Find out how LED lighting helped to enhance shopper experience at the bullring shopping center. The Bullring is synonymous with the city centre attracting some 40 million visitors each year. This leading retail venue has been awarded many accolades for its appeal as one of the most exciting shopping destinations anywhere in Europe!
Background
5 years on from it’s reopening The Bullring was keen to review the decorative lighting scheme. As Tim Walley the Managing Director of the Bullring explains, “The Bullring is now once again the centrepiece of the city and as such we wanted to ensure that it remains so. We had 2 main criteria when selecting the new lighting design. Firstly, it had to support the Bullring’s image and secondly, but equally importantly, it had to be sustainable as well.”
Solution
The Bullring has now replaced the old cold cathode lighting system with Philips eW® Cove Powercore which delivers a high quality white light and has been specifically designed for interior alcoves and atriums. Here, the eW® Cove Powercore modules were primarily used to illuminate the areas around the main escalators and lifts as well as decorative shaped facets into the ceiling voids of the main walkways.
Benefits
Switching to this new LED technology will deliver an 85% reduction in energy needed to illuminate the centre which equates to an estimated £34,000 savings in running costs per annum. This equates to some 251 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which will be saved annually - the equivalent of 1241 hot air balloons! Maintenance costs can also be dramatically reduced since LEDs have an extremely long life of approximately 50,000 hours.
In addition to the impressive energy savings, the new LED solution brings a whole host of creative lighting displays which visitors can enjoy. The Bullring prides itself on having a busy calendar of events to make the shopping experience even more entertaining. LEDs come into their own allowing ultimate flexibility via different scenes and colour changing effects such as wall washing, grazing or spot lighting. Their vibrant colour changing palette can be tailored to suit the occasion or controlled to provide subtle changes in ambience from a bright early morning light to the warmer, softer atmosphere of an evening setting.
Dynamic Displays
Approaching the main entrances to the Bullring, cutting edge LED City Wing street lighting luminaries have been installed. Their sleek design complements the mix of historic and contemporary architecture which sits comfortably side by side. Nestled between these buildings, St Martins Square plays host to numerous festivities throughout the year. Here, LEDs continue to add to the sense of theatre. Positioned within the window boxes and fountains, colour changing modules provide an eye catching backdrop to the many events held in the pedestrian quarter.
This flexibility was clearly a major consideration when specifying the decorative lighting scheme. As Tim Walley comments, ”Selecting LEDs has enabled us to enhance the Bullring’s aesthetics and visual impact. We are extremely proud that it has become the largest retail destination in the West Midlands. In addition to the Bullring’s excellent retail mix we can now offer a spectacular night time vibrancy brought about by the exciting light shows that we can create – and all this has been achieved without compromise to our environmental responsibility.”