Paddington Station is a busy railway and underground terminal in the heart of London. Used by thousands of tourists and commuters each day, the station boasts historical architecture and is famed for lending its name to Michael Bond’s much-loved Paddington Bear series.
Due to age and high rate of usage, Network Rail identified 26 existing lighting fixtures on the station’s concourse that needed replacing. Leading LED supplier LITE Architectural was appointed to specify and supply the new lighting requirements to fulfil the upgrade.
Control of the upgraded lighting was also a key part of the brief. To achieve this, LITE Architectural specified a Designer LPC 1 (Lighting Playback Controller 1) from Pharos Architectural Controls. This provided full control of the new luminaires; a wireless system of Studio Due’s 100 Parled solutions.
The LPC 1 from Pharos features individually controllable and independently running timelines and scenes, with the versatility of powerful show control and integration features. Remote access offers the freedom of real-time manual overrides, with its rugged, compact form and minimal power requirements, the LPC can be installed almost anywhere.
The Studio Due luminaires were installed into existing housing to save money and reduce the amount of material that would ultimately be sent to landfill. This approach also minimised disruption for passengers using the station during the replacement works.
Ryan Sainsbury, Regional Sales Manager for the UK at Pharos Architectural Controls said: “We have a great deal of experience across transportation and heritage projects, and Paddington Station brings these two worlds together. With the introduction of our award-winning LPC 1, the station can now benefit from versatile control, that also allows for automated and pre-programmed or manual operation; whichever best suits the needs of the station at any given time.”
Steve Hainsworth, CEO from LITE Architectural added: “It’s always great to see a transformation of a historic site that celebrates its heritage but adds a modern touch. The new lighting at Paddington Station certainly enhances the architecture, while offering much-improved efficiency levels.
“When specifying control options, our team knew that the LPC 1 from Pharos would deliver everything the project needed, with the high-quality Pharos are renowned for.”
The transportation landmark is now more energy efficient with dynamic lighting that is fit for purpose, and fully controllable.
Project Credits:
Client: Network Rail
Lighting solutions provider: LITE Architectural
Lighting control: Pharos Architectural Controls
