BizSpace has swiftly grown to become the UK’s largest specialist provider of managed, flexible workspaces. Driven by their unstoppable objective to deliver “the space that Britain’s small businesses are proud to call home”, this vibrant, dedicated company has proven to be revolutionary in the world of flexible workspaces over the past few years and their firm position at the forefront of increasing demand has seen the company grow exponentially. BizSpaces can now be found almost anywhere, in all shapes and sizes, accommodating over 3847 businesses in 99 locations spanning the UK. From offices, studios and workshops to storage spaces, virtual offices and meeting rooms, anyone after a business space of any kind can be confident they’ll find it via BizSpace.

In January 2017, as part of a wider investment into three up-and-coming business centres, BizSpace acquired the 118,000 square foot Belvedere House Business Centre in Basingstoke, significantly bolstering its office portfolio in the Hampshire region. Belvedere House provides high quality business space for small and expanding businesses and has gained a number of design awards in recognition of its innovative architectural style, most notably for its distinctive five storey atrium and unique combination of offices featuring roof gardens and courtyards.

Featuring 20,000 square foot of ground floor co-working space designed by Desk Lodge, this high spec centre on Basing View has become a thriving business community, renowned for its connectivity and affordability. Home to a number of vibrant, quirky spaces such as offices and meeting rooms, it offers companies of all sizes the opportunity to flourish in flexible, affordable workspaces as they expand and develop. Previously however, these spaces were not being fully occupied and it was BizSpace’s intent, through way of their investment, to help this unprecedented centre become a “hotbed for fresh business talent”.

“Utilising a range of ECA compliant, precision-engineered LED technology in conjunction with intelligent controls could provide a staggering annual reduction of 65% compared to the previous lighting system”

THE SOLUTION

Devoted to their mission to support the success of SME’s by providing affordable work environments equipped with all the right facilities and designed to fit the needs of modern businesses, BizSpace are well aware of the importance of implementing sustainable, flexible solutions in order to uphold their promise to “keep bills down and energy up”. Carefully considered lighting procedures and switching to LED are a prime way to achieve this goal, helping to establish a profitable win-win solution for both BizSpace and their growing clientele. With increasing legislative pressure on all businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, switching to LED is becoming an increasingly popular move. By improving their green credentials, such a switch has the potential to make both BizSpace and its clients more attractive to their prospective business partners, investors and customers. Furthermore, lower carbon emissions come with the bonus of added tax benefits, by boosting the company’s performance on the Carbon Reduction Commitment League.

In 2017, forming part of this broader refurbishment programme, Dextra Lighting were approached to survey the communal areas of this Hampshire hub to see if they could provide a solution that would simultaneously generate energy savings, while enhancing the environment for their clients. Particular emphasis was placed on the car park areas, which were discernibly uninviting and in need of modernisation. In order to best achieve the objective at hand, Dextra Lighting would need to design a fully CAD compliant lighting solution boasting aesthetic appeal and consummate illusion while ensuring optimal energy efficiency.

Following a full survey, Dextra lighting presented their proposals, which showed that utilising a range of ECA compliant, precision-engineered LED technology in conjunction with intelligent controls could provide a staggering annual reduction of 65% compared to the previous lighting system, substantially lowering both the overheads and carbon emissions incurred. This saving could be further capitalised on by determining the most cost-effective measures for installation, and by using high quality LED luminaires, which would in turn, minimise the level of maintenance required.

Dextra Lighting, in tandem with other various companies from the Dextra Group, including Dexeco, Dexsor and Dexreco, set to work installing a combination of cutting edge systems and replacement fittings across the business centre’s various units, paying close attention to each configuration to ensure both optimal light levels and aesthetic appeal in order to boost productivity. All new lighting installed was to abide to CIBSE guidelines and British Standard Regulations, ensuring the correct lux and uniformity levels across all locations and remaining compliant with the building’s safety requirements.

In line with their flexible appeal, BizSpace provide 24 hour access, 7 days a week, enabling businesses to work according to their desired pace and schedule. Keeping this in mind, Dextra Lighting sought to optimise both the operational efficiency and the functionality of the lighting installed. Using its extensive range of LED luminaires and innovative control solutions, it was not only possible to dramatically slash the lighting’s electrical consumption, but to also tailor the integrated smart control features to adapt to the varying occupancy patterns of workers, ensuring the lighting would intuitively operate as and when required, therefore lowering the total power load and allowing additional savings to be made. To establish maximum aftercare and ease of maintenance for this project, Dextra provided an ‘enhanced’ 5 year on-site warranty comprising all labour and parts.

In-house recycling division Dexreco, part of the Dextra Group, stepped in to ensure that all the old light fittings were disposed of quickly and efficiently in accordance with WEEE regulations. By transporting the old luminaires using Dextra’s liveried fleet of vehicles and implementing Dexreco’s smart “back load” process, the carbon pollution caused by the transportation and disposal of luminaires was able to be drastically reduced.