Our “In Focus” series is a deep dive into the expertise of our specialist teams, demonstrating how our designers and engineers turn complex challenges into innovative solutions. The first in the series, this article highlights our Specialist Lighting team and their human-centric, sustainable lighting strategy for UNSW’s new CBD campus.

As lead building services consultant on UNSW’s new CBD campus project, ADP Consulting played a key role in transforming a vacant commercial space in the heart of Sydney into a modern, world-class university facility.

In particular, our Specialist Lighting team faced a unique and exciting challenge: to help create a progressive and adaptable space that championed a strong environmental agenda while supporting an atmosphere that celebrates connection and collaboration.

Our team’s approach to lighting at the UNSW CBD campus was deliberately unconventional. We moved beyond basic illumination, focusing instead on an innovative, human-centric, and highly sustainable strategy.

Ambience in an academic setting

A unique challenge presented within the project and brief was the integration of extensive event amenities. Our task was to activate these spaces, ensuring they functioned seamlessly from day to night, while cultivating a high-quality hospitality atmosphere within an otherwise educational and commercial context.

We achieved this through a layered lighting strategy, a sophisticated approach allowing us to provide functional, human-scale illumination that subtly highlighted the space’s interior design and robust base-build architecture. The result is an environment that feels both welcoming and dynamic, effortlessly adapting its mood for various events and activities.

Identifiying opportunities for innovation

The project presented inherent spatial design challenges and daylight discrepancies. Rather than viewing these as limitations, our team embraced them as opportunities to enhance the functionality and aesthetic of the interior spaces, while focusing on occupant experience.

A notable example is the balancing of layered direct and indirect lighting in the seminar rooms and workspaces facing typically low ceiling levels and minimal recess depths.

“Each element, from the concealed coffer lighting, to the recessed wall washers and high performance downlights, worked hand-in-hand to improve the overall room comfort and functionality,” said Peter Bone, Senior Lighting Designer at ADP Consulting.

“This combination ensured balanced general illumination while offering flexible lighting scenes, perfectly tailored for presentations, video conferencing, and other collaborative events.”

A commitment to sustainable outcomes

In alignment with UNSW’s strong environmental agenda, our specialist lighting strategy was designed to surpass industry benchmarks. The fit-out was rigorously planned to achieve a 5 Star Green Star Interiors v1.3 rating, with our lighting performance exceeding the minimum requirements for Green Star Lighting Comfort and Australian Standard (AS1680).

A particularly impactful and sustainable element of our work involved the repurposing and relocation of existing base-building lighting fixtures. By salvaging and reusing these fittings, we significantly minimized waste, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to circular design principles.

Flexibility and intuitive control

Understanding that different spaces necessitate different lighting approaches, we implemented a sophisticated yet intuitive lighting control system. In enclosed rooms, traditional control panels empower users with easy activation of preset scenes and individual dimming capabilities.

For the expansive open-plan areas, where local manual control is less practical, our team developed an automated, highly responsive system. Through the integration of time clocks and motion sensors, we designed a variety of distinct lighting environments, giving occupants the flexibility to choose a space that best suits their needs.

The successful execution of the project has resulted in a modern lighting layout that not only meets but significantly exceeds client expectations, a clear testament to the transformative power of thoughtful, specialist lighting in creating dynamic environments.