Modern Building Services

22 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES APRIL 2021 LIGHTING FEATURE LIGHTING T he University of Roehampton, in the Borough of Wandsworth, planned to redevelop the Sir David Bell Building - named after the businessman, publisher and philanthropist who is also Chair of Council at the university - on the Digby Stuart Campus. This involved remodelling and extending two adjacent buildings to consolidate and improve facilities for the Department of Media Culture and Languages. This included the creation of specialist teaching areas including film, television and sound studios, a 90+ seat cinema, photographic studios, cutting/editing suites and a flexible creative project space for the University’s new digital media course. The scheme was also designed to provide accommodation for university-wide students facing support facilities such as Academic Services, Audio Visual Resources, Digital Learning and IT Services. Seminar rooms were created to promote collaborative learning through a variety of flexible layouts; supported by extensive social learning and ‘commons’ spaces including the creation of a glazed courtyard. The University of Roehampton appointed mechanical and electrical building services engineering company, Michael Jones & Associates, to design a new lighting control system, specifically for the Sir David Bell Building development. What was the brief The brief was that the university required a system which would enable staff to control lighting themselves with the added benefit of reducing energy usage. Typically, lighting can account for around 25 per cent of a university’s energy costs. Nationwide lighting controls specialist BEG Lighting Controls were approached by Michael Jones to provide a user friendly and flexible lighting control system to meet the university’s control criteria. The company proposed a system which offers flexible, scalable DALI lighting control and, because it is Bluetooth-enabled it is easy to configure and change as room uses evolve, from changing scenes to adjusting the lights’ brightness. This DALI addressable system can be programmed simply and quickly using a smartphone and using the free-to-download app. Tom Greenrod, said: “The controls system was mapped out and approved for use by the university in the majority of areas such as teaching rooms, open plan and cellular offices, seminar rooms, studios, computer labs and in the cinema/lecture theatre where occupancy detection and/ or scene control was required. “In the teaching rooms, the university required constant light level control with absence detection and a scene for presenting. This was achieved using a mains power supply and a bus linking all of the luminaires, the multi-sensor and a push button module. This module was located behind a two-gang switch plate with two push to make retractive switches. “One switch was used for absence and daylight linking and the second for a pre-set scene. The multi- sensor in this situation was used in absence mode but can also be used in presence mode or even work as a photocell. These changes are made to the settings via the app. There is an option for de-activating the multi-sensor if required. BEG Lighting Controls Sales Director for UK & Ireland, Paul Jones and Specification Director, TomGreenrod talks about the benefits for a London university which has had a smartphone-accessible DALI control system installed. Lighting the way to a fully connected university