Bank of Scotland Headquarters

In January 2022, Casambi was approached to participate in the lighting refurbishment project at the Bank of Scotland headquarters on The Mound in Edinburgh, Scotland – an area of historical importance that connects the Old Town and the New Town. The building, designed by architect Sir William Chambers, is a Category A listed structure, and the renovation project aimed to modernise the lighting system across seven floors within it and improve energy efficiency while preserving the building’s historical significance.

Bank of Scotland engaged Mitie Technical Services, their UK Facilities Management partner for the lighting refurbishment. The existing lighting system in the building, which comprised of fluorescent, incandescent, and cold cathode light sources had reached the end of its life. The wired control system used for the lighting was also outdated and needed upgrading.

One of the pivotal challenges in the refurbishment project entailed devising a suitable lighting solution for the meeting rooms. These rooms presented a unique combination of three different light sources. After thorough deliberation, it was concluded that the most effective approach would involve repurposing the existing descope lights and implementing Casambi’s smart lighting control system for both these lights and all other lighting throughout the building that required refurbishment.  

The solution:

‘We selected Casambi due to the complexities of the building, its heritage, and the desire to provide the building user with a lighting control system which is simple to operate and reconfigure by the maintenance team should they wish to. We also needed a system which provided secure wireless communication through challenging internal wall structures which are common in heritage buildings of this era’ said Kevin Evans, Lighting Solutions Director at Mitie, adding:

‘The building features highly decorative pendant lighting from Stoane Lighting, installed as part of the 2008 refurbishment. The light source featured T5, dichroic and cold cathode. As part of the modernisation, we elected to refurbish/reuse the pendant carcass and engaged with the original lighting manufacturer, Stoane Lighting, to rework the pendant and convert it to modern LED lighting and control. This included the integration of Casambi to provide presence, daylighting, and scene control to each pendant. Casambi and Stoane Lighting worked in collaboration to develop the design and refurbishment of each luminaire’.   

Mike Stoane Lighting’s ReNew division has formalised the growing interest in repair and upgrades by offering products that are easily disassembled, allowing for component replacement, upgrades, and recycling. Each revived fixture comes with a fresh 5-year warranty, and unwanted parts are recycled, aligning with Stoane’s commitment to sustainability and its decade-long experience in upgrades across various lighting products. Additional new light fittings came from iGuzzini, Fagerhult and Reggiani.

Totaling no fewer than 1250 nodes across seven floors, Casambi was also selected as the optimal control solution based on several critical factors, foremost among them being its low hardware footprint. The Casambi system necessitated the fewest control hardware components connected to the new lighting, thereby guaranteeing a streamlined and highly efficient installation process. It was also:

Discrete and scalable. The combination of Casambi’s and driver partner, EldoLED’s hardware, provided the most discreet and scalable lighting control solution, ensuring minimal visual impact on the building’s aesthetics. The hardware components are small and unobtrusive, making them easy to install and integrate into existing lighting fixtures or electrical enclosures. This characteristic is particularly useful when dealing with limited space in ceilings.

Versatile. Casambi’s system offered multiple types of sensors and switches, accommodating the various challenges posed by the building’s unique construction and layout. Casambi adopted EnOcean technology from Vimar, providing wireless switches that could be placed anywhere without the need for wiring, maintaining the historical integrity of the building.

Affords seamless expansion without wiring constraints or limitations: Unlike traditional systems, Casambi did not necessitate DALI wiring, greatly simplifying the installation and reducing complexity. As a future-proof solution, it also offers a building-wide control solution, this project serving merely as the initial phase for a fully integrated system that allows seamless expansion and adaptability in the future.  

‘We engaged with Casambi and Holders Technology very early in the design process. Through the sharing of knowledge, design collateral and design expertise the team collectively delivered the lighting control design to transform the building into a modern working environment. The team including Mitie, Holders, Casambi and the site engineering team worked together to build the scope, the client’s requirements and develop the control’s philosophy’ says Kevin.

Smooth project execution: By joining forces with the affiliated partners, we delivered a holistic project solution. A team of experts, including Holders for system design, project management, product delivery and final commissioning, Avenir AMS Ltd, the electrical contractor, Hugh Stirling Ltd, art removers, and members from Casambi’s Specification Success and Support teams, not forgetting all the lighting manufacturer partners, collaborated to offer their diverse expertise. By harnessing the collective knowledge and synergy of our partnerships, we ensured a seamless and triumphant execution of the lighting refurbishment project. Together, we achieved remarkable results.  

With environmental benefits: Alongside Stoane’s ReNew concept, Casambi’s commitment to sustainability is reflected in the environmental benefits. When a driver-only solution is implemented, since Casambi delivers only a software license and no additional hardware, our carbon footprint is zero with respect to the project deliverables.

Casambi’s involvement in the lighting refurbishment at Bank of Scotland headquarters on The Mound exemplifies our dedication to providing innovative, energy-efficient, and discreet smart lighting control solutions. Through close collaboration with partners and a focus on sustainability, we successfully modernized the lighting system while preserving the historical significance of the building. The project demonstrated the capability of Casambi’s technology to meet the diverse needs of a complex commercial property, ensuring energy savings and improved user experience for the bank and its occupants.

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