Cooper Lighting and Security has designed, manufactured and supplied over 1600 bespoke luminaires for the platform lighting system at the revitalised St Pancras International Station.
To prepare the station for its role as the new London terminus for Eurostar, London & Continental Railways has spent £800million restoring the original Barlow Shed to its Victorian grandeur and adding a new extension to accommodate the longer Eurostar trains.
The platform lighting is housed within a catenary boom system that stretches to a total length of some 4.5km, suspended at a height of 3.2m from the T-shaped passenger information points located at intervals along each of the platforms.
During the design process, Cooper had to ensure that the luminaires achieved the required lighting levels for the platform edge, while satisfying the structural requirements of the catenary system and meeting strict limitations on weight.
Featuring an extruded aluminium housing with a toughened glass cover, the luminaires incorporate reflectors and louvres and are sealed to provide IP65 environmental protection. The use of a plug-and-socket connection system not only saved time during the initial installation but will also minimise disruption in future, as individual units can be quickly removed for any necessary maintenance work.
As well as providing downlighting to illuminate the platform for passengers, the luminaires were also designed to include an element of uplighting, which provides some illumination for the vast arched roof of the Barlow Shed.
In addition to the platform lighting, Cooper also designed and manufactured the vertical LED-based exit signs built into each passenger information point and the horizontal versions suspended above the concourse at the south end of the station. Derived from the company’s Menvier Britesign product, these 6W edge-lit exit signs offer a lifetime of up to 50,000 hours with virtually zero maintenance.
Behind the scenes, Cooper supplied some £100,000-worth of standard items from its Crompton Lighting range for offices and other areas of the station, including Synthesis suspended luminaires, Varsity surface luminaires, Wafer T5 suspended luminaires for direct/indirect illumination, Moduspec T5 modular recessed luminaires and Tufflite IP65 luminaires.
