Luminaires from Waldmann Lighting have played a vital role improving the visual environment for people employed in Braemar Shipping’s offices in Marylebone, London. Braemar Shipping Services plc (previously known as Braemar Seascope Group plc) is a leading integrated provider of broking and consulting services to the global shipping industry. Its business is operated in four business segments: shipbroking, logistics, technical services and environmental services. The company decided that a different approach to lighting was required following feedback from employees which suggested that the overall visual environment was poor for VDU screen work.
Braemar’s offices are located in a former church building, occupying a vast space with a high vaulted and decorated ceiling and there is a mezzanine floor forming a gallery on three sides. The entire office is laid out in an open plan design and whilst the building had some existing architectural lighting in the form of metal halide wall uplighters and some fluorescent pendant uplighters beneath the mezzanine, most of the workstations had inadequate working light even during the daytime, as the stained glass windows excluded a lot of the available daylight.
Frequent office reconfigurations meant that any lighting had to move with the furniture, and desk mounted up/down lights were considered to be a good solution.  Not only did they lift the appearance of what was a gloomy space but also provided a good level of glare free task lighting.   An additional advantage was that users could adjust output locally.
Light Partners Ltd provided a mock-up and a number of desk-mounted uplights were tested.  Ultimately the Chorus model was chosen, as its timeless bowl-shaped head blended best with the surroundings, avoiding an overly high-tech look in an historical setting. Waldmann manufactured a custom desk mount to work with the existing furniture, a service which has become a speciality of the company. Waldmann have since installed around 50 uplights with more to come.
Ricky White, Property Manager at Braemar Shipping commented: “After many suggestions for lighting our building, Light Partners Ltd came up with the best solution and were extremely helpful. We are very pleased with the overall appearance of the Waldmann luminaires which have greatly improved working conditions, providing a comfortable visual environment that can now easily be controlled by the staff”.