Killingworth is best known for being a former mining community, built as a planned town in the 1960s. The town centre design adopted high-rise buildings that won awards for architecture, yet over 60 years later many of the buildings needed refurbishment. When the outdated lighting systems and controls needed to be updated as part of this large refurbishment project on the council-owned office buildings, ECS were called upon.

The primary objective of the design initiative was to modernise the lighting systems and controls on the external façade of the building, introducing an updated control system that would empower the building facilities manager to remotely control the lighting. The majority of the council-owned buildings, constructed in the 1960s, were in dire need of a contemporary lighting system and a fresh aesthetic. Given the Grade II listed status of the building, all luminaires on the project had to be approved by English Heritage.

ECS played a pivotal role in realizing this vision, collaborating with the designer, supplier, and lighting manufacturer Dextra. In this partnership, Dextra provided both the fittings and the ECUE controls, while ECS took charge of commissioning the system. The implemented system proved to be versatile, quick, and efficient to install. Utilising five Colour Glide Flood fixtures, it offered a powerful and adaptable floodlight solution. With features such as auto-addressing DMX, two beam angles, and RGBW capability, the Colour Glide Flood fixtures provided over 5000 lumen output and beam angles of either 40×40° or 8×8°, enabling effective highlighting of architectural features in a range of colours.

The popularity of coloured lighting in urban environments aligned seamlessly with the project brief, and the Colour Glide Flood emerged as a cost-effective solution with high lumen output for RGBW floodlighting. The new system empowered the building facilities manager to control all aspects of the lighting remotely from a computer, and dynamic light settings could be programmed to suit various social events.

Alex Martin from Dextra praised ECS for being the perfect choice to commission and program the system, especially when reviewing the outdated lighting system and controls on the 60-year-old council buildings. He commended the modern, efficient, and user-friendly nature of the new system, emphasising the ease with which the facilities manager could remotely program the lighting. Martin highlighted the system’s ability to celebrate social events and showcase dynamic, decorative effects, adding a unique and appealing dimension to the building’s external appearance.

Client – North Tyneside Council
Contractor – T Clarke Contracting
Consultant – A E Robb
Lighting Design, Supply, Manufacturer – Dextra Group plc
Control Provider, Data, Technical Lighting Support – ECS Limited