Court in the action

Ask a colleague to name London's top shopping areas and Lancashire Court is not one that is likely to be mentioned. Ask again in a few months time and the response may be very different, as a recent redevelopment of the area has attracted top names such as Versace and Giorgio Armani.

Lancashire Court has been lost to London's shoppers since the 1960s. Sited in the heart of the city's shopping district, it has been overshadowed by the neighbouring Bond Street and has gone unnoticed by most passers-by. But a decision by estate owner CIS to restore the area to its original condition seems to be rectifying this loss.

Lancashire Court is formed by three primary entrance alleys that lead into two courtyards. Redevelopment of the Grade I-listed conservation area has been in progress for several years. The restoration of the Georgian buildings was completed almost two years ago, which was when the question was asked: how can the public be attracted into the area?

Lighting up London
Lighting specialist Light & Design Associates was introduced to the project by the client's agent DTZ Debenham Tieleung when the restoration work was nearing completion.

The brief was simple when the firm began work almost two years ago. "The client just wanted to increase public awareness to the area," explains Light & Design Associates director Lee Prince, "to increase the footfall through the alleyways into the courtyard and make it almost like a bijou Parisian night scene." It was thought that the best way to attract the public into the new retail area was to annunciate the entrances using light.

To demonstrate the visual impact of lighting to the client, Light & Design set up a show, colour-washing the buildings and projecting images around the yards. "We never intended to use coloured lights [in the final scheme] because of the sensitivity of the area," stresses Prince. "The demonstration was to show the clients how people respond to light."

And respond they did. Cars passing the alleys braked to see what was happening and passers-by looked on. The client was impressed enough to accept that lighting would provide the impact it wanted.

The contract won, Light & Design Associates began on the design. Several factors had to be considered: the scheme needed to be sensitive to the listed status of the area, unobtrusive to tenants, and improve the overall visual entrance to the space. Concept designs were prepared by computer animation, before further site visits brought slight changes, such as moving uplighters from walls into the ground to reduce potential obtrusiveness and meet budgets. Then the designers turned their attention to products.

In the final lighting design nothing is attached to the buildings. "This was a condition we put on ourselves, because if it's all in the ground, during the day you can't see it," states Prince, with the site conditions in mind.

In the courtyards, existing light bollards were removed and recessed uplighters from Louis Poulson's Nimbus range were fitted around the edges. These are cut into the pavement flagstones and illuminate the face of the buildings, highlighting brickwork and features.

Being unobtrusive in the alleys was to be a more challenging task. "We looked at the products available and decided that there was nothing suitable to not only provide sufficient light in an interesting way, but to be discreet enough in daylight hours to blend in to the normal street scene," explains Prince.

Standard products were either deemed the wrong shape or size, or hit the more practical problem of depth. Under the cobblestone sets in the alleys is a series of barrel vaults. The close proximity of these to the pavement level made recess depth critical. This led the firm to design a new product to suit the application.

The fitting had to satisfy the daytime requirements of English Heritage, while causing no light pollution to tenants at night. A long life, good efficacy and low energy consumption were further criteria: "The parameters all pointed to a light emitting diode (led) route," says Prince. The resulting led floor tile was developed and manufactured by Arc Lighting to resemble a cobblestone set. In daylight, when switched off, it blends into the sets to reinstate the look of the pathways. "The reason we ended up with this design is not to design a light fitting that looks good when it's lit, but to design a fitting that looks brilliant when it's not lit," explained Prince.

Use of the tiles was extended to the signage. Specialist firm Signbox was enlisted to replace the existing temporary shop signs in the alleys with a single building directory for the scheme. The led tiles are positioned behind an acid-etched glass panel listing the stores.

Digging deep
Designing the lighting scheme and products to fit was only the beginning of the effort to create the desired effect. Installation of both the led tiles and the uplighters needed special attention.

Bromley-based contractor Addstack was introduced by DTZ for this task. The firms had worked together before and Addstack was working on other projects in the area, so knew the sensitivity with which the project had to be approached.

It was not just a case of slotting the new products in – careful planning was needed. Waterproof membranes on the barrel vaults meant that all work had to be completed from ground level. In the alleys, Addstack lifted the cobble sets from the services route and marked each one so that they could be replaced exactly as found. This was important in order to retain the natural wear patterns. The relevant sets were substituted with the led tiles, and the area relaid. While this work was being completed, continuous public access had to be retained.

In Lancashire Court itself, deeper fittings could be used, but their positioning was more complex. The 200 mm-deep Louis Poulson lamps had to be fitted between the barrel vaults, in the deepest areas of the courtyard, as at their peaks there is only a 100 mm depth to the waterproof membrane. This increases to only 240 mm at the deepest points, leaving little margin for error. Accurate plans of the vault positions did not exist, so careful surveying was needed before this work could be started.

All electrical cabling from the installation leads to a central switchboard located within a landlord's service area by the courtyards. The lamps are controlled by a solar time switch but have a flexible override, leaving the owners the option of altering times of use if needed.

Following a two-year period involving lengthy consultations with planners and tenants, the lighting scheme was finished in early summer, ready for the annual influx of visitors. As winter approaches the scheme can only become more dramatic as daylight hours fade, attracting shoppers into the courtyards. Lancashire Court is well and truly on the map.