend to get left on, resulting in energy bills that are significantly higher than they really need to be,”
Working in close cooperation with NCH and CEF — which is the chosen LED procurement supplier for the next three years — Tamlite set about devising a specification that could not only ensure the optimisation of usage, but also achieve a better and more consistent level of illumination without the dark areas that had been observed in some areas of the premises.
The final design draws on a variety of the latest LED fittings geared towards large public or private facilities. With the exception of the common room, all areas now feature occupancy sensors to minimise unnecessary illumination, to provide effective control of the lighting. In the corridor areas, safety of residents at all times is ensured by a dimming sensor whose default setting is 10% illumination, meaning that these spaces are never cast into complete darkness.
Indoor communal areas benefitted from the installation of WAVE and NIMROD fittings with occupancy sensors. Communal areas were also supplied with ORION and ELEGANCE luminaires, due to their energy efficient LED technology and range of colour temperatures. As well as the standard Neutral White, the ELEGANCE can be supplied as Warm White. Furthermore, both the ORION and ELEGANCE have the option of Night Light.
