With history dating back to 1838, the University of Westminster is one of the best attended and well-known universities in the country. It started life as the first polytechnic in London and one of the first in the UK, established to educate the working people of London. Today, it continues to build on this reputation, helping students from a variety of backgrounds to realise their full potential.

The university is attended by 19,000 students every year who have 169 different nationalities. It regularly works with over 180 industry partners including large corporations, SMEs and charities, which offer work placements and work experience to students.

Its 8,500sq ft of ‘innovation space’ at its Cavendish Street Campus has recently undergone a £1.6 million refurbishment to deliver a modern and vibrant multi-purpose flexible space for students. This area has been designed to switch between 40-seater programming lab and collaborative working space and was completed in time for the start of the 2021/22 academic year.

On the ground floor, three existing rooms have been repurposed to create a new, single, and accessible open plan area for work-based learning, with non-structural walls removed to enlarge the space.

The building benefits from a new heating and cooling system, improving its thermal efficiency, as well as new lighting, flooring and stackable furniture, and a new AV system, including the latest display technology for wireless projection.

It is also used to showcase student work, research posters sessions, and presentations, and act as additional meeting space. Computing labs on the ground and lower ground floors were also reconfigured, including upgrades to MEP and lighting, which Dextra designed and supplied.

Working with CES Group, Dextra had to consider low levels and bulkheads in the ceiling of which fittings needed to avoid. A solution was also needed to address the lack of natural daylight in the innovation space and lower ground floor.

THE SOLUTION

On the lower ground and ground floors, the Runway Continuous Surface/Suspended was chosen because of the close match to the specifications and existing products already being used in other areas of the building. Over 1000 were installed for this purpose with DALI controllers.

The Runway Continuous Surface/Suspended luminaire provides a seamless appearance that can be infinitely reconfigured to dramatic effect. With an extruded slim line aluminium housing available in grey, black or white options the Runway can be either surface mounted or suspended in continuous runs combined with corner sections, a range of lengths and lumen outputs and with optional bi-directional distribution ensuring that you can create a layout that enhances any space creating an attractive environment for workers.

This was matched by the use of the Runway Surface/Suspended which was ideal for the architects desired layout. These were placed throughout the innovation space and 59 were installed with bespoke brackets.

The Runway Surface Suspended gives a slim line appearance with an extruded aluminium housing available in three colour options, offering the versatility of a range of lengths and lumen outputs as well as bi-directional variants. This flexibility is further enhanced with optional integral emergency, white tunable, dimming, integral sensors and two optic styles, a minimalist opal finish or microprism for glare compliance when used in office and school areas. The Runway also incorporates the latest mid power LEDs ensuring optimal energy efficiency with minimal need for maintenance over the course of its lifetime.