Above: Deltalight www.deltalight.co.uk

Above: Havells Sylvania www.havells-sylvania.com

Above: Luxo www.luxo.co.uk

Above: Waldmann Lighting www.waldmannlighting.com

Above: ContactActulite www.actulite.com

Above: Amitex Interiors www.amitexinteriors.com

Above: Anglepoise www.anglepoise.com

Above: Ex-Or www.ex-or.com

Above: Sill Lighting www.sill-uk.com

The office lighting market is enjoying a burst of innovation with fresh, new ideas to light our workspaces.

LEDs are creeping more and more into the office lighting market. Some sceptics say that they still aren’t offering the right output, but many manufacturers are proving them wrong. Admittedly there are the cheaper imports that claim to do X Y and Z and end up lasting half the life they should, but this is the case with most markets ie. cheap furniture that is knocked together in minutes. The genuine, high quality LED products look set to change the office lighting market for the better.

Luxo launched a new task light at the recent ARC Show in February. Ninety features a new type of LED, which produces maximum illumination, whilst retaining very low energy consumption. Ninety has a slim, graphic design and utilises four diodes of 1.5W with total power of 7.8W to provide up to 1,280 lux on the workplace. The specially designed table base can spin around on its own axis, whilst springs situated in the lower part of the arm make it easy to adjust the lamp in a way that puts the light exactly where it is needed to provide bright, glare-free work surface illumination. The angle of light distribution avoids computer screen reflections and reduces contrasts on the work surface, thus reducing eyestrain, dry eyes and the risk of headaches. The lamp can be dimmed by simply pressing a button on its head.

Luxo Lighting has supplied 286 specially designed task lights to the UCL Cancer Institute in London. A key criterion for the lighting was that it should provide a comfortable and pleasant working environment for students, whilst aiding effective research. Desks for use by the students were supplied by Tsunami Axis East from St Neots, Cambridgeshire, who were also responsible for the task light installation. The task lights were specified by Kay Tott, finance and purchasing manager at UCL, following the provision of a mock-up by the company.

Designed and manufactured by Luxo, Air Modular is a specially developed task light combining the aesthetic and functional properties of its Wing and Air luminaires. In addition to the desk mounted task lights, wall mounted versions were also supplied incorporating a unique bracket for fixing to partitions. 286 fittings were supplied for the project to provide a business-like environment with the emphasis on comfort and flexibility.

Amitex Interiors has designed a clever little device for workers. The USB LED light is ideal for mobile working such as on planes and trains, as well as at home or in the office. The product simply plugs into the USB port of any laptop to provide a focused pool of light from its 1W LED. It’s a great little lightweight and flexible product – it takes up a lot less space than a lot of the task lights out there.

The latest offering from Anglepoise is the Fifty range of quirky task lights. As featured on our Product Showcase stand at the Lighting Show in January, Fifty is made from injection-moulded polycarbonate. Anthony Dickens’ design is straight forward – a shade with a lamp fitting. Colours available include red, orange and transparent, with white lamp fittings and cable. Anglepoise will be launching its Type3 in Gold. 

Waldmann Lighting’s latest offering is the Hybrid suspended direct/indirect luminaire, which features a combination of independently switchable LED downlighting and fluorescent uplighting to offer maximum design flexibility. Ideal for reception areas and boardrooms, Hybrid provides the ability to create an almost infinite number of different lighting scenes. The 12 LED downlighters provide a cool white light, while the 2 x 54W T5 fluorescent uplighting lamps have a warmer colour appearance. As uplighting and downlighting channels can be switched or dimmed independently of each other, this provides the opportunity to adjust the lighting ambience to suit the activity in the space. Hybrid is available with a choice of standard or dimmable electronic control gear, the latter being fully compatible with DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) control systems. Consequently, Hybrid is easily integrated into a lighting management system for remote monitoring and control.

With the huge emphasis on cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy costs, a lighting control system can help businesses greatly reduce their overheads and help the environment. Companies moving into the prestigious 15 Fetter Lane development in the City of London have the chance to reduce their carbon footprint and save energy costs, thanks to lighting management specialists Ex-Or. The 82,000 sq ft eight-storey office building has undergone a complete refurbishment. Consulting engineers Foreman Roberts specified the Ex-Or MLS CONNECT Digital Lighting Management System throughout the building to provide a lighting-control foundation through which further levels of functionality could later be accessed.

