Posted on: 25th February 2005, United Kingdom E-mail this page to a friend

Creative lighting design and installation specialist i-Vision has completed a funky architectural lighting scheme at the new Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Civic Centre, located in central Neath.

The contemporary building was designed by the Council's in-house architects. It features a large central entrance atrium and two impressive glass staircase atriums at either end of its two wings, all clearly visible from the exterior. Other elements include distinctive clad neo-urban pillars, exposed brickwork and intricate lattices of steel structural detail – all of which lend themselves naturally to lighting.

The project was managed for i-Vision by Dave Mackay, who worked closely with Geoff Jones to design the scheme. Given an imaginative free reign and a relatively open brief, they certainly weren't short of ideas!

It was decided to illuminate the central atrium's front metalwork – which unites the two wings of the building - with vibrantly colour-changing fixtures, drawing attention to it as a hub and heart of the environment, and also being clearly visible from afar at night. This also served a narrative purpose - highlighting the relationship between the utilised steel material and what is still the largest industrial employer in the area at the Port Talbot Steel Works.

The atrium's elevation metalwork is lit by eighteen 1200 mm i-Vision Lumos LED strip fittings, complete with 25 x 6 degree lenses to evenly wash the fronts of the glass panels. These are discreetly mounted along the bottom lip of each panel's support framework.

This same effect is echoed in the side glass stairwells (one at either end of the building), each lit with 8 and 10 of the Lumos Strip 1200s.

Inside the impressive main foyer, just past the entrance, 24 i-Vision Lumos 3 fittings are used to great effect as accent lighting all around the balcony and the connecting walkways where the two separate elements of the building merge.

Outside, the main columns along both wings are picked out with twenty 70 Watt medium beam in-ground fittings, placed at the base of the pillars.

The Lumos Strips are controlled by a Sunlite system also installed by i-Vision, offering a chase sequencer and an 8 button static module with the choice of 8 different default colour schemes –re-programmable on request. The standard chase is linked into the building management system and fires up when dusk falls.

Mackay and Jones worked closely with the Council's Electrical Services Manager Neil Davies during the installation, which went smoothly on site, and was completed on time and in budget.

The council are absolutely delighted with the results. The new building has replaced their former Civic Centre - a prosaic relic from a less attractive period of post-war architectural history - with a modern, eye-catching and efficient working space.

"It was a fantastic project to work on, bringing cutting edge lighting to a modern building in industrial South Wales" says Dave Mackay."