Newcastle University is a public research university in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. The university can trace its origins to a School of Medicine and Surgery (later the College of Medicine), established in 1834, and to the College of Physical Science (later renamed Armstrong College), founded in 1871.

The University is a member of the Russell Group, an association of prestigious research-intensive UK universities. The university has one of the largest EU research portfolios in the UK. The annual income of the institution for 2017–18 was £495.7 million of which £109.4 million was from research grants and contracts.

Teaching and research are delivered in 24 academic schools and 40 research institutes and research centres, spread across three faculties: the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; the Faculty of Medical Sciences; and the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering.

The university offers around 175 full-time undergraduate degree programmes in a wide range of subject areas spanning arts, sciences, engineering and medicine, together with approximately 340 postgraduate taught and research programmes across a range of disciplines. Newcastle is also one of the leading universities for sport in the UK and is consistently ranked within the top 20 out of 152 higher education institutions in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) rankings. More than 50 student-led sports clubs are supported through a team of professional staff and a network of indoor and outdoor sports facilities based over four sites

THE SOLUTION

Dextra was asked to come up with a plan that enabled the university to upgrade from fluorescent lighting both for aesthetics and energy savings and utilised their in-house design team for the proposed scheme. The contractor for this project was Project Facility Management. Dextra Lighting, LEDextra and Dexsor were the Dextra brands used in this project.

The RUNWAY CONTINUOUS SURFACE/SUSPENDED product was chosen for the corridors and staircases. It has a slim line aluminium housing available in three colour options, offering surface mounted and suspended options in either continuous runs or as individual luminaires, as well as bidirectional variants ensuring that a layout can be created that enhance any space, delivering an attractive environment for workers or enticing potential customers.

This flexibility is further enhanced with integral emergency, white tunable and dimming options and two optic styles, a minimalist opal finish or microprism for compliance with the 3000 candela requirements of BSEN12464 for use in office and school areas (L22, L14 and L29 variants only). The RUNWAY also incorporates the latest mid power LEDs ensuring optimal energy efficiency with minimal need for maintenance over the course of its lifetime.

Another product used in the university project was the LEDEXTRA ALULED. In relation to the underpass this needed to be lit in order to highlight the entrances and exits. The client requested a 3 sided rectangle and AluLED mounted within an extrusion provided an ideal, slimline, IP67 solution.

For the stairs on the project, Dextra’s GRADUATE LED was chosen. The client liked the style and the GRADUATE can also be used with the Dexsor R25W sensor to allow for presence detection and daylight control, leading to further improved energy savings. This is a wireless sensor, allowing for grouped operation of luminaires without additional cabling and adjustment of settings via an iPad.

The GRADUATE LED is one of the most popular products in the Dextra range and has been used extensively in schools and hospitals throughout the UK. Available in 600mm, 1200mm and 1500mm variants, a wide range of lumen outputs as well as dimming and emergency options the Graduate LED can be tailored for use in applications ranging from classrooms and hospital wards through to corridors and stairwells.

The Graduate LED is suitable for installation on conduit, surface mounting or suspension and can be offered with integral microwave sensors for additional energy savings. For healthcare applications a nightlight can be specified to provide low level lighting during rest periods.