Each incoming tenant was given the opportunity to specify additional lighting control equipment, thereby tailoring their own lighting to their particular needs. Most floors are now occupied in the building - and all tenants, to date, have taken advantage of the opportunity, says Foreman Roberts.

The company’s senior electrical engineer, Ian Humphreys, says: ‘It was important that every company coming into 15 Fetter Lane had the chance to create their own managed lighting system that best suited their own circumstances. It needed to be simple for them to programme and operate, independent of any building-wide PC control, and not dependent on input from the overall building’s facilities management department.

Ex-Or’s MLS Connect digital lighting management system provided at 15 Fetter Lane delivers energy savings by ensuring that lights in controlled office areas are on only when they are actually needed. Enhancements to the system ensure the amount of light is automatically set at optimum levels for occupants.

Detectors within the system automatically detect the presence of occupants and measure levels of ambient light. The detectors communicate with each other to provide the correct level of lighting to occupants in designated work zones and ensure that lights in key circulation areas, corridor routes are stair-cores are kept on.

Another key benefit of Ex-Or’s system is that lighting schemes within the open-plan areas are future proofed to accommodate any changes in layout and working patterns.

With sustainability and energy efficiency in mind, architectural practise Sheppard Robson worked alongside Deltalight on the company’s newly refurbished office in the City Tower, Manchester. Deltalight provided the office with sustainable fittings that comply with the latest LG7 regulations. It used suspended Nobody 140 profile Tubular pendants, Limit 424 ZB fittings, Club 1205 spots, Carree 145 wall washers and Xilo 111 downlights to achieve this. These fittings are aesthetically pleasing as well as provided good working light levels throughout the office and the various zones.  

Your Space Offices’ luxury office facility in Liverpool features concierge service, a private lounge, barrel-vaulted ceilings, nine mahogany-panelled VIP suites, and a stunning 3,000 sq ft central lobby, lined with marble columns. To enhance this genuine sense of exclusivity and grandeur, while creating a modern, visually comfortable executive environment, Il Palazzo is equipped with an impressive lighting scheme, designed by Havells Sylvannia, incorporating Concord, in direct collaboration with the Your Space Offices architects.

Suspended runs of Concord Ovation 65 were used to light the ground, first and second floor offices. Ovation’s slender, linear form using T5 lamps, has a unique connecting system and variety of fixing options, making it an ideal solution for unusual, non-uniform interior spaces, such as those at the Il Palazz building. Suspending the luminaires two metres below the ceiling allows direct light to illuminate all the task surfaces, while indirect upwards light accentuates the historic architectural features of the building.

Ovation 65 is equipped with intelligent, energy-reducing control systems – PIR movement detectors, combined with ambient daylight sensors, mean that light levels can be adjusted throughout the day, according to available daylight and space usage, to save up to 40 per cent of lighting energy.

The new Sill 540 pendant mounted twin uplight luminaire made its debut the ARC Show. Providing indirect lighting onto ceilings, the fitting comes with a choice of 70W or 150W metal halide lamps, and produces a high lumen package for the glare-free advantages of uplighting interiors.

Actulite’s Polarised Natural Light System has been used to great effect at Leicester Mercury Newspaper’s Leicester office. During the refurbishment, for six months staff were cocooned inside a temporary screen whilst cladding and new windows were installed. This gave the newspaper an unusual staff morale problem; namely the lack of daylight. The Mercury’s Building Services Manager, Carl Prickett, remembered a discussion he had regarding Actulite daylight lighting. Carl had indeed successfully trialled it in his own office. He suggested that daylight lighting was installed along the line of the screens covering up the windows to give an impression of daylight where natural light normally would have been.

The Actulite polarised lighting emits a quality of light virtually identical to that of natural daylight. This is achieved through the combined use of the patented Actulite multi-layered light polarising panel, high frequency control gear and specially manufactured triphosphor full spectrum fluorescent tubes. The suggestion worked and was well received by the newspaper’s staff. Since the refurbishment work was completed, further areas of the building have had Actulite daylight lighting installed with every intention of still further additions going forward.