BRIEF

The University of Westminster had a view to reduce annual energy consumption and financial expenditure to three of its buildings;

• 04-12 Little Titchfield Street
• 115 New Cavendish Street
• Clipstone Building 

The existing lighting was to be replaced with new LED Lighting solutions on a like-for-like basis. A further reduction in existing light fittings shall also be taken into account where necessary; to further reduce existing energy consumption whilst ensuring the minimum lighting requirements are met.

SOLUTION

MJ Quinn devised it’s skilled and experienced workforce within this field to ensure the lighting was designed in accordance with the requirements set out by University of Westminster.

We specified a suitable lighting solution that we know could provide the energy savings and reliability that the university was looking to achieve upon completion.

All works were installed efficiently and with great care involved to ensure that the new LED lighting products were utilised to the best of their capacity.

The majority of the existing fluorescent lighting had a CCT of 3000K (Warm White). This colour temperature is more suited to relaxing environments such as restaurants and homes. Therefore, we designed the new lighting with a CCT of 4500K (Natural White/Daylight) which has been proven to provide a more stimulating environment which boosts alertness and attention levels of building occupants.

The proposed LED lighting products have a combined operating wattage of 106,925 watts. The existing light fittings were operating at 321,303 watts. The proposed installation produced a saving of 214,378 watts.

The above works provided an energy saving of up to 68% plus all the benefits of maintenance savings that have been achieved due to product lamp life and new lighting positions.

Works overview

The works consisted of 6,000+ lighting replacements, across 3 buildings, in the heart of Central London. To execute the task effectively and efficiently, we needed to understand the logistics of the building and utilise the time constraints of all the areas involved. We were able to work closely with the client to organise working times and operations under very tight restrictions as the buildings are in 24 hour use.

Many of the rooms in the buildings were occupied during the daytime with lectures and classes taking place. Therefore, the majority of the works were carried out during the evening and overnight, with a strong emphasis on completing areas during these hours so as not to have a major disruption to scheduled classes.

We also had to work intelligently to organise waste storage/collections and material deliveries due to the space restraints of the working environment. The centre of London’s one-way traffic system and congestion charges meant that any vehicular usage needed to be accounted for ahead of schedule, with numerous council applications for allocated parking and reservations finalised prior to the works being carried out.

During the works, we were also commissioned to replace the lighting within two lecture theatres in New Cavendish Street and the Foyer Lighting located within the prestigious Regent St Building. Both installations presented very difficult design issues due to the building configurations and décor.

The Lecture Theatres required specialist access equipment for the installation due to the tiered seating within the two rooms. We commissioned a specialist lightweight scaffolding system to be provided for the duration of the works.

The Regent St Foyer presented different problems in that we had to design a retrofit LED Lighting System to be installed within the existing bespoke Pendant Lighting. The new Lighting System also had to be compatible with the existing dimming systems and emergency back-up systems – see photos below.

RESULTS